Williams Meat Company, a Corporation

In the Matter Of WILLIAMS MEAT COMPANY, A CORPORATION and AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA, LOCAL #576, AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. OF L. and INDE- PENDENT MEAT DISTRIBUTORS LOCAL UNION No. 1, PARTY TO THE CONTRACT Case No. C-1176.-Decided May 8, 1939 Meat and Meat Products Industry-Settlement : stipulation providing for compliance with the Act , back pay in specified amount to one employee not desiring reinstatement , and disestablishment of labor organization as repre- sentative of employees-Order: entered on stipulation. Mr. Paul F. Broderick, for the Board. Mr. M. W. Borders, of Kansas City, Kans., for the respondents. Mr. H. P. Root, of Kansas City, Mo., for the Union. Mr. Wm. B. Colgan, of Kansas City, Kans., for Local No. 1. Mr. Richard A. Williams, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon charges duly filed by the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local #576, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Union, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, by the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region ( Kansas City, Missouri ) issued its complaint dated March 2, 1939, against the Williams Meat Com- pany, Kansas City, Kansas, herein called the respondent, alleging that the respondent had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8 (1), (2), and (3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat..449, herein called the Act. A copy of the com- plaint was duly served upon the respondent, the Union and a labor organization among the respondent's employees known as Independ- ent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, herein called Local No. 1. Concerning the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged, in substance, that the respondent had dominated and interfered with 12 N. L. R. B., No. 85. 778 WILLIAMS MEAT COMPANY 779 the formation and administration of Local No. 1, and contributed financial and other support to Local No. 1; that the respondent had entered into a closed-shop contract with Local No. 1, for the purpose of supporting Local No. 1 by compelling membership of its employees therein and depriving its employees of their rights guaranteed under the Act; that the respondent had terminated the employment of and had refused to reinstate one named employee 1 because he had joined and assisted the Union; and that the respondent, by the afore- mentioned activities, interfered with, restrained, and coerced its em- ployees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act. On March 2, 1939, the respondent, the Union, Local No. 1, and the Acting Regional Director for the Board, entered into a stipulation in settlement of the case. The stipulation provides as follows : It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the Wil- liams Meat Company, hereinafter referred to as respondent, Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local #576, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, hereinafter referred to as Local #576, and the Inde- pendent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, hereinafter re- ferred to as Local No. 1, and Paul F. Broderick, Acting Regional Director, Seventeenth Region, National Labor Relations Board, as follows : I 1. Upon charges duly filed by Local #576, the National Labor Relations Board, by Paul F. Broderick, Acting Regional Direc- tor, Seventeenth Region, as agent of the National Labor Rela- tions Board acting pursuant to authority granted in Section 10 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, approved July 5, 1935, and acting pursuant to its Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended-Article IV, Section 1, issued its complaint on the -second (2d) day of March, nineteen hundred thirty-nine (1939), against Williams Meat Company, a corporation, re- spondent herein. A complaint was duly served on the parties on the second day of March, nineteen hundred thirty-nine (1939). 2. It is hereby stipulated and agreed, subject to the approval of the National Labor Relations Board, that : (a) Respondent expressly waives its right to notice of hear- ing, its right to file an answer, its right to a hearing in this matter before a Trial Examiner, and its right to offer evidence and to take testimony in a hearing of this matter; ' I E A. Harrington. 780 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (b) Respondent expressly waives the making of findings of fact or conclusions of law by the National Labor Relations Board ; (c) Respondent expressly consents to the issuance by the Na- tional Labor Relations Board of a decision and order based upon this stipulation as hereinafter set out. II It is stipulated and agreed that : 1. Respondent is and has been since 1923 a corporation organ- ized under and existing by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware and licensed to do business in the State of Kansas, having its principal office and place of business in the city of Kansas City, Kansas, and operating and maintaining a plant in Kansas City, Kansas, and is now and has continuously been en- gaged at its plant, aforesaid, in the business of purchasing, sell- ing and distributing meat and meat products. 2. Respondent, in the course and conduct of its business, causes and has continuously caused approximately five (5) percent of the meat and meat products purchased to be purchased and transported from and through states of the United States other than the State of Kansas to the Kansas City, Kansas plant of respondent. Approximately ninety-five (95) percent of said pur- chases of meat and meat products are from meat packing com- panies including Armour & Company, Wilson & Company, Cudahy Packing Company and Swift & Company. 3. Respondent causes and has continuously caused approxi- mately seventy-five (75) percent of the products it sells and dis- tributes to be sold, transported and distributed in interstate com- merce from the Kansas City, Kansas plant of respondent into and through states of the United States other than the State of Kansas to customers in other states. 4. Respondent is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act. III It is stipulated and agreed that : 1. Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local #576, is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the said Act. 2. The Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1 is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the said Act. WILLIAMS MEAT COMPANY IV 781 It is further stipulated and agreed by and between the respec- tive parties hereto that the National Labor Relations Board may forthwith enter an order in the above-entitled case to the follow- ing effect : Respondent, Williams Meat Company, its officers, agents, suc- cessors and assigns, shall: 1. Cease and desist from the date hereof : (a) From interfering in any manner with, restraining or coercing its employees in the exercise of their rights to self- organization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining and other mutual aid and pro- tection as guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act; (b) From discouraging membership in the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local #576, or any other labor organization of its employees, or en- couraging membership in the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, or any other organization of its employees, by discriminating against employees in regard to the hire or tenure of employment or any other terms or conditions of em- ployment, or by any other means; (c) From dominating and interfering with the administration of the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1 or with the formation or administration of any other labor organization of its employees, and from contributing financial or other sup- port to the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, or any other labor organization of its employees; from recog- nizing the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, as the exclusive bargaining agent for all of its employees, and from giving any force and effect to its closed-shop contract with said organization. 2. Take the following affirmative action to effectuate the poli- cies of the National Labor Relations Act : (a) Pay to E. A. Harrington the sum of Fifty (50) Dollars as full and complete settlement of any and all charges concern- ing his dismissal from respondent's employment. (b) Completely disestablish the Independent Meat Distribu- tors Local Union No. 1 as the collective bargaining representa- tive of its employees and refrain from giving any force and effect to its closed-shop contract with said organization, and from making membership in said organization a condition of employ- ment for its employees; 782 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (c) Immediately post notices in conspicuous places throughout its plant and maintain such notices for a period of sixty (60) consecutive days, stating (1) That respondent will cease and desist, as aforesaid, and (2) That respondent will take the affirmative action aforesaid. (d) Notify the Acting Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region within a period of ten (10) days after the entry of the order what steps have been taken to comply with the said order. V It is further stipulated and agreed that this stipulation, to- gether with the charge and the complaint and proof of service thereof may be filed with the Chief Trial Examiner of the Board in Washington, D. C. VI It is further stipulated and agreed that after the making of said order and decision by the National Labor Relations Board, said Board may submit, without further notice to the parties hereto, a consent decree to the appropriate Circuit Court of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, which decree shall pro- vide for the affirmance and enforcement in full of each and every provision contained in the order which it is hereinbefore provided that the National Labor Relations Board may make herein, and the several parties hereto hereby consent to the entry of said decree by said appropriate Circuit Court of Appeals. VII All stipulations herein made and the terms and provisions thereof are made subject to the approval of the National Labor Relations Board. On March 9, 1939, the Board issued its order approving the above stipulation, making it a part of the record, and transferring the pro- ceedings to the Board for the purpose of entry of a decision and order by the Board pursuant to the provisions of the stipulation. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BIISINESS OF THE RESPONDENT Williams Meat Company, a Delaware corporation with its princi- pal office and place of business in Kansas City, Kansas, is engaged, WILLIAMS MEAT COMPANY 783 at its Kansas City plant, in the business of purchasing, selling, and distributing meat and meat products. Approximately 5 per cent of the purchases of meat and meat products made by the respondent are shipped to its Kansas City plant from points outside the State of Kansas. Approximately 95 per cent of the purchases of meat and meat products made by the respondent are from meat-packing companies including Armour & Co., Wilson & Co., Cudahy Packing Co., and Swift & Co. Approximately 75 per cent of the products sold and distributed by the respondent are shipped to points outside the State of Kansas. The respondent stipulated that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. We find that the above-described operations constitute a continu- ous flow of trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States. U. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local #576, is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act. Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1 is a labor or- ganization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act. ORDER Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, stipulation, and the entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that Williams Meat Company, Kansas City, Kansas, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns shall: 1. Cease and desist from : (a) Interfering in any manner with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of their rights to self-organization, to bar- gain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargain- ing and other mutual aid and protection as guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act; (b) Discouraging membership in the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local #576, or any other labor organization of its employees, or encouraging membership in the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, or any other organization of its employees, by discriminating against its employees in regard to the hire or tenure of employment or any other terms or conditions of employment, or by any other means; 784 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (c) Dominating and interfering with the administration of the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1 or with the for- mation or administration of any other labor organization of its em- ployees, and contributing financial or other support to the Inde- pendent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1, or any other labor organization of its employees; recognizing the Independent Meat Dis- tributors Local Union No. 1, as the exclusive bargaining agent for all of its employees, and giving any force and effect to its closed-shop contract with said organization. 2. Take the following affirmative action which the Board finds will effectuate the policies of the Act : (a) Pay to E. A. Harrington the sum of fifty ($50) dollars as full and complete settlement of any and all charges concerning his dis- missal from respondent's employment; (b) Completely disestablish the Independent Meat Distributors Local Union No. 1 as the collective bargaining representative of its employees and refrain from giving any force and effect to its closed- shop contract with said organization, and from making membership in said organization a condition of employment for its employees; (c) Immediately post notices in conspicuous places throughout its plant and maintain such notices for a period of sixty (60) consecu- tive days, stating : (1) That respondent will cease and desist, as aforesaid, and (2) that respondent will take the affirmative action aforesaid; (d) Notify the Acting Regional Director for the Seventeenth Re- gion within a period of ten (10) days after the entry of this Order what steps have been taken to comply herewith.