New England Commissary, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 13, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1092 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of NEW ENGLAND COMMISSARY, INC., EMPLOYER and
BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY WORKERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF
AMERICA, LOCAL 20, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 1-RC-1095.-Decided March 13, 1950
. DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Joseph Lepie,
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 [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims 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 appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all the employees employed
in the Employer's bakery department, including the head baker and
the assistant head bakers, but excluding the production manager and
the assistant production manager. The Employer takes a neutral
position with respect to the Petitioner's unit request.
The Employer, a Massachusetts corporation, is engaged in the busi-
ness of preparing food and bakery products at its plant in Quincy,
Massachusetts. Its operations are carried on in three departments
which are known as the bakery, kitchen, and sandwich departments,
respectively. The bakery department produces baked goods, such as
pastries , pies, and doughnuts, the kitchen department prepares cooked
88 NLRB No. 206.
1092
NEW ENGLAND COMMISSARY, INC. 1093
foods, and the sandwich department makes fillings for and puts up
sandwiches. The employees in the kitchen and sandwich departments
are . currently being represented by Food Service Sales Drivers,
Chauffeurs & Helpers, Food Service Warehousemen, Local 646, AFL,
under a collective bargaining agreement whose termination date is not
-disclosed in the record." The employees in the bakery department,
on the other hand, are not now nor have they been at any time in the
past covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
The bakery department is under the separate supervision of a pro-
duction manager and has its own complement of employees. So far as
.appears, these employees are not interchanged with employees in other
departments. Under these circumstances, including the history of
bargaining with respect to the kitchen and sandwich departments and
the fact that no other union is seeking to represent the bakery depart-
ment employees who will otherwise be left without effective repre-
-sentation, we find that the bakery department employees constitute an
appropriate unit.2
At the hearing, a question arose as to whether the head baker and the
-three assistant head bakers should be excluded as supervisors. Of
these four men, two are assigned to the day shift and two to the night
:shift. All four are hourly paid and devote their full time to the
preparation and baking of pastries. The head baker, among other
-things, does all the mixing for the pastries while the assistant head
bakers divide their time between work at the oven and on the bench.
Notwithstanding his job title, the head baker's authority is limited to
transmitting instructions to the employees. Neither he nor any of
the assistant head bakers has authority to hire or discharge employees
or recommend changes in their status. We shall, therefore, include
the head baker and the assistant head bakers .3
We find that all the employees employed in the Employer's pastry
department, including the head baker, the assistant head bakers, but
excluding the production manager, the assistant production manager,
all other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act.
1 According to a representative of the Employer, this agreement was executed by the
Employer's predecessor , the Industrial Luncheon Service, Inc ., and the Employer "became
a party to the contract" after its formation in the summer of 1949.
2 American Security and Trust Company, 78 NLRB 927 ; Laycob Hat Company, 88 NLRB
-257; Illinois Cities Water Company, 87 NLRB 109.
3 Cf. Collins Manufacturing Company , 81 NLRB 267.
1094 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 I'egional 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 rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike ivho are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargain-
ing, by Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union of
America, Local 20, AFL.