Sioux City Brewing Co.

In the Matter of Sioux CITY BREWING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and GENERAL DRIVERS, WAREHOUSEMEN & HELPERS LOCAL UNION No. 383, A. F. or L., PETITIONER Case No. 18-1?-1778.-Decided April 10, 1947 Messrs. Louis S. Goldberg, and Herman Galinsky, of Sioux City, Iowa, for the Employer. Mr. C. I. McNutt, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Mr. Frank Santi, of Sioux City, Iowa, for the Petitioner. Mr. Marvin Holz, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Intervenor. Mr. Stanley R. Strauss, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Sioux City, Iowa, on February 7, 1947, before Stephen Al. Reynolds, hearing officer. The hearing 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 : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. TILE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Sioux City Brewing Company, an Iowa corporation, is engaged at Sioux City, Iowa, in the manufacture and sale of beer and malt bever- ages. During 1946, the Employer sold products valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which approximately 20 percent was sold outside Iowa. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation,of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, and Soft Drink Workers of America, and Brewery Local No. 178, herein called 73 N. L. R. B., No 60. 325 326 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING lit PRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate -unit. The Intervenor and the Employer are parties to a 1-year contract expiring on May 1, 1947, which contains a clause automatically re- newing the contract from year to year unless notice is given by either party 30 days prior to any annual expiration date. The Petitioner filed the instant petition in the Regional Office on January 6, 1947. The Intervenor contends that the contract is a bar to this proceeding. Under well-established principles of the Board, and as we find, the contract cannot operate to bar a current determination of representa- tives. The petition was filed in advance of the operative date of the automatic renewal clause, and the anniversary date of the contract is now less than 1 month distant We find that a question affecting coninlerce 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. IN'. THE APPROPRLI'LE UNIT We find, in substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all production, maintenance, and garage employees at the Em- ployer's plant, excluding all office and clerical employees, drivers, driver-salesmen, and all 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. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Petitioner and the Intervenor disagree as to whether Frank Parish and Melvin Sorenson are eligible to vote in the election. The Employer takes no position on this issue. Parish and Sorenson were hired as extra helpers during the busy season, and later released. The Petitioner contends that they were temporarily discharged, and should be eligible to vote. The Intervenor contends the employees were per- 'Matter of Toledo Casket Company, 71 N L R B 821; Matter of Clark Bros Co, Inc, 66 N L R B 849 L On September 19, 1945, the Board found that drivers at the Employer 's plant consti- tuted an appropriate unit and on October 23 , 1945, certified the Petitioner as their bar- gaining representative . Matter df Sioux City Brewing Company , 63 N. L R B 964. S1vUX CITY BREWING COMPANY 327 maneptly discharged . The evidence adduced at the hearing is in- conclusive, and we are unable to determine whether Parish and Soren- son have a reasonable expectancy of reemployment in the near future. Accordingly, we shall make no determination as to their eligibility at this time. Instead we hereby direct the Regional Director to permit Parish and Sorenson to vote, but to challenge and impound their bal- lots pending the outcome of the election . If the challenged ballots of these individuals are sufficient in number to affect the election results, we shall direct a further investigation as to their eligibility. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Sioux City Brewing Company, Sioux City, Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) clays from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth 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 Regula- tions-Series 4, 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 em- ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily ]aid 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 election, to determine whether they desire to be represented by General Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers Local Union No. 383, A. F. of L., or by International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, and Soft Drink Workers of Anmerica, and Brewery Local No. 178, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargain- ing, or by neither. I Any participant in the election herein directed may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.