California Growers, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 22, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 578 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of CALIFORNIA GROWERS, INC., EMPLOYER and DRIED
FRUIT, NUT PACKER'S, DEHYDRATOR'S AND WAREHOUSEMEN 'S UNION,
LOCAL 616, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUF-
FEURS , WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA , A. F. L.,
PETITIONER
In the Matter of PELOIAN FRUIT DISTRIBUTORS , EMPLOYER and DRIED
FRUIT, NUT PACKER'S, DEHYDRATOR'S AND WAREHOUSEMEN 's UNION,
LOCAL 616, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUF-
FEURS , WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA , A. F. L.,
PETITIONER
In the Matter of M. W. GREGG , D/B/A REEDLEY GRAPE GROWERS, EM-
PLOYER and DRIED FRUIT, NUT PACKER 'S, DEHYDRATOR'S AND WARE-
HOUSEMEN 'S UNION , LOCAL 616 , INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS , WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 20-RC-325, 20-RC-326, and 2O-RC-327 , respectively,
Decided November 22,1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, a hearing in these consolidated cases was
held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board.'
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial 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
these consolidated cases to a three-man panel consisting of the under-
signed Board Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employers are engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the National Labor Relations Act.
3 No specific motion to dismiss the petitions was made by the Employers . At the hear-
ing and in their brief the Employers questioned the adequacy of the Petitioner 's showing
of interest. The Employers had refused to submit a pay roll to the Field Examiner in-
vestigating the Petitioner's showing of interest and instead , after the close of the hearing,
furnished the hearing officer with so-called " confidential" list of employees for each
classification . We find the contentions of the Employers with respect to the adequacy of
the Petitioner's showing to be without merit. We have frequently held the question of
showing of interest to be an administrative matter and not open to collateral attack.
Matter of 0. D Jennings & Company, 68 N L. R. B. 516.
.Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
80 N. L. R. B., No. 98.
578
CALIFORNIA GROWERS, INC. 579
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent employ-
ees of the Employers.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of each Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employers are each engaged in the business of packing and
shipping fresh fruits and grapes. The parties are in substantial
agreement that each of the three appropriate units should consist of
all production, maintenance, shipping, and plant clerical employees,
and truck drivers.2
The Petitioner and two of the Employers are in dispute with respect
to the status of two employees, one employed by California Growers,
Inc., and one employed by M. W. Gregg, d/b/a Reedley Grape Grow-
ers. The Employers contend that these two employees, designated
as watchmen, are guards within the meaning of the amended Act and
should accordingly be excluded from the unit found appropriate.
The Petitioner contends that these employees are primarily mainte-
nance employees and should be included in the unit. Both employees
work at night in the Employers' open sheds. They do clean-up work
and see that the sheds are ready for the morning operations. They
attend to the precooling of fruit cars and are expected to withdraw the
fans before the cars leave the Employers' premises. They are hourly
paid employees and remain with the Employers throughout the entire
season and during part of the winter. They are expected to report
the presence of any suspicious person found on the premises at night,
and to watch out for fire. There was no testimony regarding the rela-
tive amount of time spent by these employees on their maintenance
and guard duties, but the record indicates that the major part of their
time is spent on regularly assigned maintenance duties and that during
the packing season their guard responsibilities are incidental. They
are neither armed nor deputized and they have no responsibility for
the enforcement of rules. Accordingly, we find that they are not
"guards" within the meaning of the Act and shall include them in
the unit as maintenance employees.3
We find that (1) all production, maintenance, shipping, and plant
clerical employees, and truck drivers, of California Growers, Inc., in-
cluding the night watchmen, but excluding clerical employees and
! The various job classifications employed by the three Employers consist of gradermen,
packers , set-up men , set-off men, car loaders , lidders , tally girls, stampers , box makers, and
their helpers , truck drivers , swompers, and receivers.
5 Matter of Carolina Metal Products , Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 644 ; Matter of General Eleotrio
Company (Kentucky Glass Works ), 76 N. L. R. B. 995.
817319-49-vol. 80-38
580 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
supervisors; (2) all production, maintenance, shipping, and plant
clerical employees and truck drivers of Peloian Fruit Distributors,
excluding clerical employees and supervisors; 4 and (3) all production,
maintenance, shipping, and plant clerical employees, and truck drivers,
of M. W. Gregg d/b/a Reedley Grape Growers, including the night
watchman, but excluding clerical employees and supervisors, each
constitute separate units appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
5. The Employers' business is seasonal in nature. The packing sea-
son begins with plum packing and shipping around June 15 of each
year and concludes with the grape packing and shipping season
around November 15. Within this over-all season there are two dis-
tinct periods, the tree fruit season 5 which begins June 15 and ends
around the first of August, and the grape season which begins around
the 15th of August and continues until about November 15. At the
peak of the tree fruit season, California Growers, Inc., and Reedley
Grape Growers have from 70 to 90 employees each, and Peloian Fruit
Distributors has about 65 employees. The grape season does not
require as many employees, and at its peak, California Growers, Inc.,
and Reedley Grape Growers have approximately 65 employees each
and Peloian Fruit Distributors has about 48 employees. Some of the
employees employed during the tree fruit season leave at the end of
that season and go to other places in California. A substantial num-
ber of the tree fruit workers, however, are local people and continue
to work for the Employers during the grape season. We therefore
believe that to hold the elections during the peak of the tree fruit sea-
son will result in making the franchise available to the employees who
have the greatest interest in the selection of a bargaining representa-
tive. We shall direct that the elections be held at or about the peak
of the tree fruit or peach season on a date to be determined by the
Regional Director among the employees in the appropriate units who
are employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of the elections s
4 The parties are in agreement that the assistant forelady , who has the power to hire
and discharge and who is paid by the day, is a supervisor and should be excluded from
the unit.
5 Plums and peaches
. G. Gregg, d/b/a Reedley Grape Growers requires the services of two men known as
gassers or car-coolers . The testimony was not conclusive as to whether or not these men
are employed by General American Company or are employed by Reedley . If, in the process
of making election arrangements , the Regional Director and the parties ascertain that
these two gassers are on the pay roll of Reedley Grape Growers, they shall be eligible to
vote ; if it is ascertained that they are on the pay roll of some other Employer they will
not be eligible to vote.
CALIFORNIA GROWERS, INC . 581
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with California Growers, Inc.,
Reedley, California, with Peloian Fruit Distributors, Reedley, Cali-
fornia, and with M. W. Gregg, d/b/a Reedley Grape Growers, Reed-
ley, California, separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted
on a date or dates to be selected by the Regional Director subject to the
instructions set forth in paragraph 5 above, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Twentieth Region and
subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the em-
ployees in the units found appropriate under paragraph 4, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding is-
suance of the Notice 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 fox cause and have not been rehired or re-
instated prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding em-
ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by Dried Fruit, Nut
Packer's, Dehydrator's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 616, Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and
Helpers of America, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.