Walter Jansen & Son

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 3, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 121 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of WALTER JANSEN & SON and WAREHOUSEMEN'S UNION,
LOCAL 1-17, I. L. W. U.-CIO
Cases Nos. 00-R-1309 and 20-R-1310.-Decided August 3,194,5
Mr. Robert W. Norton, of San Francisco, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. Walter K. Eckland, of Sacramento, Calif, for the CIO.
Mr. Albert Brundage, of San Francisco, Calif., Mr. Gerald A.
Shearin, of Marysville, Calif., and Mr. Louis D. Pogetto, of Sacra-
mento, Calif., for the AFL.
Mr. Bernard Goldberg, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon' separate petitions duly filed by Warehousemen's Union, Local
1-17, I. L. W. U.-CIO, herein called the CIO, alleging that questions
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Walter Jansen & Sons, Lincoln, California, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the
cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Robert E. Tillman, Trial- Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Lincoln, California, on May 16, 1945. The Company, the CIO, and
General Teamsters & Warehousemen, Locals 137 and 150, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers
of America, AFL, herein collectively called the AFL, 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 an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Walter Jansen & Son is a partnership engaged in the business of
warehousing, feed manufacturing, and processing of grains , beans,
63 N. L . R. B., No. 16.
121
122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and peas at plants in Lincoln, Gridley, and Wheatland, California;
it also engages in the purchasing of beans and peas as agent for certain
principals. The Company stores grains, rice, beans, and peas, all of
which is grown locally. The principal part of the Company's business
is concerned with processing. Of the grains processed more than 10
percent in value is obtained from outside the State of California, the
remainder being derived from local areas within the State. In 1944
the Company's total sales aggregated approximately $1,000,000. The
processed grains and feed are sold to customers in the areas surround-
ing the Company's plants. In its capacity as agent for other prin-
cipals, the Company acts for a private broker in purchasing, ware-
housing, and shipping beans ultimately destined for the United States
Government and in a similar capacity for an agency of the United
States Government in the purchase of peas. During the 2 years pre-
ceding the hearing the Company handled about $100,000 worth of
beans for its principal. The beans and peas are shipped on Govern-
ment orders to points outside the State. -
We find, contrary to the contentions of the Company, that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Warehousemen's Union, Local 1-17, I. L. W. U., affiliated with
the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
General Teamsters & Warehousemen, Locals 137 and 150, Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and
Helpers of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
- are labor organizations admitting to- membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to recognize the CIO as the collective
bargaining representative of any of its employees on the ground that
no proof of majority representation in either of the units hereinafter
found to be appropriate has been submitted by the CIO to the Com-
pany.
The AFL asserts that the October 15, 1937, contract between its
Local 137' and a group of employers,' including the Company, has
In 1941 , Local 137 's jurisdictional lines were altered with the result that jurisdiction
over the Lincoln warehouse was assigned to Local 150 , Local 137 retaining jurisdiction
over the Gridlev warehouse No modification of the agreement occurred as the result of
this change in the jurisdictional lines of the contracting union.
9 The employers appear to have acted individually and not as an association In any
event none of the parties questions the appropriateness of the single plant units sought
by the CIO.
WALTER JANSEN & SON 123
been automatically renewed from year to year according to its terms
and is now a bar to this proceeding since the CIO's representation
claim to the Company was made subsequent to the most recent auto-
matic renewal notice date, September 15, 1944. The Company and
the CIO deny that the agreement, insofar as it affects the Company,
is still operative and maintain, in effect, that, although no formal
notice of termination was served by any of the parties, the contract
was permitted to lapse. We find it unnecessary to decide as between
the contention of the AFL on the one hand and that of the Company
and the CIO on the other, since, even accepting the AFL's position,
the contract may be terminated in approximately 21/2 months upon
appropriate notice by either of the parties thereto. In these circum-
stances, we find that the 1937 agreement is not a bar to a determination
of represenatives within the next 30 days pursuant to our usual Direc-
tion of Election. However, any certification of representatives which
we may issue as a result of the election shall be for the purpose of
designating a bargaining representative to negotiate a new contract
to become effective on or after October 15, 1945.3
A. statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in each of the units hereinafter found appropriate.4
We find that questions affecting commerce have 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.
lv. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNITS
All parties are agreed that separate units of warehouse employees
at the Gridley and Lincoln plants, respectively, are appropriate.5
They disagree, however, with respect to the inclusion or exclusion of
the truck driver at the Lincoln warehouse and foremen in both ware-
houses.
The CIO would exclude, and the Company and AFL include, the
truck driver at the Lincoln warehouse who spends 80 percent of his
working time making over-the-road deliveries to and from the ware-
house and the balance of his time working in the warehouse. We shall
include him in the units
8 Matter of Joseph Dyson d Sons, Inc, 60 N L R B 867, and cases cited therein.
'The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 14 application cards ; that the
names on 12 of these, cards were listed on the Company ' s combined pay roll for the Lin-
coln and Gridley plants containing the names of 23 employees In the 2 appropriate units ;
that the names on 4 of the 12 cards are of employees working in the Lincoln plant, and
the remaining 8 are of employees working in the. Gridley plant ; and that the 12 cards were
dated as follows : 4 in December 1944, 7 in February 1945, and 1 was undated The
AFL relies on its contract to establish its interest
5 Neither union is presently seeking to represent the employees at the Wheatland plant.
6 Matter of Armstrong Cork Company , 61 N. L. R. B 1320; Matter of 0. K. Storage t
Transfer Company, Inc, 56 N L R . B. 1521.
124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The CIO and the AFL desire to include the two foremen in the
Gridley warehouse and the one foreman in the Lincoln warehouse in
the respective units; the Company urges their exclusion. Each of the
foremen, who have comparable duties, directs the activities of three
or more subordinates with respect to whom, it appears, the foremen
exercise supervisory duties within the Board's customary definition.
Accordingly, we shall exclude the foremen as supervisory employees.
We find that the following separate units excluding all supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom-
mend such action, are appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
(1) All employees at the Company's warehouse in Lincoln, Califor-
nia, including truck drivers, but excluding office employees and fore-
men ;
(2) All employees at the Company's warehouse in Gridley, Califor-
nia, including truck drivers, but excluding office employees and fore-
men.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Elections herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.7
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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 Walter'Jansen &
Son, Lincoln, California, separate elections 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 Twentieth Region, acting in this mat-
ter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among
the employees in the units found appropriate in Section IV, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
7 The AFL's request as to the form in which it desires its name to appear on the ballots
is hereby referred to the Regional Director for determination.
WALTER JANSEN & SON 125
the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work dur-
ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem-
porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the
United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex-
cluding any 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 they desire to be represented for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining in unit (1) by Warehousemen's Union, Local 1-17,
I. L. W. U.-CIO, or by General Teamsters & Warehousemen, Local
150, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers of America, AFL, or by neither, and in unit (2) by
Warehousemen's Union, Local 1-17, I. L. W. U.-CIO, or by General
Teamsters & Warehousemen, Local 137, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL,
or by neither.