Wilson & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 9, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 1316 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of WILSON & Co., INC.,' EMPLOYER and LocsE PAUL
TUTrLE, PETITIONER and GENERAL TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 583, A. F. L., UNION
Case No. 16-RD-36.-Decided March 9, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition for decertification duly filed, a hearing was held
before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The
hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in the case the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union is no longer the representative of the Employer's employees,
as defined in Section 9 (a) of the amended act.
The Union, a labor organization affiliated with the American Fed-
eration of Labor, was certified by the Board on December 27, 1946,
as the result of a petition filed in Case No. 16-R-2015, as representative
of the employees here involved.
3. The Employer and the Union had a contract which expired on
March 3, 1948. On July 2, 1948, while meeting with the Union to
negotiate a new contract, the Employer was notified by letter from the
Petitioner of his intention to file the present decertification petition.
The Employer thereupon broke off negotiations, and no new contract
has been executed.
1 The name of the Employer appears as corrected at the hearing.
*Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray
81 N. L. R. B., No. 208.
1316
WILSON & CO., INC. 1317
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer, the Petitioner, and the Union agree , and we find,
that the following is a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's
Abilene, Texas, plant, including truck drivers, but excluding all tem-
porary employees,2 all office employees, field men, plant manager,
assistant plant manager, office manager, general superintendent, assist-
ant general superintendent, picking room foreman, feeding station
foreman, creamery superintendent, assistant creamery superintendent,
egg breaking foreman, receiving clerks, packing room foreman,
shipping clerks, test room foreman, egg drying foreman, poultry super-
intendent, hatchery manager, and all other supervisors as defined in
the Act.3
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Wilson & Co., Inc., Abilene,
Texas, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possi-
ble, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Six-
teenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph
numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period im-
mediately 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, but excluding those employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to de-
termine whether or not they desire to be represented by General
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local
583, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
2 All the parties agree that employees who work for the Employer only during the peak
seasons should be considered to be temporary employees . Permanent employees are those
employees who are on the Employer ' s pay roll not only during peak seasons but in the
relatively slack periods from the latter part of June through September and from the latter
part of December through the first part of February.
2 The above unit description is identical with that set forth in the order of certification
issued December 27, 1946, except for sight revision to conform with the provisions of the
amended Act