Wilson & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 22, 1942

40 N.L.R.B. 777 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of WILSON & CO., INC. and UNITED PACKINGHOUSE
WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. R-3706.-Decided April 22, 19 0
Jurisdiction : meat distributing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fusal to accord petitioner recognition until certified by Board ; election necessary.
'Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all maintenance luggers, excluding
manager, drivers, and office workers, if any ; agreement as to.
Mr. Sidney Reitman, of New York City, for the Board.
Mr. Maury Hopkins, of,Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. James J. Stanton, of New York City, for the Union.
Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On January 13,,1942; United Packinghouse- Workers of America,
C. I. O., herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for
the Second Region (New York City) a petition and, on February
10, 1942, an amended petition, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of ' employees
of Wilson & Co., Inc., Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company,
and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives
pursuant to, Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On March 17, 1942, the National
Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant
to Section 9 (c) of the Net and Article III, Section, 3, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On March 18 and 19, 1942, respectively, the Regional Director
issued 'a notice of hearing and a notice of postponement, copies of
which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant
to these notices, a hearing was held on April 3, 1942, in New York
City, before Drexel A. •Sprecher, the Trial Examiner duly designated
by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and \the Union were
40 N L. It. B., No. 132.
777
778 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
represented and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the
course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made rulings on motions
and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has
reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prej-
udicial errors were committed. The -rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board snakes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Wilson & Co., Inc., a' Delaware corporation with 'its principal
office at Chicago, Illinois, is chiefly engaged in purchasing and
slaughtering livestock and in the processing, sale, and distribution
of meat and meat products. The Company operates nine meat-pack-
ing plants in as many States. During the 6-month period from Sep-
tember 1941 to February 1942, "inclusive, more than 1 billion pounds
of livestock was slaughtered and processed at these plants, and more
than 50 percent thereof was shipped out of the State in which it
was slaughtered and processed. The total dollar value of sales made
by the Company during this same period was in excess of $200,000,000.
The Company has a subsidiary selling company titled Wilson &
Co., which is a New Jersey! corporation. The Company also main-
tains approximately 90 warehouses, known as branch houses, which
sell meat and meat products under the corporate names of Wilson
& Co., Inc., of Delaware, and Wilson & Co. of New Jersey. This
case involves one of these branches, the Beekman Branch, located in
New York City. The Beekman Branch, during the above-mentioned
6-month period sold approximately 5 million pounds of meat and
meat products, valued at approximately $750,000. With the excep-
tion of an unspecified amount sold to the Panama Railway, and
delivered to its agent on New York docks, all such sales were to
customers in New York City. However, more than 95 percent of
the products sold was processed or manufactured outside the State
of New York.
From the foregoing its appears not only that the branch house here
involved imports a very substantial quantity of meat and meat prod-
ucts across State lines, but also that the Company is engaged in
far-flung packing, processing, and distributing operations, interrup-
tion' of any part of which admits of repercussions in other parts with
a potential adverse effect on commerce. On these facts we find, con-
trary to the contentions of the Company, that in -the operation of the
WILSON•-& CO., INC. 779
Beekman Branch the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Packinghouse Workers of America is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to enter into any bargaining contracts
until an election has been held and the proper representative has been
certified by the Board. A statement of the Regional Director intro-
duced in evidence at the hearing indicates that the Union represents
a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to
be appropriate?
We find that a question has arisen concerning the 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
commerce and the free flow of commerce.
V. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties stipulated, and we find, that all maintenance luggers $
employed at the Beekman Branch of Wilson & Co., Inc., excluding
manager, drivers,4 and office workers, if any, constitute a unit appro-
1 See Wilson & Co., Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 124 F. (2d) 845 ( 1941),
sustaining the Board ' s jurisdiction over other New York City branch houses operated
by the Company . See also Matter of Armour and Company of Delaware and Amalgam-
ated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of North America , Local No. 545, A. P. of L.,
33 N. L. R B. 154.
9 The Regional Director 's statement shows that the Union submitted 3 authorization
cards to him all dated January 8, 1942 , that all bore apparently genuine original sig-
natures ; and that the Company 's pay roll for January 23, 1942 , listing- 4 employees
eligible to the proposed unit, carried all of the names appearing on the cards.
3 Luggers unload the meat from cars at the piers, carry it from trucks into the branch
house , and assist in preparing it for shipment by Company trucks to retailers and
wholesalers.
4In its original petition the Union included both luggers and drivers in the unit it
deemed appropriate . • This petition was later amended to exclude drivers . Prior to this
780 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
priate for, the, purposes of collective bargaining.5 We further find
that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full
benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargain-
ing and otherwise will effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning,. representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot.
The Union stated that it desired to appear on the ballot as, simply,
"C. I. 0." This request is hereby granted. We shall direct that
those eligible to vote shall be the" employees in the appropriate unit
who' were employed during 'the pay-roll ' period immediately pre-
ceeding the date of our Direction of Election, subject to the limita'
tions and additions set forth therein.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW '
1. ;A' question affecting commerce,has arisen concerning the repre-'
sentation of employees of Wilson & Co. Inc., Chicago, Illinois, within
the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. All maintenance luggers employed'by 'Wilson & Co., Inc., at
its Beekman Branch in New York City, excluding manager, drivers,
and office workers, if any, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses' of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
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 Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as
amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Wilson & Co., Inc., Chicago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot
shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30)
amendment , the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen &
Helpers had asserted an interest in the proceeding ; after the amendment , the Board's
Examiner received a letter from counsel for the Teamsters , dated March 20, 1942, stating
that since the amended petition excluded drivers, the Teamsters "does not wish to appear
in the'present proceeding."
c The manager of the Beekman Branch stated that no other labor organization had
engaged in collective bargaining for employees of the Branch.
WILSON & CO., INC. 781
days from the date of this Direction of Election, under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Second Region,
acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor' Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regu-
lations, among all maintenance luggers' of the Company at its Beek-
man Branch in New York City who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of
Election, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military
service or training of the-United States, or temporarily laid off, but
.excluding manager, drivers, office workers, if any, and those em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by the C. I. 0. for the
purposes of collective bargaining.