Soller Sugar Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 18, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 755 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of SOLLER SUGAR COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and FED-
ERACION LIBRE DE LOS TRABAJADORES DE PUERTO RICO (FLT-AFL),
PETITIONER
Case No. 38 RC-90.-Decided August 18, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Lewis Moore,
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 organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. The Sindicato de Trabaj adores de la Industria Azucarera
(CGT Inc. ), herein called the Intervenor, contends that a contract
between it and the Association of Sugar Producers, of which the
Employer is a member, is a bar to the instant petition. The Employer
takes no position with regard to that contract.
The Employer is a member of the Asociacion de Productores de
Azucar de Puerto Rico (Association of Sugar Producers of Puerto
Rico), which, each year for the past several years, has negotiated mas-
ter labor contracts on behalf of its members. Intervenor has repre-
sented the Employer's employees since 1945. In 1948 a master contract
was executed between the Association and the Intervenor ; this contract
expired on December 31, 1948. The parties thereupon began negotia-
tions for a new agreement. A new agreement was finally executed
between the Association and the Intervenor on March 25, 1949. This
contract is to continue in effect to December 31, 1949. However,
Article XII, subparagraph (c) thereof, contains the provision that
as soon as the contract is signed by the Association and the Executive
85 N. L. It. B., No. 135.
857829-50-vol. 85-49 755
756 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Committee of the Intervenor, it would be "ratified and signed by eacl2.
and all members composing the Sugar Producers' Association of
Puerto Rico . .. and the Presidents and Secretaries of Local
Unions affiliated to the (Intervenor)." The attorney for the Employer
testified that the Employer has never executed and ratified this 1949
agreement. It was then stipulated by both Employer and Intervenor
that the 1949 contract has never been ratified and executed by the
officers of the Employer nor by the president and secretary of the local
union of the Intervenor. It is plainly evident, and we find, that no
contract is in force which might serve as a bar to the instant proceed-
Ing.1
Accordingly, we find that a question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees, excluding office and
clerical employees, administrative employees, watchmen, guards, pro-
fessional employees, professional sugar boilers, and all supervisors as
defined in the Act.2
5. Determination of representatives :
The parties agreed that there is one peak season of employment : dur-
ing the zafra or grinding season. This season begins about the first
of January each year and lasts until approximately the middle of July.
During the off-season only a minimum number of employees work at
the mill for purposes of maintaining the equipment. Under these
circumstances, an election held at this time would not be representa-
tive. We shall direct that an election be held at or about the peakof the
next seasonal production period, on a date determined by the Regional
Director, among the employees in the appropriate unit who are em-
ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
the issuance of the Notice of Election by the Regional Director.'
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
1 Cf. Matter of Solar Manufacturing Corporation, 80 N. L. R. B. 1358; Matter of National
Chair Co., Inc., 74 N. L. R. B. 1014.
2 Cf. Matter of Eastern Sugar Associates, 80 N. L . R. B. 73.
3 Matter of North Whittier Heights Citrus Association, 82 N. L. R. B. 935.
4 The compliance status of the Federacion Libre de los Trabajadores de Puerto Rico
(FLT-AFL ) has lapsed since the hearing in this matter . The Regional Director is here-
with instructed to delete Federacion Libre de los Trabajadores de Puerto Rico (FLT-AFL)
from the ballot in the election directed herein if it has not , within 2 weeks from this
SOLLER SUGAR COMPANY, INC. 757
secret ballot shall be conducted on a date to be selected by the Regional!
Director in accordance with the instructions set forth in paragraph.
numbered 5, above, under the direction and supervision 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 are employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of issuance of Notice of Elec-
tion by the Regional Director and employees who do not work during
such pay-roll period because they are ill or on vacation or temporarily
laid off, but excluding those employees who thereafter quit or are dis-
charged for cause and are not rehired or reinstated 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 repre-
sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Federation Libre de
Jos Trabajadores de Puerto Rico (FLT-AFL), or by Sindicato de:
Trabajadores de la Industria Azucarera (CGT-Inc.), or by neither.
date, renewed its compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h). No election shall be
scheduled within the 2-week period allowed until and mIIess compliance has been determined.