Armour and Co.

In the Matter of ARMOUR AND COMPANY ( ST. Louis BRANCH HOUSE) and AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS & BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA, LOCAL 545, A. F. OF L. Case No. R 1688. Decided February 23, 1940 Meat Packing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy con- cerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to recognize either union as exclusive, representative-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: all production and maintenance employees , excluding supervisory and office em- ployees, chauffeurs , truck drivers, and inside salesmen-Election Ordered Mr. Thurlow Smoot, for the Board., Mr. Walter C. Kirk, of Chicago , Ill., for the Company. Mr. E. W. Jimerson, of East St. Louis, Ill., for the Amalgamated. Mr. John J. Brownlee, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Vernon Ford, of St. Louis, Mo., for the United. Mr. Ray Johnson, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On July 11, 1939, Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of North America, Local 545, A. F. of L., herein called the Amalga- mated, filed with the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Missouri), a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Armour and Company (St. Louis Branch House), St. Louis, Missouri, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certi- fication of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On Decem- ber 29, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9, (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 2, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. 20 N. L. R. B., No. 70. 702 ARMOUR AND COMPANY 703 On January 8, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear- ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the Amalgamated, and upon United Packinghouse Workers of America of Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the United, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on January 18, 1940, at St. Louis, Mis- souri, before Charles E. Persons, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, the Amalgamated, and the United were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Armour and Company, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in the meat-packing and distributing business. Directly and through its sub- sidiaries, it operates approximately 30 meat-packing plants in 23 States and about 300 branch houses throughout the United States. During the fiscal year ending October 28, 1939, the total sales of Armour and Company and its subsidiaries were $715,318,909. The branch house involved in this proceeding is located at 2030 Clark Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri. During the year 1939, this branch house sold and distributed approximately 37,000,000 pounds of meat and meat products, valued at more than $5,000,000, approximately 97 per cent of which originated outside the State of Missouri, and almost all of which was sold within the State of Missouri. IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North Amer- ica, Local 545, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to its membership all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and office employees, chauffeurs, and truck drivers. United Packinghouse Workers of America of Packinghouse Work- ers Organizing Committee is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to its membership 704 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD all production and maintenance employees of the Company, exclud- ing supervisory and office employees, chauffeurs, and truck drivers., III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION At the hearing, all parties stipulated that the Company has re- fused to bargain with either the Amalgamated or the United as the exclusive representative of all its production and maintenance em- ployees until one is certified by the Board. We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT At the hearing, all parties stipulated that the appropriate unit con- sisted of all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding supervisory and office employees, chauffeurs, and truck driv- ers. The Amalgamated seeks to include inside salesmen in the unit, claiming that they are production employees. The United seeks to exclude them claiming that in addition to being supervisory employees, they do not devote an appreciable portion of their time to production and maintenance work. E. J. Harrington, the manager of the Company, testified that he considered inside salesmen as supervisory employees. The evidence shows that inside salesmen act in a supervisory capacity by issuing orders to the operative employees. We have previously held that in- side salesmen in the packing industry should be excluded from a unit of production employees because of the supervisory nature of their duties., In view of these facts, we shall exclude the inside salesmen from the unit.2 We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com- pany, excluding supervisory and office employees, chauffeurs, truck 1 Armour & Co. (West Harlem- Market) and The Coin mittee for Industrial Organizations 4 N. L. R. B. 951. 2 Only P. L. Hinni and J. Kulik are listed on the pay roll as inside salesmen. The manager testified , however, that J. Calcaterra , F. J. Bahr, T. W. Driesewerd, E. Hazel- horst, T.• C. Peters ; and G: W. Stevens were also considered inside salesmen . We shall exclude these employees from the unit. ARMOUR AND' COMPANY 705 'drivers, and inside salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self- organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the -policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Amalgamated and the United stipulated that each represented a substantial number of the Company's employees, and that an elec- tion by secret ballot is necessary to settle the question concerning repre- sentation. We shall therefore order an election by secret ballot. The Amalgamated and the United agreed that a current pay roll should be used to determine eligibility to vote. We shall follow the agreement of the parties and direct that those persons eligible to vote shall be the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the' Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Directionincluding employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Armour and Company (St. Louis Branch House), St. Louis, Missouri, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company, ex- cluding supervisory and office employees, chauffeurs, truck drivers, and inside salesmen constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Armour and Company (St. Louis Branch House), St. Louis, Missouri, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as 706 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD possible but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all pro- duction and maintenance employees who were employed by the Com- pany during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during such pay- roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding super- visory and office employees, chauffeurs, truck drivers, inside salesmen, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of North America, Local 545, A. F. of L., by United Packinghouse Workers of America of Packing- house Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., or by neither, for the purposes of collective bargaining.