Wilson & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 29, 1939

18 N.L.R.B. 958 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of WILSON & Co., INC. and LOCAL No. 25, UNITED
PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, OF PWOC , AFFILIATED WITH
CIO.
Case No. R-1656.-Decided December 29, 1939
Meat Packing Ii dustry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy con-
cerning representation of employees : rival organizations ; employer 's refusal
to grant recognition of union-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: all
production and maintenance employees with specified inclusions and exclusions-
Election Ordered.
Mr. Charles P. McErlean, for the Board.
Mr. James D. Cooney, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. John J. Brownlee, of Chicago, Ill., for the United.
Mr. Joseph J. Grish, of Chicago, Ill., for the Committee.
31r. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On May 27, 1939, Local 25, United Packinghouse Workers of
America, herein called the United, filed with the Regional Director
for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion 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 October 2,
1.939, 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
2, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to
conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On October 27, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the United,
Employees' Representative Committee, herein called the Committee,
a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected
18 N. L. R. B., No. 103.
958
WILSON & C'OMPANY, IN'C. 959
by the investigation, and Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen of North America, Local 87. On October 31, 1939, the
Regional Director issued a notice of continuance of hearing. On
November 25, 1939, the Company filed with the Regional Director a
motion for continuance of the hearing. On November 27, 1939, the
Regional Director issued a second notice of continuance. On Novem-
ber 30, 1939, the Company filed a second motion for continuance. On
December 2, 1939, the Regional Director issued a third notice of con-
tinuance. Pursuant to the third notice of continuance, a hearing was
held on December 11, 1939, at Chicago, Illinois, before Gustaf B.
Erickson, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North Amer-
cia, Local 87, did not enter an appearance at the hearing. At the
commencement of the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted a motion
to intervene filed by the Committee. The Board and the Company
were represented by counsel, the United and the Committee by their
representatives, and all 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. At the close
of the hearing, the United moved to amend its petition to conform
with the proof adduced by the United. The motion was granted.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
On December 21, 1939, a stipulation was entered into by the Com-
pany, the United, the Committee, and counsel for the Board covering
the eligibility of certain employees to participate in the selection of
representatives and asking that it.be made a part of the record. The
stipulation is hereby incorporated into and made a part of the record.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Wilson & Co., Inc., is a Delaware corporation having its principal
office and place of business at Chicago, Illinois. It operates 8 meat-
packing plants in as many States and about 90 branch houses through-
out the United States. The Company's packinghouse at Union Stock
Yards in Chicago, Illinois, is the only plant involved in this proceed-
ing. At this plant the Company purchases, assembles, and slaughters
livestock, and processes, manufactures, and distributes various meat
products and byproducts thereof.
During November 1939 the Company purchased and slaughtered at
its Chicago plant 40,000,000 pounds of livestock, valued at approxi-
mately $10,000,000. The livestock was purchased principally through
960 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
commission men doing business in Chicago. Approximately 18 per
cent of the hogs, 17 per cent of the sheep, 6 per cent of the calves,
and 2 per cent of the cattle slaughtered during November 1939 were
purchased by the Company directly from sources outside the State of
Illinois.
Approximately 86 per cent of the production at the Chicago plant
is shipped to points outside the State of Illinois by the Company or
by Wilson & Co. of New Jersey, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Company. Approximately 3,600 production and maintenance workers
are employed at the Chicago plant.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Local No. 25, United Packinghouse Workers of America, of the
Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to
membership the production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany at the Chicago plant.
Employees' Representative Committee is an unaffiliated labor
organization admitting to membership the production and mainte-
nance employees of the Company at the Chicago plant.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In the summer of 1939 the United sent a letter to the Company
requesting "bargaining rights" on behalf of the Company's produc-
tion and maintenance employees at the Chicago plant. The Company
received this request but made no reply.
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 commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
With the exception of three groups of employees, the United, the
Committee, and the Company were in agreement as to the composi-
tion of the appropriate unit, namely, all the production and mainte-
nance employees in 58 named departments at the Chicago plant, with
WILSON & COMPANY, INC. 961
certain specified inclusions and exclusions, as set forth in our Direc-
tion of Election below. We see no reason for departing from the
agreement of the parties in this respect. The three groups of
employees over whom there is disagreement are : employees in the
stables, employees in the printing and stationery department, and
garage help in the repair shop.
The Company has a team of horses which it shows at expositions
throughout the country. When these horses are in Chicago, they
are kept in stables at the Company's plant. During such times,
about five employees, who otherwise do general janitor work around
the plant, take care of the stables. The Company and Committee
desire that these employees be included in the appropriate unit, and
the United desires that they be excluded. The United contends that
these employees should be represented by International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers, herein called the
Teamsters Union, an American Federation of Labor affiliate, which
has a contract with the Company. However, these employees are
not covered by that contract. Under the circumstances we are of
the opinion that these employees may be properly included in the
unit.
There are 37 employees in the printing and stationery department,
7 of whom work on a salary basis and the remainder on an hourly
basis. The Company and the Committee desire the inclusion of all
these employees in the unit. The United urged the exclusion of all
the employees in this department from the unit, but stated that in
any event the 7 salaried employees should be excluded. All the
employees in this department have the same vacation plan and work
under the same conditions. They handle the paper supplies and
labels used in the Chicago plant and their duties take them into all
the departments of the plant. The 7 salaried employees are old
employees and are on a salary basis only because of their continued
participation in a group insurance plan which limits participation
to employees paid on a salary basis. In view of these facts, we find
that all the employees in the printing and stationery department may
properly be included in the unit.
The garage help in the repair shop are mechanics and laborers
who are engaged in the maintenance of all equipment used in the
plant, including hand-trucks. The Committee and the Company
desire their inclusion in the unit, and the United desires their exclu-
sion. The United contends that they should be excluded because
they take care of equipment which is handled by members of the
Teamsters' Union. The Company's contract with the Teamsters'
Union does not cover the mechanics and laborers in the repair shop.
We find that these employees are engaged in tasks closely related
to the duties of other employees performing production and mainte-
962 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nance work . Under the circumstances we find that such employees
may properly be included in the unit.
We find that all the production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its Chicago plant in the departments set forth in our
Direction of Election below, with the specific inclusions and exclu-
sions therein enumerated , constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to
employees of the Company full benefit of their right to self-organi-
zation and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the
policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Although the United and the Committee claim to represent a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit, the Company,
the United , and the Committee agreed that an election by secret
ballot is necessary to resolve the question concerning representation.
We will direct that an election by secret ballot be held.
The United stated that it had no objection to the use of the Com-
pany's pay roll of December 2, 1939, which was introduced in evi-
dence, for determining eligibility to vote in the election. The
Company requested that a pay roll nearest the date of the election
be used. The Committee did not state its position . A stipulation
entered into by the Company , the United , the Committee, and counsel
for the Board stated that the production and maintenance employees
of the Company who are laid off retain seniority for a period of 60
working days from the date of their lay -off, and provides that all
employees in the appropriate unit who had been laid off but who
retained their seniority on the pay -roll date designated by the Board
in its Direction of Election shall be eligible to participate in the
selection of representatives .. We see no reason for not accepting
this criterion . We will direct that the employees eligible to vole
in the election shall be those employees in the appropriate unit 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 and employees who were then or have since been laid off but
who during such pay-roll period retained their seniority , but exclud-
ing those who have since quit or been discharged for cause.
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,
WILSON & COMPANY, IN'C. 963
within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. All the production and maintenance employees of the Company
at its Chicago plant in the departments set forth in our Direction
of Election below, with the specific inclusions and exclusions therein
enumerated, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National
Labor Relations 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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized 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)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision 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, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations,
among all the production and maintenance employees in the beef
kill, beef heads, beef tallow, beef casings, tripe, sheep kill, meat
specialties, beef cutting, jobbing cutting, jobbing cooler, beef curing,
hog kill, hog cutting, hog casings, pork packing, pork trimming,
sweet pickle, dry salt, barrel pork, ham boning, oil house, tank house,
tennis string, hide cellar, shop fat sorters, ice manufacturing, car
icing, box factory, animal and poultry feed, hog hair, wool house,
dry rendering, smoked meats, canning room, sliced beef, sliced bacon,
margarine, produce, domestic sausage, summer sausage, sausage pack-
ing, refinery, cooked ham, smoked beef ham, casing sewing, casing
packing, Tendermade ham, trimming and loading, car lines, laundry,
general storeroom, freezer, cooper shop, boiler room, sanitation, en-
gine room, plant janitors and maintenance, and track-gang depart-
ments of the Company at its Chicago plant, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this
Direction, including carpenters, brick layers, electricians, machinists,
blacksmiths, scale repairers, millwrights, housemen, steam fitters,
tinners, painters, employees in M. B. M. storeroom, welders, plant
elevator operators, employees in the printing and stationery depart-
ment, employees in the stables, mechanics and laborers in the repair
shop, manual laborers in the storeroom, matrons, packinghouse engi-
neers, tractor drivers, employees who did not work during. such
964 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and employees
who were then or have since been laid off but who during such pay-
roll period retained their seniority, but excluding superintendents,
assistant superintendents, foremen, assistant foremen, general office
janitors, general office staff, fire-protection employees, policemen,
watchmen, guides, student employees, medical-department employees,
teamsters, chauffeurs, shop fat drivers, safety inspectors, research
department employees, storeroom employees doing clerical work,
chemists, technicians, restaurant employees, retail meat market em-
ployees, clerical and office workers, timekeepers, steady-time checkers,
steady-time scalers, laboratory employees, messengers, mailing-de-
partment employees, salesmen, architects, employees in the advertis-
ing, sales, and blueprint departments, floorladies, assistant floorladies,
office stationery department employees, other supervisory employees,
and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to
determine whether they desire to be represented by Local No. 25,
United Packinghouse Workers of America, of the Packinghouse
Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, or by Employees' Representative Commit-
tee, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.