Mather Humane Stock Transportation Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 31, 1940

27 N.L.R.B. 1188 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter Of MATHER HUMANE STOCK TRANSPORTATION COMPANY
and UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA OF THE P. W.. O. C.,
LOCAL UNION No. 46, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O.
Case No. R-2093.-Decided October 31,1940,
Jurisdiction : railroad car leasing industry
Investigation and. Certification of Representatives : existence of question : agree-
ment, as to ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the Company at
its -Waterloo, Iowa, repair yards, excluding supervisory and clerical or office
employees.
Mr. Otto A. Jaburek, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. John J. Brownlee, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Lewis J. Clark, of
Des Moines, Iowa, for the Union.
Mr. Louis Newman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 24, 1910, United Packinghouse Workers of America of
the P. W. 'O. C., Local Union No. 46, affiliated with the C. I. 0.,
herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the
Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minnesota) a petition, and on Sep-
tember 30, 1940, an amended petition alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Mather Humane Stock Transportation Company, Waterloo, Iowa,
herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and cer-
tification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On October
3, 1940, 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,
as amended, ordered ' an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice. -
27 N. L R. B , No. 194.
1188
MATHER HUMANE STOCK TRANSPORTATION COMPANY 1189
On October 4, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served on the Company and the Union.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on October 14, 1940, at
Waterloo, Iowa, before Lee Loevinger, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Board. The Company and the Union were represented
by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
heard,,to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course
of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on the admis-
sibility of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial
Examiner and finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The
rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is an Illinois corporation having its principal office
and place of business in Chicago, Illinois, and other offices or places
of business in National Stock Yards, Illinois ; Port Huron, Michigan
Madison, Wisconsin; and Waterloo, Iowa. It is engaged in the busi-
ness of owning and maintaining various kinds of railroad cars which
it leases to meat packing and other companies. As part of its busi-
ness, the Company operates several repair yards. The present pro-
ceeding involves only. the repair yards at Waterloo, Iowa, where the
Company at the time of the hearing had 29 employees.
The Company's Waterloo yards are used solely for servicing re-
frigerator and tank cars furnished by it to a packing company in
Waterloo. During the 5 years preceding the hearing, the Company
has continuously furnished this packing company with an average
of 399 cars for use in transporting its products. Annual purchases
of materials by the Company for use in its Waterloo yards have
amounted to approximately $23,000, approximately 92 per cent, of
these materials coming from outside the State of Iowa. Practically
all the cars thus furnished to the packing company are used for in-
terstate-transportation of goods and move in channels of interstate'
commerce. During the fiscal year 1939 the Company received, from
the railroads over whose lines these cars were moved, approximately
$50,800 on a mileage basis.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Packinghouse Workers of America of the P. W. O. C.;
Local Union No. 46, is a labor organization affiliated with the Con-
1190 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD =
gress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership em-
ployees,of the Company at Waterloo, Iowa.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
It was-stipulated at the hearing that the Union has requested, and
the Company has refused to grant recognition of the Union as the
representative for collective bargaining purposes of the Company's
Waterloo employees. It was also,stipulated that there exists a ques-
tion as to the representation of the Company's employees. The
Union during the hearing produced for examination by the Trial
Examiner 12 membership cards bearing the apparently genuine
signatures of employees on the Company's pay roll. - -
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 Company and the Union are in substantial agreement that the -
appropriate unit consists of all the Company's employees at Waterloo
except those occupying supervisory or clerical positions. They dis-
agree, however, as to the status of three named employees, P. C.
McGrane, Clem McGrane, and John Flynn?
P. C. McGrane, brother-in-law of the superintendent of the Wa-
terloo yards, Pat Powers, is admitted by the Company to be a work-
ing foreman or gang leader at least part of whose time is spent in
"directing" the work of the men who do the heavy repairs at the
west end of the Company's tracks. Although he has no power to
hire or discharge, McGrane is authorized in Powers' absence to take
necessary disciplinary action against other employees pending Pow-
ers' return. McGrane is paid at the rate of 81 cents an hour, while
the next highest paid man receives 68 cents an hour, approximately
20 per cent less. We find that P. C. McGrane is a supervisory em-
ployee and, as such, should be excluded from the appropriate unit. ,
I It was stipulated, and we find, that Pat, Powers, superintendent of the Company s
Waterloo yards, is a supervisory employee and should be excluded from the appropriate
unit.
MATHER HUMANE STOCK TRANSPORTATION COMPANY 1191
Clem McGrane, who is P. C. McGrane's son and Powers' nephew,
discharges a variety of duties. In addition to being timekeeper, he
does office work, cares for and repairs, equipment used by the other
employees, orders and keeps an inventory of materials used in the
Company's business, takes care of the stockroom, does electrical work,
and inspects railroad cars as they come in to determine what repairs
they need. Of his 7-hour day, Clem McGrane is occupied for per-
haps 4 hours or more in his capacity as timekeeper and office worker.
His duties in that capacity include preparing and typewriting letters
for Powers. Approximately 11/2 or 2 hours a day are spent by Mc-
Grane in inspecting cars as they come in, work which he shares witl
Superintendent Powers. Taking care of the stockroom and repair-
ing equipment occupy approximately another hour or hour and a half
of McGrane's day. 'In Powers' absence, as Powers himself stated at
the hearing, Clem McGrane is "in charge" of the yards, except appar-
ently as to the men working on heavy repairs. We find that Clem
McGrane is primarily an office or clerical employee, and that he also
has supervisory duties. He will, therefore, be excluded from the
appropriate unit.
John Flynn, who is also'a nephew of Powers, goes to school from
Monday through Friday of- each week and works for the Company
on Saturday and, occasionally, on Sunday. His work is neither su-
pervisory nor clerical in nature. The Union seeks to exclude him
from the appropriate unit because he is a - "student employee," but
does not explain why this,should affect his status. We see no reason
for excluding from the unit a regular, though part-time, employee.
We find that all the Company's employees at Waterloo, Iowa, ex-
cluding supervisory and clerical or office employees as_ above indi-
cated, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and' that said unit will insure to employees of the Com-
pany the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to col-
lective bargaining and will otherwise effectuate the policies of the
Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The parties agree, and we find, that the question concerning repre-
sentation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election. The
parties also agree that eligibility to participate in the election should
be determined by the Company's pay roll for the period September 4
to 15, 1940. We shall therefore direct that all employees in the ap-
propriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-
roll period September 1-15, 1940, including employees who did not
work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on V aca-
tion and employees who were then or have since been temporarily
1192 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABORI RELATIONS BOARD
laid off, but excluding employees who have since quit or been dis-
charged for cause, shall be eligible to participate in the election.2
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 Mather Humane Stock Transportation
Company, Waterloo, Iowa, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees of the Company at its Waterloo, Iowa, repair
yards, excluding supervisory and clerical or office employees, con-
stitute 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 Rela-
tions Act, 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 Mather Humane Stock Transportation Company, Waterloo,
Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possi-
ble, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direc-
tion of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Eighteenth 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 employees of the
Company at Waterloo, Iowa, employed by it during the pay-roll
period September 1-15, 1940, 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 supervisory and clerical or office employees and any
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by Local Union No.
46, United Packinghouse Workers of America, Packinghouse Work-
ers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the C. I. 0., for the
purposes of collective bargaining. _
3 At the hearing the Union requested that its name appear on the ballot in the following
form : "Local ' Union No . 46, United Packinghouse Workers of America, Packinghouse
Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the C. I. O " The Company made no
objection to the request , and we shall grant it.