General Baking Co.

In the Matter of GENERAL BAKING COMPANY (BOND PLANT), EM- PLOYER and BAKERY DRIVERS' UNION No. 264, INTER-,NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER In the Matter of HALL BAKING COMPANY, EDIPLOYER-PETITIONER and AUTO MECHANICS LODGE No. 1053, OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCI- ATION OF MACHINISTS and BAKERY DRIVERS' UNION No. 264, INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSE- MEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L. Cases Nos. 3-R-1393 and 3-RE-18, rsspectively.-Decided March 31, 1947 Mr. A. F. Harter, of Buffalo, N. Y. for General Baking Company. Mr. George Faunce, of New York City, for Hall Baking Company. Mr. Robert A. Smith, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Teamsters. Messrs. H. I. Smith and Albert Chandler, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Machinists. Miss Eleanor Schwartzbach, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing in these cases was held at Buffalo, New York, on December 6, 1946, before Francis X. Helgesen, hearing officer.' The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearilig are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing the Machinists moved to dismiss the petitions on the ground that the unit sought by the Teamsters is inappropriate. For the reasons set forth in Section IV, the motion is hereby denied. Upon the entire record in the consolidated cases, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following: 1 Case No 3-R-1394, involving garage employees of Ontario Biscuit Company, was orig- inally consolidated with Cases Nos 3-R-1393 and 3-RE-18. At the consolidated hearing the Teamsters, the Machinists, and Ontario Biscuit Company agreed to resolve the question raised in Case No 3-R-1394 by a consent election Thereafter, on December 9, 1946, the Board issued an order severing Case No. 3-R-1394 from the instant cases. 73 N. L. R. B., No. 9. 44 GENERAL BAKING COMPANY FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYERS 45 General Baking Company, a Delaware corporation, having its principal office in New York City, operates, in addition to other plants, a plant at Buffalo, New York, known as the Bond Plant, wherein the Employer is engaged in the production and distribution of bread and allied products which are produced and sold under the trade name "Bond Bread." Only the plant at Buffalo, New York, is involved in these proceedings. During the 6-month period ending July 1, 1946, the Employer purchased raw materials, consisting principally of yeast, flour, milk, sugar, and shortening, valued at more than $250,000, of which approximately 50 percent represented shipments from points outside the State of New York. During the same period, the Em- ployer sold products valued in excess of $750,000. All sales are made at wholesale to stores, restaurants, and institutions within the State of New York. Hall Baking Company, a Delaware corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Baking Company, which has its principal office and place of business in New York City, and operates many bakeries located throughout the United States. Only the plant of Hall Baking Company at Buffalo, New York, is involved in these pro- ceedings. The Employer is engaged in the baking -and distribution of bread and cake sold at retail in a house-to-house distribution with- in an approximate radius of 40 miles of Buffalo. During the 6-month period ending December 1, 1946, the Employer purchased raw ma- terials, consisting principally of flour, sugar, shortening, milk, yeast, fruit, eggs, bread, and cake wrappers valued at more than $500,000, 75 percent of which was shipped to its plant from points outside the State of New York. During the same period the Employer sold finished products valued in excess of $3,000,000, all of which was sold within the State of New York. Each of the Employers admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. It. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Bakery Drivers' Union No. 264, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, IvI areliousemen and Helpers of America, herein called the Teamsters, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employers. Auto Mechanics Lodge No. 1053, of the International Association of Machinists, herein called the Machinists, is a labor organization, claiming to represent employees of the Employers. 46 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employers refuse to recognize the Teamsters as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employers until the Teamsters has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. By letter dated August 26, 1946, the Teamsters notified Hall Baking Company that it represented a majority of the -Employer's garage employees and requested a conference for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Employer had a contract with the Machinists cover- ing these employees, expiring October 31, 1946. In view of the con- flicting claim to representation made by the Teamsters, the Employer filed a petition for certification of representatives with the Board. In September 1946, the Teamsters requested recognition as the ex- clusive bargaining representative of the garage employees of General Baking Company. The Employer refused this request since it had a contract with the Machinists covering these employees, expiring October 31, 1946. Neither Employer urges, and we find, that neither contract is a bar to these proceedings. We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employers, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNITS The Teamsters seeks separate units confined to the garage employees of each Employer; the Machinists and General Baking Company urge that a single unit include the garage employees of both Employers. Hall Baking Company agrees with the position taken by the Teamsters. The parties are in agreement as to the categories to be included in the bargaining unit. Each Employer has recognized the Machinists as the bargaining representative for its garage employees for approximately 8 years, and until about 1942 each Employer negotiated individually with the Machinists for its employees. Since that time five bakery companies 2 in Buffalo, including the Employers herein, constituting themselves the Employer Bargaining Group,' have joined in negotiating contracts with the Machinists covering their garage employees. The estab- lished bargaining procedure has been for the Employer Bargaining Group to designate a spokesman who met with representatives of the several companies and the Machinists to negotiate a contract. After 2 General Baking Company , Hall Baking Company , Continental Baking Company, Na- tional Biscuit Company, and O 'Rourke Baking Company . A petition filed by the Teamsters foi the garage employees of the O 'Rouike Baking Company was withdrawn by the Team- sters when the Board refused to assert jurisdiction. 3 The parties do not contend that the Employer Bargaining Group is a legal association. GENERAL BAKING COMPANY 47 reaching agreement on all provisions of the contract, individual con- tracts were prepared and signed by each company. There never has been a master contract signed by representatives of all the companies, and they are not bound to accept all the provisions of any contract.4 Grievances are handled on an individual plant basis except when the grievance is one common to all members of the Employer Bar- gaining Group. The Employer Bargaining Group meets socially, but does not act in concert in advertising or general business matters 5 The members of the Employer Bargaining Group did, however, agree to a common operating program during the V-J Day celebration. The record discloses that there has been no meeting of the Employer Bar- gaining Group and the Machinists since the conclusion of negotiations for the 1945-1946 contract. From the foregoing facts, we are not persuaded that the establish- ment of a multiple-employer unit of garage employees is warranted. Moreover, Hall Baking Company, by now asserting that its garage employees comprise a separate unit, reveals an intention to pursue an individual course of action with respect to its labor relations. We •have frequently held that such intent is controlling e and, accordingly, we find that a separate unit comprising the garage employees of each Employer is appropriate. We find that all garage employees of Hall Baking Company and General Baking Company, respectively, including auto mechanics, bodymen and upholsterers, greasers, gassers, painters, helpers and washers, but excluding garage superintendents and all other super- visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci- pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec- tively recommend such action, constitute separate units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS" As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with General Baking Company, (Bond Plant), Buffalo, New York, and Hall Baking Company, Buf- falo, New York, separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted 'In at least one instance General Baking Company refused to execute a contract unless and until the contract and all provisions were acceptable to all the members of the Em- ployer Bargaining Group 5 The Employer Bargaining Group appeared before the war Labor Board on behalf of its members in 1944. 9 Matter of Great Bear Logging Company, 59 N. L. R. B 701 ; Matter of Jalmer Berg, 59 N L R B 685; Matter of Marcellus M. Murdock, 67 N. L. R. B 1426, Matter of Swan- son Brothers Logging Company, 71 N. L It. B. 614 ; Matter of Hummel Furniture Manu- facturing Company, 72 N. L. R B 301 7 Any participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot. 739926-47-vol. 73-5 48 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 Third Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 4, among the employees in the respective units found appro- priate 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 em- ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them- selves in person 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 elections, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Bakery Drivers' Union No. 264, In- ternational Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, A. F. of L., or by Auto Mechanics Lodge No. 1053, of the International Association of Machinists, for the pur- poses of collective bargaining, or by neither. CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Elections.