Fehr Baking Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 17, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 1401 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of FEIIR BAKING COMPANY,1 EMPLOYER and BAKERY &
CONFECTIONERY WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 39-RC-156.-Decided May 17, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before James P. Wolf,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer
made a motion for oral argument . As the record and the brief filed
herein, in our opinion , adequately present the issues and positions of
the parties , the motion is hereby denied.2
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 Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer, a Delaware corporation , is licensed to do business
in Texas and operates 1 bakery in the city of San Antonio where it
employs about 300 persons . The Employer is engaged in the pro-
duction of bread, cake , and related bakery products and in the sale
thereof. During the most recent fiscal year the0Employer 's sales, all
of which were made locally, amounted to more than $2,500,000. Dur-
ing that period the Employer made purchases of over $1,000 ,000, of
which 24 percent were made directly from outside the State of Texas.
Of the remaining 76 percent of purchases , some were made through
the Campbell -Taggart Service Corporation , herein referred to as
1 The Employer in the instant case has no connection with the Employer operating under-
the same name in Fehr Baking Company, 79 NLRB 440. .
2 The Employer's motion to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds is hereby denied for the
reasons stated in paragraph 1, infra.
89 NLRB No. 175.
1401
1402 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Campbell-Taggart. There is no evidence in the record to show what
percentage of these originated outside of Texas.
Campbell-Taggart, a corporation which controls, owns stock in, or
has an interest in more than 40 bakeries in several different States,
owns more than 50 percent of the Employer's voting common stock
and almost 50 percent of its preferred stock. Of the Employer's 5-man
board of directors, 3 are either officers or directors of Campbell-Tag-
gart; one of these, in fact, is chairman of the board of Campbell-
Taggart. In addition, the Employer's president, its secretary and
treasurer, and its assistant secretary and treasurer are all connected
with Campbell-Taggart through stock ownership or as employees.
As noted above the Employer purchases a portion of its supplies
through Campbell-Taggart. In making such purchases the Employer
utilizes standard purchase forms. In addition, the Employer buys
advertising, sales , production, engineering, research, and accounting
services from Campbell-Taggart.
These facts are substantially similar to those which were before us
in the Collins Baking Company case,3 in which we asserted jurisdic-
tion over a bakery, a controlling percentage of whose stock was like-
wise owned by Campbell-Taggart. For the reasons stated in that
decision we find that the Employer's activities affect commerce within
the meaning of the Act, and that it will effectuate the policies of the
Act to assert jurisdiction in the present proceeding 4
2. Petitioner is a labor organization which claims to represent cer-
tain 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. The Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of all of the Employer's
employees, excluding office and clerical employees, mechanical main-
tenance employees, truck drivers, salesmen, professional employees,
guards, watchmen, .and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Em-
ployer although agreeing generally to the composition of the unit,5 con-
tends that the unit should be a multiple-employer unit including
183 NLRB 599.
4 The Employer seeks to distinguish the instant case from the Collins case on the grounds
that : ( 1) Collins used.a trade mark which was used in several States , and (2) Collins and
the main offices of Campbell-Taggart are located in different States. We do not regard the
absence of these factors as controlling . On the record as a whole we are satisfied that by
virtue of the stock ownership, the interlocking directorates, and the purchasing arrange-
ments, the instant Employer , like Collins, has become "a link in a business which stretches
over many states."
5 Although not contending that the wrapping department employees should be excluded, the
Employer questioned the propriety of including them. These employees clearly are produc-
tion employees and we shall include them.
FEHR BAKING COMPANY 1403
employees in every mechanical bakery in the San Antonio area. How-
ever, the record indicates no history of joint bargaining by bakery em-
ployers in San Antonio either through an Employer organization or
in any other manner. Accordingly, there exists no reason which
would justify the establishment of a multiple-employer bargaining
unit."
We therefore find that all employees of the Fehr Baking Company
in San Antonio, Texas, excluding office and clerical employees, me-
chanical maintenance employees, truck drivers, salesmen, professional
employees, guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses 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 supervision 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 temporarily
laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated 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 bargaining, by Bak-
ery and Confectionery Workers International Union, AFL.
I Ward Baking Company, 78 NLRB 781 , on which the employer relies is inapposite. In
that case , although there was no formal employer organization , there was a history of joint
collective bargaining by the employers involved.