Farmers Feed Co.

In the Matter Of FARMERS FEED COMPANY; NATIONAL YEAST CORPORA- TION; AND UNIVERSAL GRAIN COMPANY, EMPLOYERS and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 2-R-7743, 2-R-7744 and 2-R-7747.-Decided December 19,1947 Mr. Morris Weinstein, of Union, N. J., Mr. Charles Goldman, of New York City, and Paskus, Gordon & Hyman, by Mr. Charles H. Lieb, for the Employers. Messrs. Samuel R. Isard and William F. Nies, of Newark, N. J., for the Petitioner. Samuel L. Rothbard, by Mr. Samuel Rosenthal, of Newark, N. J., for the Intervenor. 0 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES Upon separate petitions duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board, on June 4,1947, conducted separate prehearing elections among the employees of the Employers in the alleged appropriate units to determine, in each of the units, whether the employees desired to be represented by the Petitioner or by the Intervenor for the purposes of collective bargaining. At the close of the elections, separate Tallies of Ballots were fur- nished the parties. The Tallies show : (a) All of the 8 eligible voters in the Farmers Feed Company unit voted for the Petitioner. (b) Of the approximately 15 eligible voters in the Universal Grain Company unit, 14 voted-10 for the Petitioner and 4 for the Intervenor. (c) Of the approximately 60 eligible voters in the National Yeast Corporation unit, 55 voted-51 for the Petitioner and 4 for the Intervenor. Thereafter, a consolidated hearing was held at New York City on dune 26, 1947, before Sidney Reitman, hearing officer. The hearing 75 N. L. R. B., No. 71. 617 618 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following: FIN DINGS or FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYERS Farmers Feed Company, a New York corporation, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of dried brewers grains. It maintains plants and factories in New York City, Buffalo, New York, and Newark, New Jersey. We are concerned in this proceeding solely with the Newark, New Jersey, plant. During the past year, the Em- ployer purchased for processing at the Newark plant materials valued in excess of $100,000, of which approximately 33 percent was shipped to the plant from points outside the State of New Jersey. During the same period, the Employer sold from the Newark plant-manufactured products valued in excess of $500,000, of which approximately 75 percent was shipped to points outside the State. National Yeast Corporation, a New Jersey corporation, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of bakers yeast. Its rrin- -cipal office and plaint is in Belleville, New Jersey ; it also maintains a plant in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and warehouses in principal cities throughout the East and Midwest. We are concerned in this proceed- ing solely with its Belleville, New Jersey, plant. During the past year. the Employer purchased for processing at the Belleville plant materials valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which approximately 75 percent was shipped to the plant from points outside the State of New Jersey. During the same period the Employer sold from this plant finished products valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which ap- proximately 75 percent was shipped to points outside the State. Universal Grain Company, a New Jersey corporation, is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of dried brewers grains. Its plant and principal office is in Newark, New Jersey. During the 6 months preceding the hearing in this case, it purchased silbstantially all its raw materials from two breweries located within the State of New Jersey. These purchases were valued in excess of $100,000. Dur- ing the same period, it sold finished products valued in excess of $100,000, of which approximately 75 percent was shipped to points outside the State. Each Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. FARMERS FEED COMPANY II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 619 The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em- ployees of each of the Employers. International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Soft Drink & Dis- tillery Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of each of the Employers. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Each of the Employers refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the Peti- tioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of each of the Employers, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Employers and the Petitioner agree that the units described below are appropriate.' The Intervenor contended, at the hearing, that these units are inappropriate, but it neither advanced reasons nor adduced evidence to support this contention. We find that the following units are appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: 1. All production and maintenance employees employed by Farmers Feed Company at its Newark, New Jersey, plant, excluding truck drivers, firemen, foremen, aind guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. 2. Al] production and maintenance employees employed by National Yeast Corporation at its Belleville, New Jersey, plant, excluding steamfitters, painters, electricians, operating engineers, foremen, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. 3. All production and maintenance employees employed by Univer- sal Grain Company; excluding firemen, truck drivers, foremen, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Intervenor contests the validity of the prehearing elections. We find no merit in this.contention.2 They were conducted before the ef- ' These are units pieseutl^ covered by collective bargaining contracts between the Peti- tioner and the Employ ei s 2 Matter of Lehigh River Mitts, Inc., 75 N L R B 280. 620 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD fective date-and, indeed, even before the enactment-of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947. Inasmuch as the Petitioner has won all three elections, we shall certify it as the collective bargaining representative of the employees in the separate units heretofore found appropriate. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that American Federation of Labor has been designated and selected by a majority of all employees in each of the following units as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, as amended, the said organization is the exclusive representative of all employees in each of these units for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other con- ditions of employment : (1) All production and maintenance employees at the Newark, New Jersey, plant of Farmers Feed Company, Newark, New Jersey ex- cluding truck drivers, firemen, foremen, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. (2) All production and maintenance employees at the Belleville, New Jersey, plant of National Yeast Corporation, Belleville, New Jersey, excluding steamfitters, painters, electricians, operating engi- neers, foremen, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. (3) All production and maintenance employees of Universal Grain Company, Newark, New Jersey, excluding firemen, truck drivers, fore- men, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.