MacAndrews & Forbes Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMar 11, 1942

39 N.L.R.B. 699 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of MACANDREWS & FORBES COMPANY and LICORICE; & PAPER EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY Case No. R-8528.-Decided March 11,'1942 Jurisdiction : licorice extract and by-products manufacturing industry. ' Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: stipu- lated; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all hourly paid production and main- tenance employees of the Company, including watchmen, laborer-watchmen, guards, hourly paid laboratory employees, beatermen, storing and shipping employees, and employees in the boiler, turbine, and pump shops, but excluding supervisory employees, executives, salaried employees, hourly paid working foremen, and assistant foremen, office clerical employees, lunchroom attendants, and the first-aid attendant. Mr. S. Rusling Leap, of Camden, N. J., for the company. Mr. S. Huntley Beckett, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Mr. John J. Vandever, of Runnemede, N. J., for the Association. Mr. Saul C. Waldbaum, of Philadel hia, Pa., for the United Mr. Frederic B. Parkes, 2d, of coungel to the Board. . DECISION AND DIRECTION OF (ELECTION . STATEMENT OF PHE CASE On November 4, 1941, Licorice & Camden, New Jersey, herein called Regional Director for the Fourth vania) a petition alleging that a qi arisen concerning the employees of N Camden, New Jersey, herein called t aper Employees Association of the Association, filed with the egion (Philadelphia, Pennsyl- estion affecting commerce had acAndrews & Forbes Company, e Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of repilesentative's pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relation Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On January 21, 1942, the atlonal Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Section 3, of ational Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, a, amended, ordered an investi- gation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing ul on due notice. 39 N. L. R. B., No. 133. 699 700 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On January 26 and 29, 1942, respectively, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing and an order granting a request for post- ponement of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Com= pang and the Association and upon United Mine Workers of America, District No. 50, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on February 9, 1942, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before Geoffrey'J. Cunniff, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the- Association, and the United, were represented 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 various 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 preju- dicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. On February 19, 1942, the United filed a brief and an February 20, 1942, the Company and the Association each filed a brief. The Board has % considered all briefs. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I.,THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY MacAndrews & Forbes Company is a New Jersey corporation with its principal place of business at Camden, New Jersey. The Company also maintains offices in New York City. The Company is engaged principally in the manufacture of licorice extract and its byproducts, namely, fire-extmguishing chemicals, hematoxylin, boxboard, and insulation board. The Company in the course of its operations at its Camden, New Jersey, plant in the year 1941, purchased raw materials valued at approximately $3,087,000. Of such m raterials, approxi- mately 80 percent was purchased and shipped to it from points out- side the State of New Jersey. During the same period, the products manufactured by the Company were valued at approximately $5,250,- 000. Approximately 80 percent of such products was sold and ship- ped to points outside the State of New Jersey. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. It employs approximately 570 employees. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Licorice & Paper Employees Association of Camden, New Jersey, is an unaffiliated labor organization, admitting toâ€¢ membership em- ployees of the Company. MACANDREWS & FORBES COMPANY 701 United Mine Workers of America', District No. 50, is a labor organ- ization affiliated with the Congress of 'Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The parties stipulated at the hearing that 'a question concerning representation has arisen in that the Association and the United each claims to represent a majority of the Company's 'employees in an appropriate unit and the Company has declined to recognize either the Association or the United until the Board determines the proper bargaining agency. A statement of the Regional Director introduced into evidence shows that the Association and the United each represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit found below to be ap- propriate.] 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 Association contends that all hourly paid production and maintenance employees of the Company, including watchmen, gate- men, and laborer-watchmen; hourly paid laboratory employees, lunchroom attendants, first-aid attendant, working foremen, assistant foremen, and beatermen; storing and shipping employees; and em- ployees in the boiler, turbine, and pump shops; but excluding office clerical employees, executives, and officials, constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. I The Association submitted to the Regional Director its dues book, which indicated that dues were paid by 154 employees in July 1941, by 76 employees in August 1941, by 34 employees in September 1941, by 1S employees in October 1941, and by 18 employees in November and December 1941. The Regional Director stated that 298 of the 300 names in the dues book appear on the Company 's'pay roll of December 20, 1941, which listed 569 employees As of that date there were approximately 500 employees within the unit found below to be appropriate The United submitted 188 application cards to the Regional Director, who stated that all cards bore genuine signatures , 148 of which were names on the Company 's pay roll of Decem- ber 20, 1941 Of the 148 cards , 92 were undated, 3 were dated in April 1941 , 2 in June 1941, 2 in July 1941, 29 in August 1941, 5 in September 1941, and 15 in October 1941 As of December 20, 1941, there were approxi- mately 262 employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate by the United. 702 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The United claims that all hourly paid employees engaged in production work in the Company's boxboard mill and insulation board mill, including storing and shipping employees, but excluding supervisory employees, foremen, working foremen, assistant foremen, lunchroom attendants, first-aid attendant, laboratory employees, office clerical employees, clerks,- watchmen, laborer-watchmen, gate- men, and beatermen, constitute an appropriate unit, distinct and apart from the employees of the Company's licorice mill and pulp mill. The United also urges that the Board order a Globe election for the maintenance employees.2 The unit urged by the Company to be appropriate is, with' few exceptions, the same as that sought by the Association. The Company's plant comprises some 13 or 14 buildings covering several city blocks. As previously indicated, the Company is en- gaged principally in the manufacture of licorice extract which is refined from licorice root' imported from Mediterranean countries. In order to utilize the spent licorice root remaining after the licorice extract is produced, the Company also manufactures, as byproducts, insulation board, boxboard, hematoxylin, and a fire-extinguishing fluid. The manufacturing operations of the Company are divided into the following five departments: (1) licorice mill where the licorice root is shredded and boiled to produce the licorice extract,' (2) insu- lation board mill which utilizes a. portion of the spent licorice root left from the extract process by combining it with other fibres to produce insulating board,4 (3) pulp mill where the rest of the spent licorice pulp is boiled a second time, with other chemicals added, resulting in a fire-extinguishing fluid called "Foamite,"5 (4)' boxboard mill where the licorice root,pulp remaining from the "Foamite" process is mixed. with other materials to produce boxboard,Â° and (5) manufacture of hcmatoxylin, a bacteriological stain, by chemists in the laboratory. All the electrical energy and the 6 various pressures of steam nec- essary for the production processes described above are manufactured in the boiler house and turbine room in the Company's plant.' The maintenance department of the plant comprises approximately 65 employees who perform maintenance work for the entire plant. None of them- is assigned to any of the various production departments i I. e , an election to determine the scope of the unit in whicti them aintenance employees are to be included as well as their choice of representatives . See Matter of The Globe Machine and Stamping Co. and Metal Polishers Union, Local No. 3, International Association of Machinists , District No. 54; Federal Labor Union 18788, and United Automobile Workers of America, 3 N L. It. B 294. J There are approximately 135 production employees in the licorice mill. 4 About 40 percent of the materials used in this process is licorice root fibre, which is essential to give stiff- ness and strength to the board . There are approximately 77 production employees in the insulation board mill. 6 Approximately 13 production employees are engaged in this process. _ 6 There are approximately 210 production employees in the boxboard mill 7 There are approximately 79 employees in the boilerhouse , turbine room , yard, and watchmen depart- ments. MACANDREWS & FORBES COMPANY 703 above described but all may be called upon to work anywhere in the plants where repairs or maintenance work may. be required. In general, the same degree of skill is required in all of the produc- tion departments, although the employees are not frequently inter- changed among the various departments. The wage scale throughout the plant is uniform, being founded upon a 71-cent an hour base rate. Only 1 pay roll is used for all -the Company's employees. The labor policy for all departments is determined by the director of personnel; the hiring of all new employees must be approved by the superintend- ent of the licorice mill. The timekeeper and the clerical employees under his supervision keep the time records of all employees. A club- house and first-aid department is maintained at the plant for the benefit of all employees. The general office force handles and keeps, all records of the various production departments. The unitary character of the Company's operations described above clearly indicates the appropriateness of a single unit of production and maintenance employees. Since there is no history of collective bar- gaining in the plant and since all production and maintenance em- ployees are apparently eligible to membership in the United, we find no merit in the contention of the United for a unit of production employees of the boxboard and insulation board mills and for a Globe election among the maintenance employees. There remains for consideration the question of whether certain specific groups of employees should be included in the unit." The con- troversy between.the parties involves the following employees whom the Association would include in the unit, and whom the United would exclude on the ground that such employees either are supervisory, employees or are not production employees-' 1. Lunchroom attendants work in the restaurant maintained for the employees in the clubhouse. They perform no production or main- tenance work. We shall exclude lunchroom attendants from the unit. 2. Afirst-aid attendant spends 95 percent of his time in administering first aid to injured employees and in assisting the Company's doctor. He also handles the samples of licorice extract sent to prospective customers. We shall exclude the first-aid attendant from the unit. 3. Watchmen patrol the plant in regular beats at night when the plant is closed. They are unarmed and perform the ordinary watch- men's duties. The Company urges their inclusion in the unit. We shall include watchmen in the unit. , 4. Laborer-watchmen work part of the week as watchmen when more watchmen are needed and part of the time as laborers when the 9 Office clerical employees and salaried employees are excluded by agreement of the parties The latter class embraces timekeepers , cost clerk , bus driver, porter, general foremen, foremen , working foremen, assistant foremen, chief electrician , assistant chief electricians , head carpenter, chief engineer, engineers, laboratory man, shipper, clerks . process checker, and executives 4 Unless otherwise indicated , the Company stated no position as to their inclusion or exclusion. 448103-42-vol: 39--46 704 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD plant is operating at full capacity. We shall include laborer-watchmen in the unit. 5. Guards open and close the main gates of the plant and prevent unauthorized persons from entering the plant. They are unarmed. The Company urges their inclusion in the unit. We shall include guards in the unit. 6. Two hourly paid laboratory men are employed as test chemists. They pick up samples of stock and determine the acidity and the alkalinity of boxboard being manufactured. They also weigh colors to be used in the boxboard-manufacturing process. They possess no special training other than that they received at the plant and are paid 76 cents an hour. We shall include hourly paid laboratory men in the unit." 7. Beatermen are in charge of the machinery and operations in the beater rooms of the boxboard mill and insulation board mill. Each beaterman supervises three or four employees in the operation,of such machinery. Beatermen work with employees under their supervision and are responsible for the quality of fibre produced by the beater machines. They do not hire or discharge or recommend discipline. The duties of beatermen are not supervisory to such degree as to warrant their exclusion from the unit. We shall include beatermen in the unit. 8. Hourly paid working foremen and assistant foremen. The working foremen supervise approximately 15 or 16 men who are generally laborers. The assistant foremen help the hourly paid working fore- men and act as leaders of the labor crew when it is divided, In the absence of the working foremen, the assistant foremen assume their duties. The record does not distinguish the duties of the hourly paid ,working foremen and assistant foremen from those of similar employ- ees who are paid on a salary basis and are, therefore, excluded from the unit by agreement of the parties. We shall exclude hourly paid working foremen and assistant foremen from the unit. We find that all hourly paid production and maintenance employees of the Company including watchmen, laborer-watchmen, guards, hourly paid, laboratory employees, beatermen, storing and shipping employees, and employees in the boiler, turbine, and pump shops, but excluding supervisory employees, executives, salaried employees, hourly paid working foremen and assistant foremen, office clerical employees, lunchroom attendants, -and the first-aid attendant, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that such unit will insure 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.. ' 110 See Matter of The Mathieson Alkali Works and United Mine Workers of America, District 50, 38 N. L R B 1084. MAcANDREWS &-FORBES COMPANY 705 VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning, representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The parties stated no preference as to the pay roll to be used to determine eligibility to vote. In accordance with our customary practice, we shall direct that the employees eligible 'to vote in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, 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 MacAndrews & Forbes Company, Camden, New Jersey, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. All hourly paid production and maintenance employees of Mac- Andrews & Forbes Company, Camden, New Jersey, including watch- men, laborer-watchmen, guards, hourly paid laboratory employees, beatermen, storing and shipping employees, and employees in the boiler, turbine, and pump shops, but excluding supervisory employees, executives, salaried employees, hourly paid working foremen and assistant foremen, office clerical employees, lunchroom attendants, and the first-aid attendant, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section, 9 (b) of the 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 bar- gaining with MacAndrews & Forbes Company, Camden, 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 of Election under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fourth 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 hourly paid production and mainte- nance employees of the Company who were employed during the 706 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including watchmen, laborer-watchmen, guards, hourly paid laboratory employees, beatermen, storing and shipping employees, and- employees in the boiler, turbine, and pump shops, 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 supervisory employees, executives, salaried employees, hourly paid working foremen and assistant foremen, office clerical employees, lunchroom attendants, the first-aid attendant, and employees who have since quit or been dis- charged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Licorice & Paper Employees Association of Camden, New Jersey, or by United Mine Workers of America, District No. 50, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in-the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.