Bremner Bros.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 13, 194239 N.L.R.B. 763 (N.L.R.B. 1942) Copy Citation In the Matter of BREMNE'I2 BROS. and FACTORY BAKERS' UNION, LOCAL No. 100, OF THE BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY WORKERS' INTER- NATIONAL UNION (A. F. L.) Case No. R-3494.Decided March 13, 194. Jurisdiction : baking industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal of Company to accord union recognition until certified by the Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : employees in the packers and wrappers, packets, icing, sugar wafer, packing porters, baking, warehouse, and shipping departments, including working foremen but excluding other supervisory employees and those employed in the delivery, garage, and- sales departments ; agreement as to ; the engine room employees, the office force, and watchmen excluded notwithstanding Company's request for their inclusion. Lord, Bissell ct Kadyk, by Mr. Russell Greenacre, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Messrs. Gilbert Mann and Frank Salerno, of Chicago, Ill., for the Union. Mr. Raymond J. Heilman, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On January 13, 1942, Factory Bakers' Union, Local No. 100, of Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Bremner Bros., Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company, and requesting an in- vestigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On January 21, 1942, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, 'acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the 39 N. L. R. B., No. 145. 763 764 - DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-, Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On January 22,,1942, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to notice a hearing was heid on January 29, 1942, at Chicago, Illinois, before Robert P. Drake, the Trial Exam- iner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union were represented and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and -cross-examine wit- nesses, and to introduce evidence-bearing on the issues was afforded both parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evi- dence. 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 0 i I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Bremner Bros. is an Illinois corporation, having its place of busi- ness at Chicago, Illinois, where it is engaged in the manufacture and sale of biscuits and crackers. Since 1939 it has used raw materials amounting in value to about $250,000 per year, approximately 11 percent of which represented purchases made outside the State of Illinois. During the same period its total sales have amounted annually to about $750,000, of which about 22.2 percent represented shipments to points outside the State of Illinois. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Factory Bakers' Union, Local No. 100, of the Bakery and Confec- tionery Workers' International Union, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has declined to recognize the Union as the exclusive representative of its employees without certification by the Board. BREMNER BROS. 765, A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the hearing, shows that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit herein found to be appropriate.' 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 The parties are agreed that the employees of the Company in the packers and wrappers, packets, icing, sugar wafer, packing porters, baking, warehouse, and shipping departments, including working foremen, should be included in the appropriate unit, and that other supervisory employees and those employed in the delivery, garage, and sales departments should be excluded. The Union desires also that the engine-room employees, the office force, and watchmen be excluded. The Company asks to have. these classes of employees included. The engine-room employees are engaged in maintenance and re- pair work and, operate the oven-firing equipment. The office force, which appears together with supervisory employees on a separate p'ay 'roll, includes a switchboard operator, stenographers, billers, bookkeepers, and clerks. The, watchmen perform the usual duties incident to their employment. We shall exclude these classes of employees. We find that the employees of the Company in the packers and wrappers, packets, icing, sugar wafer, packing porters, baking, ware- house, and shipping departments, including working foremen, but excluding other supervisory employees and those employed in the delivery, garage, and sales departments, the engine-room employees, the office force, and watchmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that said unit will insure i The Regional Director reported that the Union submitted to him 58 signed application forms, bearing apparently genuine original signatures and dated between September 5 and October 22 , 1941, of which 50 appear to be those of persons whose names were on the Company's pay roll of November 19, 1941. In its petition the Union alleges that there are 155 employees in the unit claimed by it to be appropriate. 766 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self- organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise will effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot. In accordance with pur usual practice, we shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election shall be those who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions hereinafter set forth in the Direction. 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 Bremner Bros., Chicago, Illinois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The employees of the Company in the packers and wrappers, packets, icing, sugar wafer, packing porters, baking, warehouse, and shipping departments, including working foremen, but excluding other supervisory employees and those employed in the delivery, garage, and sales departments, the engine-room employees, the office force, and watchmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes 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 Re- lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations 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 Bremner Bros., Chicago, Illinois, 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 of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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, 9 BREMNER BROS. 767 among the employees of the Company in the packers and wrappers, packets, icing, sugar wafer, packing porters, baking, warehouse, and shipping departments, including working foremen, and employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding other supervis- ory employees and those employed in the delivery, garage, and sales departments, the engine-room employees, the employees of the office force, watchmen, and employees who have since quit or been dis- charged for cause, to determine twhether or, not they desire to be represented by Factory Bakers' Union, Local No. 100, of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining. CHAIRMAN MILLI5 took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 448105-42-vol. 39-50 In the Matter of BREMNER BROS. and FACTORY BAKERS' UNION, LOCAL No. 100, OF THE BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY WORKERS' INTERNA-' TIONAL UNION (A. F. L.) Case No. R-3194 AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION, March 27, 1942 On March 13, 1942, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding.' The Board hereby amends the Direction of Election by inserting in the 'second paragraph thereof, immediately following the word "departments" and immediately preceding the word "including," the words "who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election." 1 39 N. L R. B. 763. 39 N. L. R. B., No 145a. 768 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation