Nashville Cotton Oil Mill Corp.

In the Matter of NASHVILLE COTTON OIL MILL CORPORATION,' EMPLOYER and FOOD, TOBACCO, AGRICULTURAL AND ALLIED WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, LOCAL 150, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 10-R-1946.-Decided September 9,1946 Mr. Ernest Rice, Jr., of Nashville, Tenn., for the Employer. Miss Mary Lou Koger, of Nashville, Tenn., for the Petitioner. Mr. Cecil T. Johnston, of Nashville, Tenn., and Mr. Thomas G. Evans, of Knoxville, Tenn., for the UMW. Mr. Seymour M. Alpert, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon an amended petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Nashville, Tennessee, on July 9, before Albert D. Maynard, Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner'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 : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Nashville Cotton Oil Mill Corporation, a Tennessee corporation with its offices and only plant located at Nashville, Tennessee, is engaged in the production and processing of cotton seed, cloth, vege- table oil,-soy bean cake, meal, and mixed feeds for poultry and live- stock. During 1945, the Employer purchased approximately $1,000,000 worth of raw materials for use in its business, of which about 90 per- cent represented shipments to it from points outside the State of Tennessee. During the same period, the Employer's finished products were valued in excess of $1,000,000, approximately 50 percent of which represented shipments to points outside the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged, in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. ' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the healing 70 N. L. R. B., No. 111. 1248 NASHVILLE COTTON OIL MILL CORPORATION II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 1249 The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. District 50, United Mine Workers of America, herein called the UMW, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On May.22,1946, the Petitioner advised the Employer that it repre- sented a majority of its employees and requested recognition as their exclusive bargaining agent. The Employer failed to grant such recog- nition. Thereafter, the Petitioner filed its petition on June 14, 1946. As of the date of the petition herein, the UMW had been the con- tractual bargaining representative of the Employer's production and maintenance employees for several years. The most recent agreement between the Employer and the UMW was entered into on July 9, 1945. This agreement provided that "it shall be, and remain in full force and effect from July 1, 1945 . . . for a period of one year, and there- after for successive one year periods, unless one of the parties . . . on or before the 30th day preceding the termination date, shall notify the other party in writing of its desire to modify or terminate the same." By letter dated May 25, 1946, the UMW notified the Employer that it desired to modify the contract by amending the provision, among others, pertaining to wages and rates' of pay. Thereafter, on June 11, 1946, the Employer and the UMW held a conference during which the proposed contract modifications were discussed and considered. As noted above, the petition herein was filed on June 14, 1946. However, it is clear from the UMW's letter requesting that the con- tract be modified and the ensuing modification negotiations that the contract between the Employer and the UMW was not' renewed. Accordingly, we find that the Petitioner's representation claim and petition in support thereof were timely, and that no bar exists to a current determination of representatives. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The'parties agree that the appropriate unit should consist of all production and maintenance employees of the Con}pany, excluding office and clerical employees and supervisory employees. There is, however, some question as to the inclusion in, or exclusion from, the 1250 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD unit of meal cooks, the Petitioner and the UMW desiring to include them, and the Employer taking no definite position. The Company employs three individuals in this classification. Each one works on a separate shift in the press room, and is directly responsible to the plant superintendent. In addition to performing actual production work themselves, the meal cooks oversee the work of the other seven or eight employees in the press room, and appear to have the power to hire, transfer, and make effective recommen- dations with respect to discipline and discharge of their subordinates. Accordingly, we find that the meal cooks are supervisory employees within our customary definition of that term, and we shall exclude then from the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em- ployer, excluding clerical employees, meal cooks, and all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. TBE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. As noted previously, the meal cooks were excluded from the unit as supervisory employees. However, it appears that by the time an election is held herein the meal cooks miy lose their supervisory powers as a result of the Employer's contemplated change in operations. Should such change occur before the voting eligibility date established herein, and should the meal cooks be permanently transferred to non- supervisory status, they shall be deemed eligible to vote; otherwise, they shall be deemed ineligible to vote.3 DIRECTION 'OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for' the purposes of collective bargaining with Nashville Cotton Oil Mill Cor- poration, Nashville, Tennessee, 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent 2 Also termed press room foremen. 3 Matter of Basic Magnesium, Incorporated, 56 N L R B. 412; Matter of Manganese Ore Company, 54 N L. R. B. 1192. NASHVILLE COTTON OIL MILL CORPORATION 1251 for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11 , of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3 , as amended, and to our determination in Sec- tion V, above, 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 employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off , and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in per- son at the polls , 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, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Food , Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America, Local 150, CIO , or by District 50, United Mine Workers of America , A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, or by neither. MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS , JR., took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 712344-47-vol. 70-80