K. & B. Packing & Provision Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 22, 1943

51 N.L.R.B. 617 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the ' Matter of L. K. SIGMAN , MORRIS SIGMAN , AND SAM SIGMAN, A
PARTNERSHIP, D/B/A K. & B . PACKING & PROVISION Co. and AMAL-
GAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA,
PACKINGHOUSE LOCAL UNION 641
Case No. R-5590.Decided July 02,1943
Mr. Charles Rosenbaum, of Denver, Colo., for the Company.
Mr. Frank H. Clear, of Denver, Colo., for the Union.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon amended petition duly filed by Amalgamated Meat Cutters
and Butcher Workmen of North America, Packinghouse Local Union
641, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of L. K.
Sigman, Morris Sigman, and Sam Sigman, a partnership, doing busi-
ness as K. & B. Packing & Provision Co., Denver, Colorado, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Willard Y. Morris,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Denver, Colorado, on
June 14, 21, and 28, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared,
participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to ex-
amine 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
L. K. Sigman, Morris Sigman, and Sam Sigman,' a partnership,
doing business as K. & B. Packing & Provision Co., is engaged in the
51 N. L . R. B., No. 104.
617
618 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
purchase and slaughter of livestock acid in the processing and whole-
saling of products therefrom. For these purposes it conducts oper-
ations both at Alamosa and at Denver, Colorado. We are concerned
herein with the Denver operation of the Company which is carried on
independently from that conducted at Alamosa. The Denver oper-
ation consists of a slaughtering plant and processing plant located ap-
proximately 3 miles apart. During the year 1942, the sales of the
Denver operation amounted to approximately $3,186,562. All of the
meat products of this operation were sold to retailers and consumers
located within the State of Colorado. However, approximately nine-
tenths of 1 percent of the meat products was purchased by corporations
engaged in interstate transportation. During the same period, the
sales of hides and tallow, which constituted 5 percent of the total sales
of the Denver operation, were made, with the exception of two-tenths
of 1 percent, to purchasers within the State of Colorado. The Com-
pany admits, however, that all hides and tallow are eventually shipped
to points outside the State of Colorado by the purchasers. Approxi-
mately 14 percent of the hides, cattle, casing, spices, and similar articles
purchased during the above-mentioned period for use at the Denver
operation was shipped to Denver from points outside the State of
Colorado. In view of the fact that 14 percent of the raw materials
used by the Denver operation and 5 percent in value of the sales of the
Company are transported into interstate commerce, we find that the
Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.'
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North Amer-
ica, Packinghouse Local Union 641, is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT ; TIIE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING
REPRESENTATION
The Union desires a unit composed of all production and mainte-
nance workers employed at the slaughtering plant of the Company,
excluding supervisory and clerical employees, drivers, and operating
engineers. The Company, while agreeing in the main with regard to
the classifications which should comprise the appropriate unit, con-
tends that the slaughtering plant and the processing plant should be
considered together as a single unit.
1 In Hanley v. Kansas City Southern Railway Company, 187 U. S. 617, the Supreme
Court stated- "The power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce is plenary and
extends to all such commerce, be it great or small "
1
K. & B. PACKING & PROVISION CO. 619
The record indicates that in similar businesses the processing and
slaughtering activities are usually conducted in one plant. The larger
concerns and most of the smaller competitors of the Company operate
in such a manner. The Company's operations are not divided be-
cause of any operational advantage accruing from such division, but
primarily because of the reluctance to make the financial outlay neces-
sary to consolidate them. Both plants conduct similar operations
with the exception that most of the slaughtering is done at the slaugh-
tering plant and the processing of edibles is performed solely at the
processing plant. However, the processing of inedibles is performed
at the slaughtering plant. In the main, similar operations are con-
ducted at both plants, and the skill required of the workers is in
most respects similar, although with the exception of supervisory
employees, stationary engineers, and truck drivers, there is little, if
any, interchange of personnel between the two operations. Orders
are taken at one plant to be filled at the other; selling and buying may
be done at either plant. Externally, both plants act as one, with one
bank account, one set of books, and one credit statement. The record
indicates that one plant alone could not operate successfully.
The Union attempted to organize both plants as a single unit as far
back as 1936. In 1937 it submitted a contract to the Company covering
both plants as a single unit; the record discloses that in 1942, circulars
of the Union were distributed at both plants, and, as late as February
1943, the Union, again attempted to organize both plants as a single
unit.
Although we have frequently found appropriate a unit smaller than
that which all parties agree would ultimately be the most appropriate,
on the ground that the employees who are already organized should
not be denied the benefits of collective bargaining until the remainder
of the employees have been organized, and when such employees con-
stitute a clearly defined and identifiable group, these are not the con-
trolling considerations in this case. The history of the industry
indicates that both slaughtering and processing are part of a single
operation; the Union itself has recognized the appropriateness of
both plants as a single unit in its several attempts to, organize them
as such; 2 the only collective bargaining agreement to which the Com-
pany is a party includes employees at both plants as a single unit.3
In view of the foregoing, we find that the unit sought by the Union
is inappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
2 The proceeding herein is distinguishable from Matter of Abraham Brothers Packing Co ,
47 N L R. B 1338, in that in the Abraham case the Union confined its organizational
activities to the single plant, whereas in the instant proceeding the Union at first sought
to represent both plants in a single unit, thus indicating the appropriateness of such a unit.
' Stationary engineers at both plants are represented in a single unit by the Operating
Engineers, an American Federation of Labor affiliate.
620 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We, accordingly, find that no question has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Company in an appropriate bar-
gaining unit. The Petition for Investigation and Certification of
Representatives will be dismissed.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and the entire
record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders
that the Amended Petition for Investigation and Certification of
Representatives of L. K. Sigman, Morris Sigman, and Sam Sigman,
a partnership, doing business as K. & B. Packing & Provision Co.,
Denver, Colorado, filed by Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen of North America, Packinghouse Local Union 641, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.