Florida Wholesale Grocery Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 25, 1949

83 N.L.R.B. 852 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of FLORIDA WHOLESALE GROCERY Co ., INC. D/B/A FOOD
FAIR STORES, A DIVISION OF FLORIDA WHOLESALE GROCERY Co ., INC.,,-
EMPLOYER and RETAIL CLERKS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION,
A. F. L., PETITIONER
In the Matter of FLORIDA WHOLESALE GROCERY CO., INC. D/B/A FOOD
FAIR STORES, A DIVISION OF FLORIDA WHOLESALE GROCERY Co., INC.,
EMPLOYER and MEAT CUTTERS UNION, LOCAL 657 , AMALGAMATED
MEAT CUTTERS & BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA , A. F. L.,
PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 10-RC--476 and 10-RC-502, respeotvoely.Decided
May 25, 1949,
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a hearing in the above-consoli-
dated cases was held before Leroy Mather, hearing officer. The hear-
ing 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
these cases to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act 2
2. The labor organizations named below claim 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. The appropriate units :
The petitioner in Case No. 10-RC-476, herein called the Retail
Clerks, seeks to represent a unit composed of all employees employed
1 The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
: See Matter of Providence Public Market Company , 79 N. L . R. B. 1482, by which the
Chairman and Member Gray consider themselves bound.
83 N. L. R. B., No. 127.
852
FOOD FAIR STORES 853
as food clerks, delicatessen clerks, checkers, stockmen, and produce
clerks in the Employer's retail stores in greater Miami, Florida, ex-
cluding meat market employees, delicatessen employees who handle
only meat products, part-time package and carry-out boys, the store
manager, assistant manager, and all other supervisors. The peti-
tioner in Case No. 10-RC-502, herein called the Meat Cutters, seeks
to represent a unit composed of all full-time employees engaged in
the cutting, wrapping, preparation, or display of fresh, frozen, or
smoked meats or other food products handled in the meat, delicatessen,
fish, alid poultry departments of the Employer's stores in the greater
Miami, Florida, area, excluding all other employees, guards, profes-
sional employees, and supervisors. Although the Employer otherwise
takes-no position concerning the appropriateness of the proposed units,
it contends that its delicatessen-dairy department employees should be
included in the same unit with the meat department employees.
The Employer operates 5 retail food stores of the self-service, super-
market type in the metropolitan area of Miami, Florida. All stores
except one,3 consist of grocery, meat, delicatessen-dairy, and produce
departments. Of the Employer's approximately 250 employees, 27
are in the meat department, 26 in the produce department, 59 in the
delicatessen-dairy department, and 146 in the grocery department.
All are supervised by department managers who, in turn, report to
the store managers. There has been no history of collective bargaining
affecting these employees.
With minor exceptions, the organizational arrangement of all five
stores is similar. The records and books of all the stores are kept in a
central office and there is very little interchange of employees among
the various departments. The employees in the grocery department
consist of checker-cashiers, clerks, and carry-out boys, who are en-
gaged, respectively, in the checking of purchases, stocking of shelves
with. merchandise, and the bagging and carrying-out of customers'
purchases. The produce department employees trim, prepare, display,
and sell merchandise. The employees in the meat department, all of
whom are qualified and experienced meat cutters, are engaged solely
in the cutting and display of meats.
The delicatessen-dairy department: The 12 regular employees in
the delicatessen-dairy department are engaged in the preparation, dis-
play, and sale of cheese and other delicatessen products. In addition
to these, this department also includes about 47 prepackaging em-
ployees who spend their entire working time in the cutting and wrap-
ping of various products. These employees, unlike the other delica-
This store has a separate sea food department . The sale of sea food as well as poultry
in the other stores is handled by the meat department.
844340-50-vol. 83-55 4
854 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tessen-dairy department employees, work under the control. of the
meat department manager and are quartered in a "pre-package". room.
About 75 percent of their working time is spent in cutting and wrap-
ping fresh meats for display in self-service show cases. The remainder
of their working time is devoted to cutting and wrapping cheese and-
other delicatessen products, such as luncheon meats, for the delicates-
sen-dairy department. Seventy percent of the wages paid to pre-
packaging employees is charged, for cost-accounting purposes, to the
meat department, whereas the remainder is charged to the delicatessen-
dairy department.
. As shown above, both the Retail Clerks and the Meat Cutters seek
to include within their proposed units all the delicatessen-dairy de-
partment employees.' The Employer asserts that all the employees in
this department should be included in the same unit with the meat
department employees. As the prepackaging employees work under
the same supervision as the meat department employees and most of
their wages are charged to that department, we believe that their
interests are more closely aligned with those of the meat department
employees than with those of the employees in the other departments.
We shall therefore include them in the unit sought by the Meat Cut-
ters. However, the regular employees in the delicatessen-dairy de-
partment perform duties that are similar to those performed by the
employees in the grocery and produce departments sought by the
Retail Clerks. It therefore appears that the regular delicatessen-dairy
department employees have a closer community of interest with the
grocery and produce department employees than with the meat de-
partment employees. In these circumstances, we shall include them in
the unit requested by the Retail Clerks.
Part-time employees: There are approximately 30 part-time em-
ployees, all of whom the Retail Clerks and the Meat Cutters would ex-
clude from the units hereinafter established. Most of these employees
are assigned to the grocery department. They work from about 10
to'22 hours each week,5 perform the same duties, are paid in the same
manner, and generally receive the same rate of pay,6 as the regular
full-time employees in their respective departments. For the purposes
of collective bargaining, they necessarily will be represented by the Re-
tail' Clerks or the Meat Cutters in the event either, or both, of these
unions are selected as the collective bargaining representatives in the
* The Retail Clerks would exclude those engaged solely in the handling of meat products.
None of the prepackaging employees is engaged in handling meat products exclusively.
5 Any individual who works 23 or more hours each week is considered by the Employer
as being a regular, full -time employee.
6 There is some difference , however , in the hourly rate of regular, full -time clerks aad
that of regular , part-time clerks employed in 'the "front -end" section of the grocery
department.
FOOD FAIR STORES 855
elections hereinafter directed. In view of the foregoing, we shall in,
elude these employees within the appropriate units hereinafter es-
tablished that embrace the respective departments to which they
are assigned.7 The further question as to whether they may be
eligible to vote in the elections is discussed in paragraph numbered
5, below.
We find, in accordance with the foregoing, that the following groups
of employees at the Employer's retail stores in the greater Miami,
Florida, area constitute separate units appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act : . 11
(a) All employees employed as food clerks, checkers, stockmen,
and produce clerks, including the regular delicatessen-dairy depart-
ment employees, and part-time package and carry-out boys, but ex-
cluding all prepackaging employees, meat department employees, the
store manager, assistant manager, and all other supervisors as de-
fined in the Act.
(b) All employees engaged in the cutting, wrapping, preparation,
or display of fresh, frozen, or smoked meats or other food products
handled in the meat, fish, and poultry departments, including pre-
packaging employees and part-time employees, but excluding all other
employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined
in the Act.
5. The determination of representatives :
We have found above that the part-time employees are included
within the bargaining units embracing the respective departments to
which they are assigned, because their functions identify them closely
with the other employees. We believe that their tenure is sufficiently
regular and substantial to entitle them to participate in the selection
of their bargaining representatives." We therefore find that the
Employer's part-time employees are eligible to vote in the elections
hereinafter directed.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS s
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elec-
tions 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
4 Matter of Providence Public Market Company , supra, and cases cited therein.
8 Ibid.
8 The compliance status of Meat Cutters Union, Local 657 , Amalgamated Meat Cutters &
Butcher Workmen of North America , A. F. L., has lapsed since the hearing in this matter.
In the event it fails to renew its compliance with Section 9 ( f), (g), and ( h) within 2 weeks
from the date of this Direction , the Regional Director is to advise the Board to that effect.
No election shall be conducted among the employees in unit (b) unless and until compliance
has been renewed.
856 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which
these cases were heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5,
as amended, among the employees in the units found appropriate in
paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of
Elections, 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 reinstated prior to the date of the
elections, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled
to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be rep-
resented, for purposes of collective bargaining, in unit (a) by Retail
Clerks International Association, A. F. L.; and in unit (b) by Meat
Cutters Union, Local 657, Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher
Workmen of North America, A. F. L.