Bridgman Frozen Foods, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 8, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 569 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of BRIDGMAN FROZEN FOODS, INC., EMPLOYER and RE-
TAIL, WHOLESALE & DEPARTMENT STORE UNION, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 35-RC-297.-Decided February 8,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Alan A.
Bruckner, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is an Indiana corporation engaged, at its prin-
cipal place of business in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the wholesale dis-
tribution of frozen foods, ice cream, milk, and dairy products, the
processing of fluid milk and dairy products, and the manufacture of
ice cream. It is an exclusive franchise distributor, with respect to
certain territory in Indiana, for Snow Crop Marketers, Inc., New
York, New York, which distributes frozen foods throughout the
United States, and for Ocoma Foods Company, Omaha, Nebraska,
which is an interstate distributor of frozen poultry. Material adver-
tising Snow Crop products is shipped from outside of Indiana to the
Employer for redistribution to retailers, and to the Indianapolis, In-
diana, newspaper, for publication.
During the year ending May 31, 1949, the Employer purchased
frozen foods, frozen poultry and fish, raw milk and cream, flavoring,
containers and other supplies, valued at approximately $535,000; of
this amount, approximately 55 percent was purchased from sources
outside Indiana. Included in the out-of-State purchases were pur-
chases from Snow Crop, and Ocoma Foods, approximating, respec-
tively, 27 percent and 3 percent of the Employer's total purchases.
. During this same period, the Employer's sales amounted to approx-
imately $715,000. Of this amount, approximately 5 percent was
88 NLRB No. 118.
569
570 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shipped by the Employer directly to Pensacola, Florida;1 the remain-
ing 95 percent was sold to customers located within Indiana. Of the
sales made to customers located within Indiana, approximately 40
percent was made to customers engaged in interstate commerce and
to an agency of the United States Government.
On the basis of the foregoing, particularly the Employer's status
as a franchised wholesale distributor of Snow Crop and Ocoma frozen
foods, and on the entire record, we find, contrary to the contention
of the Intervenor, that the Employer is engaged in commerce, within
the meaning of the Act, and that it would effectuate the policies of
the Act to assert jurisdiction in this case.2
2. The labor organizations involved claim -to represent certain em-
ployees 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. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
All production and maintenance employees, drivers, helpers, and
warehousemen, at the Employer's Indianapolis, Indiana, plant, ex-
cluding clerical employees, guards, professional employees, and su-
pervisors, as defined in the Act.
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 payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
i The Employer is licensed by the Production and Marketing Administration of the United
States Department of Agriculture , under the provisions of the Perishable Agricultural
Commodities Act of 1930 , as amended , to transport perishable goods, including frozen foods,
in interstate commerce.
S Henry J. Nortz , Inc., 86 NLRB 580; Rockford Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 81 NLRB 579;
S. Martinelli & Co., 81 NLRB 383; ZVm . F. Crome & Co ., 80 NLRB 986.
BRIDGMAN FROZEN FOODS, INC. 571
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
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,
by Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union, CIO, or by Local
188, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men and Helpers of America, AFL, or by neither.