Swift & Co.

In the Matter of SwiFT & COMPANY and UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O. Case No. 17-R-1176.-Decided April 30, 1946 Mr. John P. Staley, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Messrs. Harvey Mader, of Chicago, Ill., and Ralph Baker, of Kansas City, Mo., for the C. I. O. Messrs. Don Mahon, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Leo J. Hausman, Charles Ready, and Cecil M. Harvey, all of St. Joseph, Mo., for the Brotherhood. Messrs. E. A. Solberg and Mike Roth, both of Kansas City, Mo., for the A. F. of L. Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board. bECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by United Packinghouse Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em- ployees of Swift & Company, South St. Joseph, Missouri, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Harry L. Browne, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at St. Joseph, Missouri, on March 19, 1946. The Company, the C. I. 0., National Brotherhood of Packinghouse Workers, C. U. A., herein called the Brotherhood, and Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. of L., appeared and par- ticipated.' All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the ,following: "Motions to intervene by the Brotherhood and the A. F . of L. were granted at the bearing. 67 N. L. R B., No. 122. 1002 SWIFT & COMPANY FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 1003 Swift & Company is an Illinois corporation with its principal office and place of business in Chicago, Illinois. The Company is engaged in the business of processing and packing meat, operating plants in numerous States throughout the United States. Only the Company's South St. Joseph, Missouri, plant is involved in this proceeding. During the year 1945, the Company purchased livestock, material, and supplies valued in excess of $10,000,000, of which approximately 9 percent was shipped to the South St. Joseph plant from points out- side the State of Missouri. During the same period, the Company sold and delivered from its South St. Joseph plant finished products valued in excess of $11,000,000, of which approximately 95 percent was shipped outside the State of Missouri. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Packinghouse Workers of America is a labor organiza- tion affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admit- ting to membership employees of the Company. National Brotherhood of Packinghouse Workers is a labor or- ganization affiliated with the Confederated Unions of America, ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North Amer- ica is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In April 1943, the Brotherhood and the Company executed a con- tract, retroactively effective as of August 20, 1942, to continue in opera- tion until August 11, 1943, and for annual periods thereafter, "subject to reopening by either party on written notice mailed at least 30 days prior to August 11, of any year." This contract was renewed auto- matically in 1943. Before the 1944 effective date of the renewal clause, the C. I. O. apprised the Company of its rival claim to representa- tion and a consent election was held on July 26, 1944. The Brother- hood won this election and was designated by the Regional Director on August 2, 1944, as exclusive bargaining representative. On May 15, 1945, the Brotherhood and the Company entered into a new agreement for a term expiring August 11, 1946.2 Thereafter, on June 3, 1945, S Among other things, the renewal clause of the 1942 contract was embodied within the terms of the new agreement. 1004 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the C. I. O. again notified the Company of its claim to represent the employees. On June 9, 1945, the C. I. O. filed its petition herein, and on February 6, 1946, it filed an amended petition. The Brotherhood raises the May 15, 1945, agreement as a bar to this proceeding, but the C. I. O. insists that, having asserted its rival claim in timely fashion, insofar as the 1942 contract is concerned, the 1945 agreement cannot be considered to preclude a present determina- tion of representatives inasmuch as it is nothing more than a pre- mature extension of the earlier contract.3 As we held in the recent Omaha case,4 however, a new agreement made in bona fide pursuance of the contracting union's designation at any time within the one-year period following such designation cannot be regarded as a premature extension of an earlier contract consummated before the designation. Inasmuch as the C. I. O.'s rival claim was made after the execution of the May 15, 1945, contract, we find that the contract is a bar to a cur- rent determination of representatives. ORDER The National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives of employees of Swift & Company, South St. Joseph, Missouri, filed by United Pack- inghouse Workers of America, C. I. 0., be, and it hereby is, dismissed. CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order. 8 See Matter of Memphis Furniture Mfg. Co., 51 N. L. R. B. 1447; Matter of Wichita Union Stockyards Company, 40 N. L. R. B. 369. 4 See Matter of Omaha Packing Company, 67 N. L. R. B. 804