R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 9, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 600 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of R . J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
TOBACCO WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, A . F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 34 RC-157.-Decided February 9,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Miles J. Mc-
Cormick, 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Reynolds].
Upon the entire record 2 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 organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer.3
1 At the hearing, the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that there is
no evidence in the record that the Petitioner represents a substantial number of employees
in the requested unit. The hearing officer reserved ruling on the motion for the Board.
For the reasons stated in C. D. Jennings & Company, 68 NLRB 516, the motion is hereby
denied.
The hearing officer, over the Employer 's objection , permitted United Tobacco Workers,
Local 22, Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America , C. I. 0., herein
called the F. T. A., and United Transport Service Employees , C. I. 0., herein called the
U. T. S. E., to intervene in this proceeding . Near the close of the hearing , the Employer
renewed its motion in opposition to their intervention , on the ground that there was no
showing on the record that these organizations represent any employees in any of the
proposed units. The hearing officer also referred this motion to the Board . For the
reasons stated in the Jennings case, supra, this motion is denied.
2 After the hearing, the Employer moved to correct certain errors in the transcript. No
objections having been filed thereto , it is ordered that the transcript be, and it hereby is,
corrected in accordance with the motion.
S The Employer asserts that the F. T. A. Is a "paper" organization and is not a labor
organization within the meaning of the Act. We find no merit in this contention. The
record clearly shows that the F. T. A. exists for the purpose of bargaining collectively
with employers with respect to wages, hours , and conditions of work . De May's, Inc., 81
NLRB 1374 and cases cited therein.
88 NLRB No. 120.
600
R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY 601
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 to represent a unit composed of all the Employ-
er's production and maintenance employees at Winston-Salem, North
Carolina , including head inspectors and plant clerical employees, but
excluding seasonal employees, office clerical employees, subforemen,
and all other supervisors. The Petitioner is willing to represent the
seasonal employees in a separate unit, if the Board determines that
such a unit is appropriate.
The F. T. A. seeks to represent a unit composed of all production
and maintenance employees at Winston-Salem, including seasonal em-
ployees, but excluding plant clerical employees, office employees, head
inspectors, subforemen, and all other supervisors 4 The U. T. S. E.
desires to represent a unit composed of the Winston-Salem production
and maintenance employees, including head inspectors, plant clerical,
and seasonal employees, but excluding office clerical employees, sub-
foremen, and all other supervisors. The Employer agrees generally
with the scope of the unit sought by the Petitioner, but would exclude
plant clerical employees. In addition, the Employer asserts that its
seasonal employees should constitute a separate unit.
Seasonal employees: All the employees in this category at Winston-
Salem are engaged exclusively in processing green leaf tobacco, which
is a. seasonal operation. During the 1948-49 season, the Employer
employed a daily average of 961 seasonal employees in this operation .5
Most of them were hired and worked only during 2 peak periods ex-
tending from the last week in August to the first week in October, and
from the first week in December through the end of January. The
Employer usually selects its seasonal employees from housewives,
farmers, high school students, and domestics in the area desiring only
part-year employment. There are approximately 9,700 nonseasonal, or
permanent,-employees, of whom about 200 are assigned to the green leaf
seasonal operations for the purpose of performing only maintenance
duties.
4 This is substantially the same unit for which the F . T. A. bargained with the Employer
from 1944 until 1948, pursuant to certification following a Board -directed election (52
NLRB 1311 ): Since âlay 1, 1948, the expiration date of the F. T. A.'s most recent con-
tract with the Employer , there has been no recognized bargaining representative of the
employees involved herein.
'As peak seasonal operations had just commenced at the time of the hearing, the
number of seasonal employees currently employed could not be ascertained.
602 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Seasonal employees have little expectation of being employed in
year-round jobs.6 The rate of turn-over among seasonal employees
is high; a substantial number of them do not return for work the fol-
lowing season.' Unlike permanent employees, seasonal employees do
not participate in group life insurance, hospitalization and surgical
benefit, and pension plans. Their vacation plan differs from that of
permanent employees and, because of the exemption contained in Sec-
tion 7 (b) (3) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, they are not given
time-and-a-half overtime pay on the same basis as the latter. Seasonal
employees are hired at a lower rate than permanent employees. Upon
being hired, they also undergo a less rigorous physical examination
than the year-round employees.
In a 1943 proceeding involving these operations of the Employer,
the Board included seasonal employees in the same unit with other
production and maintenance employees .8 However, the record in this
case clearly shows that since that year the seasonal employees have
not had any retirement rights such as those possessed at the time of
our earlier decision. Moreover, this record, unlike the one in the
former proceeding, reveals that very few seasonal employees are now
given permanent positions at the close of the season. In view of all
the foregoing, and as it is clear that the seasonal employees have little
expectation of obtaining year-round jobs and do not have a close com-
munity of interest with the permanent employees, we shall depart
from our earlier determination and exclude them from the production
and maintenance unit established hereinafter.9 Furthermore, as nei-
ther the Petitioner, the F. T. A., nor the U. T. S. E., has made any
administrative showing of representation among seasonal employees,
we shall not direct a separate election among these employees?
The parties also are in disagreement as to the following cate-
gories and classifications of employees, whom the Petitioner and the
U. T. S. E. would include, and the F. T. A. and the Employer would
exclude :
Plant clericals: The employees in this category are stationed
throughout the several plants, where they work under the direct super-
vision of department foremen or factory superintendents. They are
e During the past season , only 53 , or 3.3 percent , of the 1,601 seasonal employees hired
were given permanent employment at the end of the season.
7 Of the daily overage of 961 employees employed during the past season , about 600 had
worked during the 1947-48 season, and 400 during 1946-47. Since 1941, only 25 or 30
seasonal employees have worked every season.
8 52 NLRB 1311, 1321, 1322.
9 Bear Creek Orchards , 87 NLRB 1348; cf. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, 83
NLRB 348.
10 See The Electric Auto-Lite Company, 87 NLRB 129, and cases cited therein ; Libby-
Owens Ford G lass Company, 41 NLRB 574, 578.
R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY 603
classified, respectively, as clerk, hourly paid; materials and patterns
clerk; material checker; supply room attendant; timekeeper-produc-
tion clerk; timekeeper; and order and labor distribution clerk. With
the exception of the hourly paid clerk, all are paid on a salaried
basis. They perform varied duties, such as keeping production, stock,
supply, and payroll records; preparing and issuing requisitions for
supplies; checking the quantity and quality of incoming materials;
maintaining time and attendance records of production workers and
checking the latter on their jobs; and processing work and repair
orders. In accord with our usual practice, we shall include the plant
clerical employees in the unit "
Timekeeper-materials clerk: The timekeeper-materials clerk works
under the general supervision of the factory manager and is respon-
sible for all clerical work performed in his department. Although
he has some clerical duties, he also supervises one or more clerks. He
has the authority to settle grievances and the power effectively to rec-
ommend the discharge of his subordinates. In these circumstances,
we find that the timekeeper-materials clerk is a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act. We shall exclude him from the unit.12
Hogshead checker: The hogshead checker supervises the work of
all employees assigned to loading platforms. In addition, he records
the number, grade, weight, and crop date of each hogshead of tobacco
handled on the unloading platform. He has the authority to settle
grievances and the power effectively to recommend the discharge of
his subordinates. We find that the hogshead checker is a supervisor
and shall exclude him from the unit.13
Thermo-vactor operator: The thermo-vactor operator adjusts the
controls of thermo-vactor machines that are used in connection with
the processing of tobacco leaves. He also assists his department fore-
man in supervising employees engaged in the loading and unloading
of thermo-vactor machines. He likewise has authority to settle griev-
ances and the power effectively to recommend the discharge of his
subordinates. We find that the thermo-vactor operator is a supervisor
and shall exclude him from the unit.14
First-aid attendant: This employee administers first aid to produc-
tion and maintenance workers as required and, during seasonal opera-
tions while assigned to the night shift, has certain duties that are
ordinarily performed by a nurse. As lie is not engaged in production
11 Goodman Manufacturing Company, 58 NLRB 531 ; Art Metal Construction Company,
75 NLRB 80; Northwest Engineering Company, 73 NLRB 40; and Welding Shipyards, Inc.,
81 NLRB 936.
11 See Southern Alkali Corporation, 84 NLRB 120.
13 Ibid.
24 Ibid
604 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
work, and in view of the specialized character of his services, we
shall exclude the first-aid attendant from the unit."
Metal finishing technician: The metal finishing technician, under
the supervision of a department foreman, performs various kinds of
electroplating work and cleans metal parts by electro-chemical proc-
esses. In addition, he polishes metal parts on an abrasive belt, or
on a polishing lathe. He also has other duties that are similar to
those mentioned above. We find that the metal finishing technician
has a close community of interest with the other production and main-
tenance employees and shall include him in the unit.16
Laboratory assistant: This employee, under the supervision of the
chemist and chemical engineer, performs routine laboratory tests on
tobacco, tobacco products, and materials purchased by the Employer.
The laboratory assistant reports his findings and the results of such
tests to his supervisor. On occasion, he accompanies the chemist and
chemical engineer on trips to various plants of the Employer, and
while on such assignments serves as the latter's assistant. It is clear
that this employee has little contact with the production and mainte-
nance workers and his working conditions are not similar to the latter.
We shall, therefore, exclude the laboratory assistant from the unit.17
In addition, the F. T. A. contends that "head inspectors," or depart-
ment inspectors, should be excluded from the unit on the ground that
they are supervisors. The other parties urge their inclusion. There
are about 45 or 50 department inspectors whose principal duties con-
sist of examining the Employer's finished products for the purpose of
detecting defects in quality. Upon discovering substandard products,
they report their findings to their respective department foremen for
correction. In its previous Decision, the Board excluded head inspec-
tors, or department inspectors, from the unit found appropriate therein
because of their supervisory status. However, it is clear from the rec-
ord in this proceeding that department inspectors do not adjust any
grievances and none exercises any supervisory authority within the
meaning of the amended Act. Accordingly, we shall include them in
the unit 18
We find that the following employees of the Employer's plants
located at Winston-Salem, North Carolina, constitute a unit appro-
" Wm. P. McDonald Corporation, 83 NLRB 427; Welding Shipyards, Inc., supra.
10 See The Randall Company, 71 NLRB 918, 921.
17 Win. P. McDonald Corporation, supra, and cases cited therein.
3s See Clayton Mark ct Company, 76 NLRB 230; and Luminous Processes, Inc., 71
NLRB 405.
R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY 605
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees, including department
inspectors, plant clerical employees, and the metal finishing technician,
but excluding seasonal employees, office clerical employees, the first-
aid attendant, subforemen, timekeeper-materials clerk, hogshead
checker, thermo-vactor operator, and all other supervisors as defined
in the Act.
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 Regional 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 will 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 who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they
desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
Tobacco Workers International Union, A. F. of L., or by United
Tobacco Workers, Local 22, Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied
Workers Union of America,19 or by United Transport Service Em-
ployees, C. 1. 0., or by none.
19 After the hearing, the F. T. A. filed a motion with the Board requesting that its name
appear on the ballot as "United Tobacco Workers Local 22 (FTA)." The U. T. S. E. filed
an objection to this motion. Under all the circumstances , we shall place the name of the
F. T. A. on the ballot in the form shown above.