Swift & Co.

SWIFT & COMPANY 589 Swift & Company and United Packinghouse, Food and Allied Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 11-RC-2469 June 30, 1967 DECISION ON REVIEW AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND JENKINS On January 19, 1967, the Acting Regional Director for Region 11 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceed- ing in which he found appropriate a unit of all office clerical employees, the livestock paying clerk, and the stockyards employees at the Employer's Wil- son, North Carolina, plant. Thereafter, pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Employer filed with the National Labor Rela- tions Board a timely request for review of said Decision and Direction of Election, contending that a unit combining office employees with stockyards employees is inappropriate and that Petitioner's showing of interest was defective. On February 14, 1967, the Board by telegraphic order granted the request for review and requested the parties to state their positions with respect to the appropriateness of a separate unit of office cleri- cal employees and with respect to the direction of a self-determination election in a separate voting group of stockyards employees. Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief on review supporting its unit contention and requesting the Board not to direct separate elections for the office clerical and stockyards employees without separate showings of interest. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record with respect to the issues under review and makes the following findings: The Petitioner took the position that a combined unit of the unrepresented office employees and stockyards employees was appropriate.' In addi- tion, the Petitioner took the alternative position that, if the stockyards employees could not ap- propriately be included with the office employees, it desired an election in a unit confined to the office employees . The Employer contends that the office employees may not be included in the same unit with stockyards employees because they have no community of interest, have different training backgrounds , work different hours in separate areas under different supervision, and perform dissimilar work.2 The Acting Regional Director found, in agreement with the Petitioner , that a unit combining all office clerical employees , the livestock paying clerk, and the stockyards employees, was ap- propriate . There is no history of bargaining for any of these employees , although Petitioner represents a unit of production and maintenance employees, including truckdrivers, for which it was certified by the Board in 1959. The Office Employees . Approximately 20 em- ployees have desk space in the general office and perform duties of an office clerical nature under the supervision of the auditor-office manager. Their work involves the handling of vouchers, invoices, accounts receivable , and payroll records. There are two invoice clerks, four production and records clerks, one accounts receivable clerk , two comp- tometer operators , one production incentive clerk, three production incentive checkers , one stenog- rapher, one telephone operator, one mail clerk, and one cashier. Under the same supervision as the office clerical employees listed above is the livestock paying clerk, who is primarily stationed at the livestock buying office in a separate building, but who regu- larly performs part of his duties in the general office together with the other office employees. He receives scale tickets from the livestock buyers, writes checks to suppliers , prepares livestock purchase sheets, and , in connection with the forego- ing, operates a comptometer and an adding machine. Preston Goff, the employee now assigned to this position, previously worked as a mail clerk in the general office . An office clerk substitutes for Goff when he is ill or on vacation and it appears that, in the past, the Employer frequently reas- signed the livestock paying clerk to one of the general office jobs. All of the office clerical employees , including Goff, have a regular work schedule from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 5 days per week, wear street clothes while on the job, and have at least a high school education. There is no indication in the record that I At the hearing, the Petitioner also contended that the watchmen should be included in this combined unit. The Acting Regional Director rejected this contention, concluding that the watchmen were guards within the meaning of the Act No party has sought review of this finding by the Acting Regional Director. 2 The Employer, in its brief on review, also contends that the office em- ployees are not entitled to representation because they are either con- fidential or managerial employees These contentions were also made by the Employer at the hearing, but were rejected by the Acting Regional Director who concluded that the office employees were neither con- fidential nor managerial The Employer did not request review of these findings of the Acting Regional Director, hence the Employer's present contentions in this regard are untimely raised and need not be considered. However, we conclude, on the basis of our examination of the record, that the Acting Regional Director's finding that these employees are not managerial employees is correct Further, while certain of them may cal- culate incentive payments for hourly employees and handle or have ac- cess to the payroll and personnel records of other employees, these duties, as the Acting Regional Director also found and we agree, do not make them confidential employees Arden Farms, 117 N LRB 318, 320. 166 NLRB No. 61 590 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD they interchange or have any work contact with stockyards employees. It is noted, in addition, that all these office clerical employees are carried on the same payroll, separate and apart from the payrolls which carry the represented production and main- tenance employees and the unrepresented stockyards employees. The Stockyards Employees. Seven livestock han- dlers work under the supervision of the head cattle buyer in the stockyards area, which is separate from the general office. They perform work of a manual nature, which includes the unloading, sorting, penning, feeding, and injection of livestock; the removal of dead animals and debris; and general cleaning and policing of the yard area. Their work hours are staggered, commencing at 5:30 a.m. They wear work clothes rather than street clothes while on the job, they do not interchange duties with other employees, and it appears that only one of them has a high school education. The stockyards employees were excluded by stipulation of the parties from the production and maintenance unit for which the Petitioner was cer- tified in 1959. Their work represents a part of the production flow, as the livestock which they care for and process constitutes the essential raw materi- al from which the Employer's product evolves. We conclude, therefore, that the stockyards employees are an unrepresented fringe group of production and maintenance employees. Under the Board policy, office clerical employees are customarily excluded from production and maintenance units.3 By the same token, the Board also excludes office clerical employees from a residual unit of production and maintenance em- ployees 4 or from a previously unrepresented fringe group of production and maintenance employees which a labor organization seeks to add to a produc- tion and maintenance unit.5 We see no reason to depart from these principles in the present case and conclude, in agreement with the Employer, that the office clerical employees may not be included in a unit which also includes the presently unrepresented production employees who work in the stockyards. Moreover, the dif- ferent hours, working conditions, and educational backgrounds of the office clerical employees, as well as their separate supervision and lack of work contact with the stockyards employees, demon- strate that the office clerical employees have a com- munity of interest separate from that of the 3 E.g, Westinghouse Electric Corp , 1 1 8 N LRB 1043. 4 California Cornice Steel and Supply Corp, 104 NLRB 787, 789. S Brown Instruments Division, Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, 115 NLRB 344,348 6 Sc hieffel+n & Co, Wine & Spirit Import Division, 129 N LRB 956 stockyards employees. And these factors further justify the exclusion of office clerical employees from any unit which includes stockyards em- ployees. Upon the foregoing and the entire record in this case, we find that a unit confined to the Employer's office clerical employees constitutes an appropriate unit for collective-bargaining purposes within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act.6 The Petitioner has indicated a desire to represent such a unit in the event that a combined unit of office clerical em- ployees and stockyards employees were found in- appropriate. We shall, therefore, direct that an elec- tion be held in a unit confined to office clerical em- ployees, including the livestock paying clerk. Inasmuch as the stockyards employees are an un- represented fringe group of production employees, they may, if a majority of them so desire, be represented in the existing unit of production and maintenance employees. Accordingly, an election will be held in a voting group of stockyards em- ployees. We shall, therefore, direct separate elections in the following appropriate unit and voting group, respectively: 7 A. Unit. All office clerical employees, including the livestock paying clerk, at the Employer's Wil- son, North Carolina, plant, excluding the stockyards employees, production and maintenance employees, truckdrivers, salesmen, livestock buyers, professional employees, engineers, time study engineers, quality assurance inspectors, con- fidential employees, managerial trainees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. B. Voting Group. All stockyards employees at the Employer's Wilson, North Carolina, plant, ex- cluding all other production and maintenance em- ployees, truckdrivers, office clerical employees, salesmen, livestock buyers, professional em- ployees, engineers, time study engineers, quality as- surance inspectors, confidential employees, managerial trainees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have in- dicated their desire to be included in the existing production and maintenance unit currently represented by Petitioner and the Regional Director will issue a certification of results of elec- tion to that effect and amend, in accordance therewith, the Petitioner's certification as bargain- As the original showing of interest was for a unit different from the unit and voting group in which elections are directed herein, the direction of each election, infra, is subject to a separate administrative showing of interest. Robbins & Myeis, Inc, 144 NLRB 295 SWIFT & COMPANY 591 ing representative for the production and main- tenance employees. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] 8 Election eligibility lists, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters in the respective unit and voting group in which an election is hereby directed , must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 1 1 within 7 days after the date of this Decision on Review and Direction of Elections These lists may initially be used by the Regional Director to assist in determining adequate showings of in- terest The Regional Director shall make these lists available to all parties to the elections when he shall have determined that an adequate showing of interest among the employees in each unit found appropriate has been established. No extension of time to file these lists shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the elec- tion whenever proper objections are filed Ercelstor Undern•ear Inc , 156 NLRB 1236