Baumer Foods, Inc.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMay 28, 1971190 N.L.R.B. 690 (N.L.R.B. 1971) Copy Citation 690 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Baumer Foods , Inc. and Transportation Employees Association , a/w District 2, National Marine Engi- neers' Beneficial Association , AFL-CIO, Peti- tioner . Case 15-RC-4563 May 28, 1971 DECISION ON REVIEW BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND KENNEDY On March 18 , 1971, the Regional Director for Re- gion 15 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding . Thereafter , the Em- ployer filed a timely request for review of such Decision and Direction of Election on the ground , inter alia, that the Regional Director had erred in excluding from the unit certain employees classified as "seasonals" at the Employer 's food processing operation at New Orleans, Louisiana. On April 23, 1971, the National Labor Relations Board by telegraphic order granted the request for re- view and stayed the election pending decision on re- view . The Employer and the Petitioner filed briefs on review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended , the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the entire record in this case with respect to the issues under review , including the briefs on review , and makes the following findings: As above indicated the Employer contends that the only appropriate unit of its production and mainte- nance employees must include the seasonal employees at its plant in New Orleans.' We agree. The Employer operates its vegetable and fruit pro- cessing plant in New Orleans on a year -round basis with a work force of approximately 50 regular em- ployees. During the period from early June to early or mid-December of each year the Employer augments its work force with some 130-170 additional employees, who, along with some of the regular employees , process ' The Employer also contends that seasonal employees at its Pon- chatoula, Louisiana, operation should be included in the unit The Employer operates this plant 6-8 weeks during the strawberry season in May and June and some 50 employees which it hires locally As the Ponchatoula plant is located some 60 miles from New Orleans, and there is virtually no inter- change of employees between New Orleans and Ponchatoula, we affirm the Regional Director's exclusion of the Ponchatoula seasonals from the unit the okra (June-September) and sweet potato (Septem- ber-December) crops which are harvested during that time. At the end of the sweet potato season in early or mid-December all of the seasonal employees are laid off. These seasonal employees, who are mostly women from the New Orleans area, perform the same work under the same supervision as do the regular em- ployees. They work with the regular employees and receive the same pay as about 50 percent of the regular employees. Although the Employer does not maintain a recall list of seasonals, it gives hiring preference to former seasonals who apply for work. In 1968 the Employer hired 168 seasonals; in 1969 the Employer hired 133 seasonals, including 92 who had worked for the Em- ployer in 1968; and in 1970 the Employer hired 131 seasonals, including 71 who had worked for the Em- ployer in one or more previous years. In the circumstances of this case, and particularly as the Employer draws from the same labor market each year and gives preference in hiring to former seasonals, as many return each year, and as they work with the regular employees and perform the same duties under common supervision, we find that the seasonal em- ployees at the Employer's New Orleans plant have a reasonable expectation of substantial seasonal employ- ment from year to year. We find therefore that they possess sufficient interest in employment conditions to warrant their inclusion in the unit.' Accordingly, the case is hereby remanded to the Re- gional Director for Region 15 for the purpose of hold- ing an election pursuant to his Decision and Direction of Election, as amended herein, except that the payroll period for determining eligibility shall be that immedi- ately preceding the date below.' ' Kelly Brothers Nurseries, Inc, 140 NLRB 82, California Vegetable Concentrates, Inc, 137 NLRB 1779, Knouse Foods Co-operative, Inc, 131 NLRB 801 ' In order to assure that all eligible votes may have the opportunity to be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their ad- dresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior Underwear Inc, 156 NLRB 1236, N . L R B. v Wyman-Gordon Co, 394 U S 759 Accordingly, it is hereby directed that a revised election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 15 within 7 days of the date of this Decision on Review The Regional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed 190 NLRB No. 137 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation