Central Union Stockyards Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 9, 1946

67 N.L.R.B. 155 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of CENTRAL UNION STOCKYARDS Co. and UNITED PACK-
INGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Gale No. 2-B-6161.-Decided April 9,1946
Mr. M. R . Swanson, of Chicago , Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Lemuel Ward, of New York City, for the Union.
Mr. Herbert J. Nester, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Packinghouse Workers of
America, CIO, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of Central Union Stockyards Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, herein
called the Company,'- the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before William T. Little,
Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Jersey City, New Jersey,
on February 26, 1946. 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 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
Central Union Stockyards Co. is a New Jersey corporation, having
its principal office and place of business at Jersey City, New Jersey,
where it is engaged in the operation of a stockyard. During the year
ending December 31, 1945, the Company received at its stockyard
I The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Company and the Union.
67 N. L. R. B., No. 22.
155
156 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
more than 100,000 head of livestock, all of which were shipped to its
Jersey City stockyard from points outside the State of New Jersey.
More than 90 percent of such livestock was shipped from the Com-
pany's Jersey City stockyard to points outside the State of New Jersey.
More than 90 percent of the livestock shipped outside the State of New
Jersey was shipped on barges owned by the Company and manned
by its employees, but drawn by tug boats owned and manned by inde-
pendent contractors.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Packinghouse Workers of America is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Union by letter dated January 11, 1946, requested recognition
of the Company as representative of certain of its employees. The
Company has declined to grant recognition until the Union has been
certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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
The Union contends that the appropriate unit consists of all em-
ployees of the Company engaged in the handling, feeding, and tending
of livestock, including boatmen, watchmen, maintenance men, stock
handlers, feed men, and laborers, but excluding office employees, gen-
eral manager, assistant general manager, superintendents, assistant
superintendents, foremen, and all or any other supervisory employees.
The Company is in general agreement with the foregoing unit but
would exclude the watchmen.
The primary duty of the watchmen is to safeguard company prop-
erty, prevent loitering and trespassing by strangers, and report vio-
lations of company regulations such as its "no smoking" rule. The
watchmen devote approximately two-thirds of their time to custodial
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 14 authorization cards. At the
time of the hearing there were 12 employees in the appropriate unit.
CENTRAL UNION STOCKYARDS CO. 157
duties and the remaining one-third is spent in performing similar
duties as the production workers. They are not uniformed or armed,
nor are they either deputized or militarized. Inasmuch as the duties
of the watchmen are principally custodial in nature and also include
actual participation in production, we find, in keeping with the Board's
well established policy, that the Company's contention requesting the
exclusion of watchmen is without merit.3
We find that all employees of the Company's plant engaged in the
handling, feeding, and tending of livestock, including boatmen,
watchmen, maintenance men, stock handlers, feed men, and laborers,
but excluding office employees, general manager, assistant general
manager, superintendents, assistant superintendents, 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, constitute 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 Relations
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 Central Union
Stockyards Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Second 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 appropriate in Section IV, above,
8 See Matter of Wilson & Company, Inc, 58 N. L R B 666; Matter of John Deere Plow
Company, 58 N L. R. B. 972; Matter of General Motors Corporation, Parts Deviston, 60
N L. R. B 22, Matter of Armour & Company, d/b/a Armour Leather Co., 60 N. L. R. B.
393.
158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 reinstated prior to the date of the
election, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
United Packinghouse Workers of America, CIO, for the purposes
of collective bargaining.