Oregon Frozen Foods Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 30, 1954

108 N.L.R.B. 1668 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

1668 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
OREGON FROZEN FOODS COMPANY and ORE-IDA POTATO
PRODUCTS , INC.' and TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS AND
HELPERS, LOCAL NO. 900, AFL, Petitioner . Case No.
36-RC-1033 . June 30, 1954
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Howard E.
Hilbun, 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 this case , the Board finds:
1. Oregon Frozen Foods Company is engaged in the proces-
sing , freezing , packing, and shipping of corn. Ore - Ida Potato
Products , Inc., is engaged in the processing , freezing , packing,
and shipping of potato products . Oregon Industries Corporation
is a holding company which owns the building occupied by all
3 firms . F. Nephi Grigg , Golden Grigg and Otis Williams,
and Glen F . Call are president , vice presidents , and secretary-
treasurer , respectively , for each of these firms . The 3 firms
also have some interlocking of directors and common stock-
holders . Oregon Industries Corporation does no production
work but employs office clerical employees who perform the
office clerical duties for all 3 firms under the supervision of
their secretary-treasurer . In view of the foregoing and the en-
tire record , including the substantial identity of ownership and
control of the firms, the physical proximity and related nature
of their operations , and the interchange of employees herein-
after discussed , we find that Oregon Frozen Foods Company,
Ore-Ida Potato Products , Inc., and Oregon Industries Corpora-
tion constitute a single Employer within the meaning of Section
2 (2) of the Act .2 Because the total out - of-State sales of the
Employer are in excess of $100 , 000 per year , we find that the
Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
Act and that it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert
jurisdiction in this case.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit:
The Petitioner seeks a single unit of all of the Employer's
production and maintenance employees in both the potato and
corn operations. The Employer contends that separate produc-
tion and maintenance units should be established for each
operation because the operations have different seasons which
' The names of both firms appear as amended at the hearing.
z F Hilgmemeier & Bro., Inc., 108 NLRB 352.
108 NLRB No. 232.
OREGON FROZEN FOODS COMPANY 1669
do not overlap, different production employees, and different
types of machinery.
From about October until the end of the following May, the
Employer is primarily engaged in the processing and freezing
of potato products, and from around the middle of August
until the first of October inthe processing and freezing of corn.
It employs approximately 30 regular maintenance, packing, and
shipping employees on a year-round basis. However, a large
majority of its employees are employed on a seasonal basis. The
record further reveals that some production employees and
foremen work for both firms during their seasonal operations
and that the same maintenance employees perform all of the
maintenance duties for both firms. In these circumstances, and
in view of our finding that the 3 firms involved herein are a
single Employer, we find that all production and maintenance
employees of the Employer, including seasonal employees, a
but excluding office clerical employees, professional employees,
guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
5. During the Employer's potato operations of about 8
months' duration, it employs a peak of approximately 175
production employees in addition to its regular year-round
employees. There is approximately a 50 percent turnover of
these production employees during the season and about
15 percent of these employees return eachyear. During the corn
operations of about 6 weeks' duration, the Employer employs
from about 150 to 500 production employees, the latter peak
being for about 2 weeks only. Most of these employees are
recruited from transient labor camps and the Employer has
experienced a turnover of these employees of approximately
100 percent during the corn operations each year. Because
of the substantial length of the tenure of employment of the
potato seasonal employees, and the fact that many of these
employees return each year, we are of the opinion that they
have a greater interest in the selection of a bargaining repre-
sentative than do the corn seasonal employees. We shall there-
fore direct the holding of the election at or near the peak of
the potato seasonal operations.4
Due to the fact that this season has just ended, we shall not
direct that an election be held at this time. In accordance with
the usual practice in seasonal operations, we shall direct that
the election be held at or about the time of the employment peak
of the next potato processing and freezing season , on a date to
be determined by the Regional Director, among the employees
in the appropriate unit who are employed during the payroll
period immediately preceding the date of issuance of the notice
of election by the Regional Director.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
3Grinnell Pajama Corporation , 108 NLRB 289, footnote 6.
4 Libby, McNeill R Libby, 90 NLRB 279 at page 282.