Armour and Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 4, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 796 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of ARMOUR FERTILIZER WORKS, DIVISION OF ARMOUR AND
COMPANY and UNITED GAS, COKE, AND CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMER-
ICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Case No. 15-R-1448.Decided February 4, 1946
Mr. Charles J. Begero, of Jacksonville, Fla., for the Company.
Mr. K. G. Ingle , of Montgomery , Ala., for the Union.
Mr. James Zett , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Gas, Coke, and Chemical Work-
ers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Armour Fertilizer Works, Division of Armour and Company, Mont-
gomery, Alabama, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before George S. Slyer, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at
Montgomery, Alabama, on October 9, 1945. The Company and the
Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Company moved to
dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction. The motion is denied for
reasons indicated in Section I, infra. The Trial Examiner's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the
Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Armour Fertilizer Works, Division of Armour and Company, is
a corporation organized under the laws of Illinois and engaged in
65 N. L R . B., No. 136.
796
• ARMOUR FERTILIZER WORKS 797
the manufacture, sale, and distribution of commercial fertilizer. This
proceeding is concerned with the Company's Montgomery, Alabama,
plant. A general office is maintained in Atlanta, Georgia, for the
regional area of the corporation in which the Montgomery, Alabama,
plant is located. The Company purchased for use at its Montgomery
plant 32,000 tons of raw materials in the 12-month period ending June
30, 1945, 18 percent of which was shipped by rail into the State of
Alabama from other States. During the same period, the Company
distributed and shipped from its Montgomery plant, mostly by rail,
30,000 tons of fertilizer, 1 percent of which was shipped out of the
State of Alabama. The balance was shipped to distributors "up
to, but not beyond, the State lines of Mississippi and Georgia," as
testified by the Division Sales Manager of the Company.
Recently the Board, under facts substantially identical to those in
the instant proceeding, held that the corporation's Birmingham, Ala-
bama, plant was within the purview of the Act.' We find, contrary
to the contentions of the Company, that in the operation of its Mont-
gomery plant, it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America is a labor
organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations
admitting to membership employees of the Compj any.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees and denies the
applicability of the Act to its Montgomery plant operations.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
Substantially in accordance with the stipulation of the parties at
the hearing, we find that all production and maintenance employees
I Matter of Armour Fertilizer Works, Dtivistion of Armour and Company , 60 N. L R. B
444.
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 34 authorization cards.
There are approximately 40 employees in the appropriate unit
798 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the Company at,its Montgomery, Alabama, plant, excluding master
mechanics, clerical employees, full-time watchmen, cook-janitress,
foremen, and all or any other supervisory employees with authority
to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes
in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein,
subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
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 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Armour Fertilizer
Works, Division of Armour and Company, Montgomery, Alabama, an
election by secret ballot shall be conducted 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 Tenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations, among employees in the unit found appropri-
ate 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 employees
in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in
person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by United Gas, Coke, and Chemical
Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ-
izations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
I