Arkport Dairies, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 29, 1949

86 N.L.R.B. 319 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of ARKPORT DAIRIES, INC., EMPLOYER and CHAUFFEURS
& TEAMSTERS LOCAL UNION 65, ITHACA, N. Y. & VICINITY,
PETITIONER
Case No. 3-RC-298.Decided September 29, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a bearing was 'held before Richard
Lipsitz, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act
4. We find, substantially in accordance with a. stipulation of the
parties, that all -plant employees 1 at the Employer's sole plant at
Arkport, New York, including seasonal employees, but excluding
clerical employees, laboratory technicians, professional employees,
truck drivers, and supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the kct.
5. The Employer is engaged in processing and distributing milk
and milk products. The Employer has about 30 regular employees,
and, during its busy season, which extends from March to August,
employs about 30 additional employees. The Employer contends that
these seasonal employees should be ineligible to vote in any election
directed by the Board. The Petitioner requests that such employees
1 The Employer contends that employees hired for the busy season, from March to
August, should be excluded from the unit. The Board, however, has frequently held that
employees such as those herein involved are properly included in the unit. Matter of
Will. P. McDonald Corporation, 83 N. L. R. B. 427; Matter of Stokely Foods, 81
N. L. R. B. 1103.
8e- *1 L. R. B., No. 40. 319
320 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
be allowed to vote. The Board customarily permits seasonal em-
ployees to vote and, in fact, in seasonal industries, directs elections
to be held at the peak of the season so that such employees may Vote .2
Under the facts of this case, however, we see no reason to postpone
an election until the Employer's next busy season as the permanent
employees, comprising about 50 percent of the Employer's pay roll
at the peak of the busy season, constitute a representative and sub-
stantial group. We shall therefore follow our customary practice of
directing an immediate election among those currently employed.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Chauffeurs & Teamsters Local Union 65, Ithaca, N. Y. &
Vicinity.
2 Matter of- Edgar F. Hurf Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 762.