Corn Products Refining Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 31, 1944

56 N.L.R.B. 1140 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of CORN PRODUCTS REFINING COMPANY and OIL WORKERS
INTERNATIONAL UNION, C. I. 0.
i
Case No. 1S-R-289.-Decided May 31, 1941E
Mr. Frank T. Miller, of Peoria, Ill., and Mr. Frank A. Hasse, of
Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Messrs. R. T. Aylor, John Norris, and W. E. Gifford, of Argo, Ill.,
for the CIO.
Mr. George B. -Christensen, of Chicago, Ill., for the Association.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Oil Workers International Union,
C. I. 0., herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Corn
Products Refining Company, Argo, Illinois, herein called the Com-
pany, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Francis X: Helgesen, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on April 11, 1944. The
Company, the CIO, and Employees Association of Corn Products
Refining Company of Argo, herein called the Association, appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity Ito be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to, introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues. At the hearing the Company and the
Association moved for the dismissal of, the petition on the grounds
that the CIO did not make out a sufficient prima facie showing of
membership to warrant the Board's proceeding with the case, and that
a presently existing contract between the Company and the Associa-
tion is a bar to this proceeding. -For reasons hereinafter given, the
motion is hereby denied. 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.
Upoh the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
56 N. L. R. B, No. 200.
1140
CORN PRODUCTS REFININd COMPANY 1141
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Corn Products Refining Company is engaged in the manufacture;
,sale, and distribution of food and food products in the United States
and foreign countries. The principal products sold by the Company
are starch, syrup, sugar, vegetable oils, and cattle feed. The principal
raw materials used by the Company are corn, cane sugar, chocolate,
lumber, paper, cardboard, and package materials. The Company op-
erates plants and warehouses at Argo, and Pekin, Illinois,,and at Kan-
sas City, Missouri. It also maintains and operates various plants in
foreign countries. The plant at Argo, Illinois, is the only plant
directly involved in this proceeding.
During -1943 the Company purchased for use at its Argo plant raw
materials valued in excess of $5,000,000, over 50 percent of which was
purchased outside Illinois. During the same period the Company
manufactured at its Argo plant products valued in excess of $20,000,-
000, over 75 percent of which was sold and shipped by the Company
to points 'outside Illinois. The Company is presently engaged in
war production, approximately 20 percent of its output going to the
various armed forces and being-shipped under Lend-Lease arrange-
ments, the remainder going to various prime contractors and to the
general public.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
1II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Oil Workers International Union, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, and Employees' Association of Corn Prod-
ucts Refining Company of Argo, are labor, organizations admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On No 4, 1943, and again on January 7, 1944, the CIO, by
letter to the Company, asserted that it represented a majority of the
Company's employees and requested recognition as their exclusive
bargaining representative. The Company, by letter dated January
10, 1944, denied the CIO's request on the ground that the Company
was bound by an existing contract with the Association covering the
employees whom the CIO sought to represent.
On October 13, 1943, we issued a Decision and Direction of Election
in Case No. R-5836, concerning the employees of the Company at the
1142 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
'Argo plant.' In that case we considered the agreements which the
Company and the Association have executed consisting of a recognition
agreement, a iaintenance-of-membership agreement and oral agree-
ments concerning wage's and conditions of employment and found
them to be no bar to a determination of representatives for employees
covered' by them: The status of the contracts -as described in our
Decision in that case has not been altered. For the reasons set forth
in that Decision,, we find that the agreements between 'the Company
and the Association are no bar to this proceeding.
- A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing supplemented by a statement made by the Trial Examiner at the
hearing, indicates that the CIO 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) aiid Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The CIO requests a , unit of all maintenance and production em-
ployees at the Argo, plant, excluding supervisory employees, office and
-clerical employees, plant guards, part-time employees, technical em-
ployees, and employees of the two machine shops considered in Case
No. R-5836 and found to constitute an appropriate unit. The Com-
pany and the Association contend that the only appropriate unit fof
bargaining at the Argo plant is one consisting of all hourly paid
production, and maintenance employees. This description would,
according to the present pay-r`oll practice of the Company, exclude
from the unit supervisory employees above the rank of relief-shift
foreman, office clerical employees, and technical employees.3 The de-
scription would include relief-shift foremen, gang leaders and checkers
whom the CIO 'would exclude as supervisors, factory clerical em-
ployees and plant guards, as well as the machine shop employees whom
the Board has heretofore found constitute a separate unit .4
Matter of Corn Products Refining Company , Case No . R-5836, 13-R-1774, 52 N. L. R B.
1324
2 The Field Examiner reported that the CIO'submitted 541 application for membership
cards , 444 of which bore signatures of persons listed on the Company's pay roll of March
10, 1944 , which contained the names of 1,660 employees in the appropriate unit and that
the cards were dated August 1943 through March 1944. The Trial Examiner reported that
the CIO submitted to him 22 additional cards, 17 of which bore signatures of employees
whose names appeared on the April 1, 1944 , pay roll of the Company which contained
the names of 1,736 employees in the appropriate unit. The cards were dated in March and
April 1944 . In the light of the Associations maintenance-of-membership contract we find
this to be a substantial showing . ' See Matter of Groveton Papers Company, 52 N. L R. B.
1256 . , A witness , testified at the hearing that the Association has' 1,200 dues paying
members. ,
At the hearing it appeared that all parties are in agreement as to the exclusion of tech-
nical employees and the meaning of the term as applied to the employees of the Company.
4 The International Association of Machinists was certified by the Board in Case No.'
R-5836 on December 24, 1943, as exclusive bargaining representative for "all employees
CORN PRODUCTS REFINING COMPANY 1143
Factory clerical employees. This classification includes approxi-
mately 10 employees. They are for the most part 'record clerks who
work in the various production departments of the Company, under
the supervision of the production supervisory personnel. They have
the same vacation schedule and conditions of work as production and
maintenance employees. Their contacts are with those employees.
For these reasons, we are of the'opinion that the interest of factory
clerical employees are more nearly similar to those of production and
maintenance employees than to those of the office clerical employees.
We shall, therefore, include them in the appropriate unit,6
Guards. With the exception of the guard at the gate' of the plant
who wears a uniform, the guards at the plant are neither uniformed
nor members of the Auxiliary Military Police. Since their duties are
those customarily performed by watchmen, rather than those of a
specialized plant-protection force, we shall include them in the unit.°
Relief -shift foremen. The Company employs a group of relief-shift
foremen who devote their entire time to supervision and are classified
as relief foremen only because they are not assigned regularly to the
same department. All parties are'in agreement that these employees
are supervisory and should be excluded from the unit. The Company
also designates as relief-shift foremen certain production and mainte-
nance employees, who, on an average of once a week and during the
vacation of the regular shift foremen, take on the' duties of the shift
foremen. 'During such periods of time they receive 15 to 20 cents an
hour more than their regular wages. They do not, however, assume
the authority of the foremen and their recommendations have no ef-
fect in changing the status of employees working under them. We find,
therefore, that the 'relief-shift foremen who, for'the major portion of
,their time perform ordinary production or maintenance work are, in
fact, production and maintenance employees and we shall include them
in the unit.T
Gang leaders and checkers work along with and direct the work of
small groups of employees but have no, authority to change or to recom-
mend change in the status of persons in their charge. Inasmuch. as
their authority does not equal that required by our definition of super-
visory employees, we. shall include them in the unit .s
Machine shop employees. Since the Board has'already passed upon
the question of inclusion of macliine'shop employees in a general plant-
of the Company in the two machine shops at the Argo plant, except for the storeroom
clerk, automobile mechanic, sweeper, foreman, night foreman and assistant foreman."
The parties are in agreement that the automobile mechanic and the sweeper should be
included in, and that the named foremen excluded from, any unit which the Board might
find appropriate herein, and that the storeroom clerk is a factory 'clerical employee.
6 See Matter of Bemis Bros. Bag Company, 51 N. L. R B. 211. <
8 Matter of Ash Grove Lime & Portland Cement Co., 55 N. L R B. 1007.
4 See Matter of Johnston Brother's, Inc, 53 N. L. It. B. 1191.
8 See Matter of Manning, Maawe'll & Moore, In-c., 53 N. L. R. B. 951.
1144 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL' LABOR 'RELATIONS BOARD
wide unit in Case No. R-5836, we find it unnecessary to discuss the
matter further.
We find that all0 production and maintenance employees of the
Company at,its Argo plant, including factory clerical employees,
guards, relief-shiftforemen who spend the major portion of their time
in production or maintenance work, checkers. and gang leaders, but
excluding office clerical employees, technical employees, and the em-
ployees -for whom the International Association of Machinists has
been certified as, the exclusive bargaining representative, and all
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis-
cipline, 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 question1 concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved- by an election by secret ballot among the em-'
ployees 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.
The Company employs approximately 20 to 25 high school students
as regular part-time employees. These employees work 4 to 8 hours a
day at regular production and maintenance jobs. They receive the
same rate of pay as do regular full-time employees. Their rights and
privileges as employees of the plant are to some extent limited by the
fact that they cannot be transferred from shift to shift and that they
do not usually work a sufficient number of hours 'in a year to earn a -
vacation. The work they do, however, gives them sufficient interest in
the conditions of employment in the plant to entitle them-to a voice in
the designation of a bargaining representative. We hold, therefore,
contrary to` the contention of the CIO, that part-time employees are
eligible to vote in the election hereinafter directed 10
The Company and the Association insist that the employees who
are presently members of the armed services be allowed to vote by
° Since method of payment in and of itself is not a deciding factor in determining the
constituency of an appropriate unit, we shall omit the words "hourly paid " from ' our
definition of the appropriate unit herein. See Matter of Bendix Aviation, Ltd ., 52 N. L.
RB1182 -
10 Matter of Kaplan Brothers, 46 N. L. R B. 1057 , Matter of Wagner Folding Box, Corp.,
49 N L. R . B. 346. The Company employs casual laborers who are hired on a daily basis
and carried on a pay roll separate and, apart from regular employees All parties are in
agreement that these employees should be excluded from the unit , and we perceive no
reason to depart from the agreement of the parties'. '
CORN PRODUCTS REFINING COMPANY 1145
mail in this election. For reasons given in Matter of Mine Safety
Appliances Conbpany,h1 the request is hereby denied.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National La-
bor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DmECTm that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Corn Products Re-
fining Company , Argo, 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 , 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 Ar-
ticle III, Sections , 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations and the
findings in Section V, above, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, in-
cluding employees who"did not work during the said pay -roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off , and in-
cluding 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 they
desire to be,represented by, Oil Workers International Union, ' C. I. 0.,
or by Employees' Association of Corn Products Refining Company of
Argo, for the purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.
u 55 N. L. R. B. 1190.