Burgie Vinegar Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 4, 1945

59 N.L.R.B. 1425 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of BURGIE VINEGAR COMPANY and LOCAL INDUSTRIAL
UNION No. 1356, AFFILIATED WITH CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGAN-
IZATIONS
Case No. 1,5-b-12,33.-Decided January 4, 194.5
Messrs. Lowell W. Taylor and J. L. Burgie, of Memphis, Tenn., for
the Company.
Mr. W. A. Copeland, of Memphis, Tenn., for the Union.
Mr. Sidney Grossman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE.
Upon a petition duly filed by Local Industrial Union No. 1356,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called
the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen cony
cerning the representation of employees of Burgie Vinegar Company,
Memphis, Tennessee, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Walter Wilbur and Laurence H. Whitlow, Trial Examiners.
Said hearing was held at Memphis, Tennessee, on October 27 and
November 28, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared and par-
ticipated.' All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues. The Company's motion to require the Union to file
an indemnity bond is hereby denied. The Trial Examiners' 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 :
'The Company appeared specially for the purpose of ' contesting jurisdiction on the
ground that the Act is unconstitutional , predicating its position on that portion of Section
10 (b) thereof which provides that the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or
equity shall not be controlling. Reserving its position , it participated in the'pioceeding.
We find no merit in the foregoing jurisdictional contention of the Company.
59 N. L. R. B.,,No. 259.
1425
1426 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE COMPANY
Burgie Vinegar Company, a Tennessee corporation, is engaged in
the, business of manufacturing vinegar, hot sauce, potato sauce, and
mustard, at Memphis, Tennessee. A major portion of its production
is concerned with the manufacture of vinegar aggregating about
1,250,000 gallons annually. The dollar value of its annual sales
amounts to approximately $400,000, of which $300,000 in value relates
to sales in interstate commerce.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Local 'Industrial Union No. 1356, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On September 11, 1944, the Union addressed a telegram to the
Company, stating therein that it represents a majority of the em-
ployees as their bargaining agent and requesting that the Company
arrange a conference for further discussion. The Company made no
response thereto.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
We find that a question aff ecting 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 seeks a unit consisting of all employees of the Company,
excluding clerical employees, the superintendent, and all other super-
visory employees. The Company contends that the manufacturing
department and the packing department each constitutes a separate
appropriate unit. The record discloses that three employees engage
in manufacturing and maintenance work, and that the majority of the
2 At the hearing the Trial Examiner stated that the Union submitted 12 membership
cards, which bore dates in August 1944 ; that the names of S persons appearing on the
cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll of November 24, 1944 , which contained the
names of 18 employees in the alleged appropriate unit. I
BURGIE VINEGAR COMPANY 1427
remaining employees in the plant are employed as packers. In addi-
tion, the Company employs a watchman who is not armed or deputized,
and two truck drivers who perform any work to which they may
be assigned. Since all employees are paid at an hourly. rate and
are subject to substantially the same working conditions, we are of
the opinion that a plant-wide unit, as proposed by the Union, is appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
We find that all employees of the Company, at Memphis, Tennessee,
excluding clerical employees, the superintendent, 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 the em-
ployees 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 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 Burgie' Vinegar
Company, Memphis, Tennessee, 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 Fifteenth 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 unit found appropriate in Section IV, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work
during the 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,
r
1428 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
but excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause
and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elec-
tion, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
Local Industrial Union No. 1356, affiliated with the Congress of In-
dustrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN MiLms took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.