Wilson & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 28, 1945

61 N.L.R.B. 105 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of WILSON & COMPANY and UNITED PACKINGHOUSE
WORKERS OI' AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 13-R-282,0.-Decided March 28, 1945
Mr. M. R. Swamson, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Miss Virginia Spence and Mr. Refugio Martinez, of Chicago, Ill.,
for the C. I. O.
Miss Aida Casanas, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Packinghouse Workers of
America, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Wilson & Company, Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Com-
pany, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Robert T. Drake, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on February 1, 1945. The
Company and the C. I. O. appeared and participated. All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. At the
hearing, the Company moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that
the steady-time checkers whom the C. I. O. seeks to represent are su-
pervisory and management employees, and that the unit is therefore
inappropriate. Ruling on this motion was reserved for the'Board.
For reasons hereinafter stated, said motion is hereby denied. The
Trial Examiner's rulings,made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
- Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Wilson & Company is a Delaware corporation having its principal
office and place of business at Chicago, Illinois. It operates 8 packing
61 N. L. R. B., No. 10.
105
106 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
plants located in as many different States, and about 90 branch houses
throughout the United States. We are concerned herein with its
plant located at Chicago, Illinois, where the Company is engaged in
the purchase and slaughter of livestock, and the processing, manufac-
turing, and distribution of various meat products and byproducts.
During the past 12 months the Company purchased livestock for its
Chicago plant valued in excess of $1,000,000, approximately 50 percent
of which was shipped to it from points outside the State of Illinois.
During the same period the Company's sales at its Chicago plant ex-
ceeded $1,000,000, more than 50 percent of which represented products
shipped to points outside the State of. Illinois.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning 6f the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Packinghouse Workers of America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On December 11, 1944, the C. I. O. requested recognition from the
Company as the bargaining representative of certain steady-time
checkers employed in the Company's Chicago plant. The Company
refused to grant such recognition.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the C. I. O. represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. I
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of -the Company, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The C. I. O. seeks a separate unit of all steady-time checkers em-
ployed in the shipping and receiving departments, excluding super-
visory employees .2 The Company contends that the steady-time
checkers cannot constitute an appropriate bargaining unit since they
1 The Field Examiner reported that there are 20 employees in said unit , that the C. I. O.
submitted 22 membership cards , 13 of which were dated November 1944 and 9 were dated
December 1944.
2 Matter of Wilson & Co Inc., 45 N. L. R . B. 831 , the parties stipulated and the Board
found , that an appropriate unit at this Chicago plant consisted of production and main-
tenance employees in certain named departments , excluding , inter alia, various classes of
supervisors , craftsmen , clerical and office workers , and steady-time checkers The petitioner
in that case , United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local 25, C I . 0., was certified after
an election in January 1943.
WILSON & COMPANY 107
exercise supervisory authority and are part of management, and it
moves to dismiss the petition on this ground.
The steady-time checkers 3 employed in the shipping department
are engaged in checking and weighing products received from other
departments in the plant, and in making sure that outgoing cars are
properly loaded with specified products. They work on the loading
dock and are given loading slips made out by the foreman, specifying
how each car shall be loaded and braced. They are under the super-
vision of a loading superintendent, who also supervises the work of
the car loaders. The car loaders do the actual physical operations
in loading, while the steady-time checkers perform little physical
work but direct the manner in which the cars are loaded. It is the
responsibility of the checkers to see that a car is properly loaded, that
orders are filled correctly, and that customers receive what is ordered
and in the right amount. After the loading work is done they pre-
pare reports from which billings are made by the general accounting
staff. The work of the steady-time checkers is for the most part
clerical work. If an employee fails to load a car in the manner di-
rected, the checker reports that fact to the foreman, but does not
recommend either disciplinary action or discharge. Other employees
performing clerical functions who work in or near the loading dock
are under the supervision of the chief clerk of plant rather than the
loading superintendent, and it is apparent from the testimony of the
Company's industrial relations director that the Company regards
the steady-time checkers as a group separate and distinct from both
production and maintenance employees and plant clerical employees.
The evidence as to -the work performed by the steady-time checkers
demonstrates'that they are not supervisory, managerial, or confidential
employees. We find that they are entitled to representation for col-
lective bargaining purposes, and we have, therefore, denied the Com-
pany's motion to dismiss the petition.4 Inasmuch as the employees in
question are a homogeneous group of specialized clerks, working
together at one location and under common supervision, we conclude
that they comprise ali appropriate unit .-5
The parties disagree as to whether certain so-called steady-time
checkers in the receiving department should be included in the afore-
said unit. The C. I. O. desires their inclusion but indicates that it
would not seriously object to their exclusion. The Company states
that these so-called steady-time checkers are only clerical employees
having duties similar to those of other receiving clerks who work else-
where in the plant. The receiving department employees in question
7 This name is applied to these employees because they are on a salary basis and are not
hourly paid workers.
4 Matter of General Motors Corporation, 52 N. L. R. B. 649.
5 See Matter of Swift & Company, 45 N. L R. B. 209.
108 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
record the weights of goods received through shipment. They work
in various localities in the plant, and there is nothing to show that
they have frequent contact with the steady-time checkers in the ship-
ping department. They are not under the same supervision as the em-
ployees in the shipping department. The C. I. O. has not enrolled as
members any of these employees. We conclude that the receiving
clerks should be excluded from the bargaining unit.
We find that all steady-time checkers employed by the Company in
the shipping,department at its Chicago plant, but excluding receiving
clerks and supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We,shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by,an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the. date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions, set forth in the
Direction.6
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Wilson & Com-
pany, Chicago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted
as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of
this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Sec-
tions 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations , among the employees in
the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and
e The C. I. O. desires that it be designated on the ballot as United Packinghouse Workers
of America , Local 25-B, but that in-any ' certification which may be issued as a result of
the election it be designated by the name of its International only. Under these circum-
stances we shall deny the C. I. O.'s request for the use of the local number on the ballot.
We note, moreover , that Local 25-B is not in any way identified in the record.
WILSON & COMPANY 109
including employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Packing-
house Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
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