Price Chopper

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 19, 1984

271 N.L.R.B. 323 (N.L.R.B. 1984)

PRICE CHOPPER
B and T Foods, Inc. d/b/a Price Chopper and
United Food and Commercial Workers Interna-
tional Union, AFL-CIO/CLC, District Local
340, Petitioner. Case 17-RC-9545
19 July 1984
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN DOTSON AND MEMBERS
ZIMMERMAN AND HUNTER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer William
R. Carter of the National Labor Relations Board.
On 14 October 1983 the Regional Director for
Region 17 issued his Decision and Direction of
Election, finding Meat Department Manager Mi-
chael Thomas eligible to vote in the election. On
10 November 1983 the Board denied the Employ-
er's request for review, stating that Thomas' eligi-
bility could be best resolved by the challenge pro-
cedure. Thereafter, the election was conducted and
the tally of ballots shows two votes for and one
vote against the Petitioner, with one challenged
ballot. Since the challenged ballot was sufficient to
affect the results of the election, the Regional Di-
rector for Region 17, pursuant to Section 102.67 of
the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as
amended, directed that the case be transferred to
the Board for decision. Thereafter, the Employer
filed a brief in support of its challenge to Thomas'
ballot.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegat-
ed its authority in this proceeding to a three-
member panel.
The Board has reviewed the rulings made by the
hearing officer and finds that they are free from
prejudicial error. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of employees of the Employ-
er within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Sec-
tion 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act.
All full-time and regular part-time department
employees employed by the Employer at its
facility located at 811 W. 7th Street, Joplin,
Missouri, but excluding all grocery employees,
office clerical employees, guards and supervi-
sors as defined in the Act.
The Employer operates a retail grocery store in
Joplin, Missouri, known as Price Chopper. It chal-
lenges the ballot of Meat Department Manager Mi-
chael Thomas, contending that Thomas is a super-
visor as defined by Section 2(11) of the Act. The
record shows that, although Thomas spends any-
where from 60 to 90 percent of his time in cutting
meat, he alone is responsible for the profitability of
the meat department and does all buying and pric-
ing, and selects the meats to be featured in the Em-
ployer's advertising. Unlike the other meat depart-
ment employees, Thomas receives a fixed salary
along with a bonus based on the store's profitabil-
ity, does not get paid for overtime, and is not re-
quired to punch a timeclock. Thomas is responsible
for training new employees and for directing em-
ployees as to the quantities of meat to be cut,
wrapped, and put out for sale. While not possessing
final authority in hiring, Thomas has made effec-
tive recommendations with regard to the hire or
nonhire of job applicants. Thus, the Employer ac-
cepted Thomas' recommendation to hire Dee Os-
borne temporarily. In addition, the Employer ac-
cepted Thomas' recommendation that five appli-
cants sent over by the Job Service receive no fur-
ther consideration because, according to coowner
Terry Cadewell, none of those applicants "seemed
to be what [Thomas] was looking for." According-
ly, because Thomas possesses the authority, inter
alia, to make effective recommendations with re-
spect to hiring, we sustain the Employer's chal-
lenge to his ballot, and find that a certification of
representative should be issued.
CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
IT IS CERTIFIED that a majority of the valid bal-
lots have been cast for United Food and Commer-
cial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO/CLC,
District Local 340 and that it is the exclusive col-
lective-bargaining representative of the employees
in the unit found appropriate.
All full-time and regular part-time department
employees employed by the Employer at its
facility located at 811 W. 7th Street, Joplin,
Missouri, but excluding all grocery employees,
office clerical employees, guards and supervi-
sors as defined in the Act.
271 NLRB No. 52
323