G. L. Palmer Packing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 31, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 884 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of G. L. PALMER AND J. J. HEBERT, PARTNERS, D/B/A
G. L. PALMER PACKING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS UNION OF THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA, SEAFOOD HANDLERS LOCAL 10, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 15-R-21,13.-Decided July 31,1947
Mr. R. Norman Bauer, of Franklin, La., and Messrs. G. L. Palmer
and J. J. Hebert, of Morgan City, La., for the Employer.
Mr. Julius Metz, of New Orleans, La., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Sidney Weinberg, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Morgan
City, Louisiana, on April 10, 1947, before Fred J. Cassibry, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.,
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
G. L. Palmer and J. J. Hebert, Partners, doing business as G. L.
Palmer Packing Company, are engaged at Morgan City, Louisiana,
in the business of processing and packing shrimp in boxes for ship-
ment to market. The Employer does not produce, buy, or sell the
shrimp that it handles ; it charges the producer for its services and
'The hearing officer overruled the Employer's objection to the inclusion of the names
of the individual partners as parties to the proceeding This objection was based on a
contention that, under Louisiana law, a partnership is a distinct legal entity, separate from
the individuals comprising it We are of the opinion, however, that the individual pan tners
are proper parties to the proceeding See Empire Race Mill Oompanil v K d E Neumond
Co, 199 F 800, and Mai tin v. Meyer, 45 F. 435. See, also, section 2 (1) and (2) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
74 N. L R. B., No. 136.
884
G. L. PALMER PACKING COMPANY 885
returns the packed shrimp to him. During the period from August
1, 1946, to January 31, 1947, the producers shipped 60 percent of the
packed shrimp, weighing approximately 160,000 pounds and valued
-at approximately $10,000, to points outside the State of Louisiana.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
Two classifications of workers process shrimp at the Employer's
Morgan City, Louisiana, plant; they are called shrimp packers and
shrimp pickers. The shrimp packers are hourly paid employees who
unload the shrimp boats, wash the shrimp, place them on a table where
the pickers may remove the heads, and pack them in boxes for ship-
ment. The pickers are intermittent workers who are paid on a piece-
work basis according to the weight of the shrimp whose heads they
have removed.
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of all shrimp packers and
pickers. The Employer contends that the pickers are not "employees"
within the meaning of Section 2 (3) of the Act, and in any event
should not be included with the packers in the same bargaining unit.
The record discloses that the pickers maintain their permanent homes
within a small radius of the Employer's plant, and constitute a clearly
defined group to which the Employer turns to meet its requirements.
The Employer pays them, maintaining pay-roll records which include
their names. It withholds Social Security and Income Tax deductions
from their pay. We find on the entire record that the pickers are
i
886 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 2 (3) of
the Act.2
However, we find that a sufficient community of interest does not
exist between the pickers and packers to warrant their inclusion in the
same unit. The packers work regularly for the Employer. The
pickers, on the other hand, work periodically when work is available,
There are differences between the two groups which compel the con-
clusion that two separate units should be established. We accordingly
find that the following groups of employees at the Morgan City,
Louisiana, plant of the Employer constitute separate units appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act :
(1) All hourly paid shrimp packers, excluding office and super-
visory employees; and
(2) All shrimp pickers, excluding office and supervisory employees.
v. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
An examination of an analysis of the Employer's pay rolls for the
period August 1, 1946, to January 31, 1947, discloses that a reasonable
standard of eligibility would be established by a requirement that
employees in the appropriate units must have worked for the Employer
in any part of at least 10 weeks during this period in order to qualify
a,s voters. We shall, therefore, utilize this formula to determine voting
eligibility.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot, subject to
the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with G. L. Palmer and J. J. Hebert,
Partners, d/b/a G. L. Palmer Packing Company, Morgan City, Lou-
isiana, separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early
as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Direc-
tor for the Fifteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, among the employees in the units found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were emj)loyed by the Employer in any part of
2 Matter of Coubourne & Jewett, 59 N L. R B 176 ; Matter of Alaska Salmon Industry,
33 N. L. It. B. 727.
G. L. PALMER PACKING COMPANY 887
at least 10 weeks during the period August 1, 1946, to January 31, 1947,
including employees who did not work during said period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees
in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in
person at the polls, 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, to determine whether or not they de-
sire to be represented by International Fur and Leather Workers
Union of the United States and Canada, CIO, for the purposes of
collective bargaining.