Walla Walla Meat & Cold Storage Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 23, 1938

9 N.L.R.B. 1183 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of WALLA WALLA MEAT & COLD STORAGE Co. and
AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH
AMERICA, LOCAL No. 275, AFFILIATED WITH THE A . F. OF L.
Case No. R-1053.-Decided November 23, 1938
Meat Packing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy con-
cerning representation of employees : refusal of ' employer '- to grant recog-
nition of petitioning union because employees , in private election , had se-
lected a bargaining representative other than petitioning union, even though
private election was held shortly after Board , upon stipulation , ordered Company
to bargain with petitioner union-Mat Appropriate for Collective Bargaining:
stipulation as to: all employees of the Company other than supervisory per-
sonnel, office help, salesmen, and temporary employees-Representatives: proof
of choice : union membership cards; application for membership ; adequate
designation of-Certification of Representatives : upon proof of majority
representation.
Mr. Thomas B . Graham, Jr., for the Board.
Mr. Herbert Ringhoffer , of Walla Walla, Wash., for the Company.
Mr. M. O. Williams, of Walla Walla , Wash., for the Amalgamated.
Mr. Harry Brownstein , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES`
STATEMENT OF THE CASE '
On August 22, 1938, Amalgamated Meat Cutters, and Butcher
Workmen of North America, Local No. 275, affiliated with the
A. F. of L., herein called the Amalgamated, filed with the -Regional
Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington), a peti-
tion alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concern-
ing the representation of employees of the Walla Walla Meat &
Cold Storage Co., Walla Walla, Washington, herein called the Com-
pany, and requesting an investigation and certification of represent-
atives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On September 26, 1938,,the
National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Section 3, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
9 N. L. R B, No 106.
1183
1184 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Di-
rector to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice.
On September 28, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
Amalgamated. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on Octo-
ber 6, 1938, at Walla Walla, Washington, before Martin Raphael, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the
Company, and the Amalgamated participated in the hearing, the
first two being represented by counsel and the latter by its president
and secretary-treasurer. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon
the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing,
the Trial Examiner made a ruling on an objection to the admission
of evidence. The Board has reviewed this ruling and it is hereby
affirmed.'
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Walla Walla Meat & Cold Storage Co. has its principal office
and place of business in Walla Walla, Washington, and is engaged
in the business of processing and manufacturing meat, meat products
and byproducts, in the manufacturing of artificial ice, and in the
buying, feeding, and selling of livestock.
The total purchases of the Company in 1937 amounted to $755,-
322.24, 7 per cent of which were purchased and shipped from outside
the State of Washington. Livestock in the amount of $12,811.39
was purchased and shipped from States other than the State of
Washington. The total sales of the Company in 1937 amounted to
$995,815.32, 42 per cent thereof representing sales and shipments
made to buyers outside the State of Washington.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Amalgamated is a labor organization admitting to member-
ship all regular employees of the Company, excluding supervisory
personnel, office help, and salesmen.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On April 1, 1938, the Board, pursuant to a stipulation involving
parties to the present proceeding, ordered, inter alia, that the Com-
pany bargain with the Amalgamated "as the sole and exclusive bar-
gaining agency of all of its employees other than supervisory
personnel, office help, and salesmen, and shall continue to bargain
with said Local No. 285 (the Amalgamated) either until a majority
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1185
of the employees in said unit shall select a new bargaining repre-
sentative or until said organization no longer represents a majority
of the employees in the aforesaid unit" 1 [parentheses supplied].
Shortly after the aforesaid order was issued and served, the Amalga-
mated requested the Company to bargain with it. The Company,
however, stated that the Amalgamated no longer represented a ma-
jority of the Company's employees; that several days subsequent to
April 1, 1938, a majority of the employees in a "private election" had
expressed its desire to have a labor organization other than the
Amalgamated represent it for the purpose of collective bargaining.
Accordingly, the Company refused to bargain with the Amalgamated.
It is not necessary to determine whether the Company's interpre-
tation of the order of the Board is a correct one. Since the stipu-
lated order was not unequivocal and since the petition has been filed
and the investigation directed, we shall proceed under it.
We find that a question has arisen • concerning representation of
employees,of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States,
and tends to -lead, to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company and the Amalgamated entered into a stipulation
that all of the employees of the Company other than supervisory per-
sonnel, office help, and salesmen, constitute an appropriate unit for
collective bargaining. By further agreement of the parties, em-
ployees classified as "temporary employees" on the Company's Octo-
ber 1, 1938, pay roll, introduced in evidence, were also excluded from
the appropriate unit. We see no reason to depart from the wishes
of the parties in these respects. Of the remaining employees of the
Company, several require further consideration.
Bert Young is a shipping clerk employed by the Company who,
together with another employee, operates the Company's telephone
switchboard, receiving and writing up telephone orders. Although
his work presently is in part clerical, the company representative
testified that Young could and, occasionally did perform manual
work identical with that of employees within the appropriate unit.
1 Matter o f Walla Walla Meath Cold Storage Company, a Corporation and Amalgamated
Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local No. 275, 6 N. L. R. B. 386.
1186 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Amalgamated wished him included in the unit , and the Com-
pany did not expressly take a contrary position . Accordingly, Bert
Young will be included in the unit appropriate for collective bar-
gaining.
John Hegert, C. M. Fletcher , Belden Russel , and Harold Banks
are working foremen with major supervisory responsibilities over
different departments of the Company , giving orders and directions
to the employees in their respective departments as to method and
kind of work to be done . In addition , John Hegert transfers em-
ployees from one division in the plant to another , and is frequently
consulted by the superintendent of the Company in regard to the
work about the plant . Because of their supervisory duties, they
are ineligible for membership in the Amalgamated . John Hegert,
C. M. Fletcher , Belden Russel , and Harold Banks will be excluded
from the unit appropriate for collective bargaining . All other em-
ployees designated as working foremen in the plant have fewer and
minor supervisory responsibilities . They are eligible for member-
ship in the Amalgamated and are included in the unit.
Edwin Noyer and Herbert Dickerson were indicated by the Com-
pany to be temporary employees , but the evidence showed that they
had been steadily employed by the Company for some time previous
to the hearing, and the Company expressed no definite intention of
terminating their employment in the near future. They will be in-
cluded in the unit appropriate for collective bargaining.
We find that all the employees of the Company other than super-
visory personnel, office help ,' and salesmen , constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates
of pay, wages , hours of employment, and other conditions of em-
ployment, and that said unit will insure to employees of the Com-
pany the ' full benefit of the right to self -organization and to col-
lective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF 11EPRESENTATIVES
On October 1, 1938, there were 58 employees of the Company with-
in the unit appropriate for collective bargaining . The Amalgamated
introduced a list of 31 members of its organization , and a list of 6
employees who signed applications for membership in the Amalga-
mated, all of whom were employees of the Company within the ap-
propriate bargaining unit. The Amalgamated 's membership ledger
and applications for membership were produced at the hearing. The
Company admitted that the signatures thereon were genuine, and
admitted the authenticity of other matters pertaining to the member-
ship ledger and the applications for membership. The Company,
however, objected to the admission in evidence of the list of em-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1187
ployees who had signed applications for membership, on the ground
that the employees in so doing had not expressly designated the
Amalgamated as their representative for the purpose of collective
bargaining. The Company's objection is not well taken, for we have
frequently held that an employee's request for membership in a labor
organization indicates a desire to have the organization act as his
representative for collective bargaining purposes.2 The Amalga-
mated, however, having shown a membership in its organization of
31 of the Company's 58 employees who are within the appropriate
bargaining unit, proved that it represented a majority even were we
not to consider the 6 employees' applications for membership in the
Amalgamated.
We find that the Amalgamated has been designated and selected
by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their rep-
resentative for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, there-
fore, the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit
for the purposes of collective bargaining and we will so certify.
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the en-
tire record in the matter, the Board makes the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Walla Walla Meat & Cold Storage Co.,
Walla Walla, Washington, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All the employees of the Walla Walla Meat & Cold Storage
Co., other than supervisory personnel, office help, and salesmen, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act.
3. Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North
America, Local No. 275, affiliated with the A. F. of L., is the exclusive
representative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
2 See , for example , Matter of Hood Rubber Company, Inc. (Arrow Battery Pioducts
Division ) and International Union, United Automobile IVoikers of America, 5 N. L. R. B
165; Matter of Century Mills, Inc and South Jersey Joint Board, of the International
Ladies Garment Workers Union, 5 N. L. R. B 807.
134068-39-vol ix-76
1188 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Amalgamated Meat Cutters and
Butcher Workmen of North America, Local No. 275 , affiliated with
the A. F. of L., has been designated and selected by a majority of
the employees of the Walla Walla Meat & Cold Storage Co., Walla
Walla, Washington, excluding supervisory personnel , office help, and
salesmen , as their representative for purposes of collective bargain-
ing and that pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act,
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America,
Local No. 275, affiliated with the A . F. of L., is the exclusive repre-
sentative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment , and other
conditions of employment.