Kraft Foods Co.

In the Matter of KRAFT FOODS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and JACK HUTCHINSON, PETITIONER and LOCAL No. 406, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, UNION Case No. 7-RD-36.-Decided April 29, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition for decertification duly filed, a hearing was held before George A. Sweeney, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rul- ings 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-member panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and Murdock]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The Petitioner asserts that the Union is no longer the bargaining representative of the employees of the Employer as defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act. 3. The Employer and the Union signed a contract on October 1, 1947, for a term of 1 year and with a clause providing for automatic renewal unless 60 days' prior notice was given by either party. Prior to August 1, 1948, the Union notified the Employer that it wished to negotiate a new contract. The Union did not appear at the hearing.- Although no new contract has been signed by the Union and the Em- ployer, the latter continues to recognize the Union as the representative of its employees. It is clear, from the above undisputed facts, that no contract is presently in force which might serve as a bar to the instant proceed- - The Union was served with notice of the hearing. The hearing contains no eaplana- tion 'for the failure to•appear. We do not construe the failure to appear, standing alone, as a disclaimer of the Union's interest in the representation of the employees involved herein. See Matter of Gabriel Steel Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 1361 , and cases cited therein. 83 N. L. R. B., No. 39. 331 332 DECISIONS OP NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ings. Therefore, we find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All warehouse employees and deliverymen at the Employer's branch at Grand Rapids, Michigan, excluding office and clerical employees, plant protection employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, 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 voting group described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, 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 excluding em- ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Local No. 406, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL.