Iowa Packing Co.

In the Matter Of IOWA PACKING COMPANY and PACKINGHOUSE WORK. EIS ORGANIZING. COMMITTEE, ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED PACKING- HOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 89, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Case No. R-412.Decided November 23, 19122 Jurisdiction : meat packing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: Com- pany refused to accord petitioner recognition ; existing contract , no bar to; election necessary ; probationary employees eligible to vote. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all hourly paid production and main- tenance employees, including storage employees and truck drivers, but exclud- ing all general office and superintendent 's office employees, medical department employees, time and employment office employees, credit union and snack employees, standards department employees , policemen and watchmen , super- intendent, division superintendents, general foremen , foremen, assistant fore- men, gang leaders, salaried clerks, and salaried scalers. Mr. John P. Staley and Mr. J. Wesley Blades, of Chicago, Ill., for 'the Company. Mr. Ralph L. Helstein, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the PWOC. Mr. Robert D. Jackson, of Des Moines, Iowa , for the Independent. Mr. Joseph E. Gubbins, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Packinghouse Workers Organizing Com- mittee, on behalf of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local No. 89, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the PWOC, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Iowa Packing Company, Des Moines, Iowa, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela- tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice be- fore Stephen M. Reynolds, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Des Moines, Iowa, on October 16, 1942. The Company, the PWOC, and the Local Independent Union of Packing House Workers, herein 45 N. L. R. B., No. 110. 733 734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD called the Independent, appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Company and the PWOC'filed briefs, which the Board has considered.-. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Iowa Packing Company is an Iowa -corporation engaged at Des Moines, Iowa, in the general business of 'purchasing, slaughtering, and processing hogs, cattle, calves, sheep, and lambs. All its capital stock is owned by Swift & Company, a Nation-wide meat packing and processing organization. During the fiscal year 1941, the Com- pany's purchases of livestock for processing amounted to approxi- Inately $26,000,000, almost all of which was purchased within the State of Iowa. During the same period 83 percent of its total sales, amounting to approximately $25,639,000 went to points outside the State of Iowa. The Company concedes that it is engaged in. com- merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, on behalf of United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local -No. 89, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Local Independ- ent Union of Packing House Workers of Des Moines, Iowa, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Swift Employees, are labor organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.' III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Prior to filing its petition -in this proceeding, the PWOC had requested collective bargaining rights and-had renewed this request on.two occasions in August 1942; the-Company declined to recognize or bargain with the PWOC because it had a contract with the Inde- pendent which it believed to be a bar, and because the PWOC had not been certified by the Board. The Company and the Independent contend that the contract which was entered into between the Independent and the Company on i International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers, Local' 90, A. F. of L , herein called the Teamsters , sought to intervene in this proceeding ; claiming jurisdiction over the Company's truck duvers and asserting that they should be excluded from any unit. The Trial Examiner denied the request to intervene, since the representa- tive of the Teamsters admitted that his organization represented none of the truck drivers. IOWA PACKING COMPANY 735 January 14, 1942, is a bar to a present determination of representa- tives. This contract by its terms was to remain in effect for a period of 1 year. However, in February 1942 International Brotherhood of Swift Employees, herein called the Brotherhood, of which the In- dependent is an affiliate, and Swift & Company entered into negoti- ations contemplating the execution of a single contract which would cover all plants operated by Swift & Company at which the Brother- hood, or an affiliate thereof, was the bargaining representative. These negotiations were carried on between the Brotherhood and Swift & Company for some time and the matter is now pending be- fore the National War Labor Board. It appears from the evidence that the proposed new contract would supersede the local contract between the Company and the Independent. Since the Company and the Independent have entered into negotiations for a new con- tract and since the present contract-will shortly expire, we find that it is not a bar to an investigation and certification of representatives. - A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at the hearing, indicates- that the PWOC represents a substanital number of employees in the proposed appropriate unit.2- We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The parties agreed that all hourly, paid production and mainte-, nance employees, including storage employees, should be included in the proposed appropriate unit. The parties further agreed that all general office and superintendent's office employees, medical de- partment employees, time and employment office employees, credit union and snack employees, standards department employees, po- licemen and watchmen, superintendent, division superintendents, general foremen, foremen, assistant foremen, gang leaders,3 salaried clerks and salaried scalers, should be excluded from the proposed appropriate unit. The only dispute is with respect, to the truck 'The Regional Director's statement shows that the PWVOC submitted 484 member- ship application cards and, in addition, 79 membership application cards were submitted to the Trial Examiner at the heaung. The Regional Director found that 438 cards sub- mitted to him bore apparently genuine signatures which were the names of persons on the Company's pay ioll of July 15, 1942, which contained 1,057 names. These cards were all dated in 1942 , mostly in May and June The 79 cards submitted to the Trial Examiner were not checked against the pay roll , but all bore apparently genuine signatures and were dated in September and October 1942. As estimated by a witness for the Company, approximately 1,100 persons are now employed within the proposed unit 3 The parties agreed that seven named individuals were gang leaders and that they, or, any individuals holding jobs they now hold at the time of the election , should be excluded. They are not in agreement as to whether these seven are all the gang leaders employed by the Company , although no evidence was adduced to show that there are others. Our exclusion of gang leaders applies to all such employees, whether or not they were specifically named. 736 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD drivers; the - PWOC would exclude them whereas the Company and the Independent would include them. - The truck drivers spend 90 percent of their time , outside of the plant -and' occasionally make interstate trips. The other 10 percent of their time is spent in the plant assisting in putting up orders. The PWOC contends that since the truck drivers are eligible for membership in the Teamsters , in the interest of harmony, they should be excluded from the proposed appropriate unit . ^ However, the Teamsters has no representation among them . The truck drivers are included in the unit set up under the contract between the Com- pany and the Independent, and we shall, therefore, include the truck drivers. We find that all hourly paid production and maintenance em- ployees, including storage employees and truck drivers, but exclud- ing all general office and superintendent's office employees, medical department employees , time and employment office employees, credit union and snack employees , standards department employees , police- men and watchmen, superintendent, division superintendents, gen- eral foremen, foremen, assistant foremen, gang leaders, salaried clerks, and salaried scalers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. A problem arises, however, in the case of the probationary or temporary em- ployees. The PWOC urges that only employees who have been in the employ of the Company for a period of 90 days at the date of the Direction of Election should be eligible to vote. The Com- pany and the Independent desire that all such employees be per- mitted to vote. The record shows that the contract between the Company and Independent treated such employees as probationary or temporary. The provision in the contract relating to these em- ployees reads as follows : A probationary period of 90 days shall apply in the case of each new employee, during which he shall be considered a temporary employee and may be laid off without reference to seniority. There is no obligation to rehire such employee. Evidence presented by the Company, which was uncontradicted, showed that 90 percent of these employees became regular employees after the 90-day period . The Company claims that there is no dis- tinction made between the rates of pay or the conditions of employment between employees with or without seniority . Since there is no sub- 0 IOWA PACKING COMPANY 737 stantial difference between the status of temporary and that of regular employees they are entitled to vote in the election. We shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to,vote in the election shall be all those 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. I 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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Iowa Packing Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 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 ,supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, 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 probationary or temporary employees and 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 employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, on behalf of the United Packinghouse Workers of Amer- ica, Local No. 89, affiliated with the C. I. 0., or by Local Independent Union of Packing House Workers of Des Moines, Iowa, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Swift- Employees, for the purpose of collective bargaining, or by neither. MR. WM. M. LEIsiRsoN took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 499308-43-^ of 4F--47