United Foods, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 10, 1969

174 N.L.R.B. 91 (N.L.R.B. 1969)

UNITED FOODS, INC. 91
United Foods , Inc., Dulaney Foods Division and
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL-CIO. Case 5-RC-6355
January 10, 1969
DECISION ON REVIEW, AND
DIRECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
BROWN AND ZAGORIA
On May 22, 1968, the Regional Director for
Region 5 issued his Decision and Direction of
Election in the above-entitled proceeding, in which
he found appropriate a unit of the Employer's
maintenance employees. Thereafter, in accordance
with National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations, the Employer filed a timely request for
review of the Regional Director's Decision, in which
it contended that the Regional Director departed
from established Board precedent in finding the
maintenance unit to be appropriate. By telegraphic
Order dated August 15, 1968, the National Labor
Relations Board granted the request for review and
stayed the election. The Employer filed a timely
brief on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a
three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the entire record in this
case , with respect to the issues under review, and
makes the following findings:
The Petitioner primarily seeks, and the Regional
Director granted, a unit of the Employer's
year-round maintenance employees.'
The Employer contends inter aiia, that the
requested employees lack a community of interest
sufficiently distinct from that of its other employees
to warrant the establishment of a separate
maintenance unit. We find merit in this contention.
The Employer operates a plant and a cold storage
facility at Exmore, Virginia, where it is engaged in
the processing, packaging, warehousing and shipping
of frozen vegetables.2 Its busy season, during which
it processes various vegetables such as spinach, peas,
and corn, runs from April until December. It
employs some 65 year-round production,
maintenance and cold storage employees, but during
its busy season , the total employee complement
expands to a peak of about 400 employees in the
fall. There is no bargaining history for any of the
Employer's employees.
The Employer's plant is under a plant manager
and is divided into production, maintenance, and
'in the alternative, the Petitioner seeks a single unit comprising both
maintenance and storage employees.
'No contention is made that any of the employees in dispute is an
agricultural employee.
cold storage operations, each with its own separate
supervision. The maintenance crew consists of about
20 year-round employees who report to the plant
engineer and perform minor maintenance work and
new construction. About 13 of the maintenance
employees work in the main processing building and
during the busy season about 6 of them are
permanently stationed close to the production lines,
where they adjust conveyor belts, replace chain
drives and electric motors, repair wooden pallets,
maintain the cornhusker and attend the blancher.
Some of these six maintenance employees regularly
set up and start the packaging machines and
occasionally perform other production functions.
When working near the production lines, these
maintenance employees are subject to the direction
of production supervisors. The remainder of the 13
maintenance employees who work in the main
processing building install, build, and repair
machinery. Although these 13 employees have
sometimes utilized a small maintenance shop and
tool crib in the main processing building, they
perform the bulk of their work in the production
areas.
The remaining seven maintenance employees are
not normally assigned to the main processing
building but instead report to the cold storage
buildings. Four are compressor operators, who
attend the refrigeration compressors around the
clock; the others are a "man and his helper" and
the janitor-helper-painter. Maintenance employees
stationed in the cold storage buildings are subject to
the direction of the storage supervisor as well as the
plant engineer.
None of the 20 maintenance employees performs
work requiring the exercise of craft skills, as such
work is done by independent contractors. The
maintenance employees were recruited from high
schools, gasoline stations, and the armed forces, or
have transferred from the production group. None is
licensed, none has served an apprenticeship, and
none was selected because he possessed a particular
skill. All received their training on the job.
The production work force is composed of about
26 year-round employees supplemented by about
325 other employees employed at various times
during the busy season . During the busy season, the
year-round production employees occupy such
"key" jobs as freezer operators and line operators,
or pushers, while the busy season employees appear
to perform only unskilled work. Although all
production employees are primarily engaged in
processing, packing, freezing and wrapping
vegetables during the busy season, some also
perform the same functions as those maintenance
employees who are stationed close to the production
lines. During the slack season, very little production
work is performed, and the year-round 26-man
production force is almost entirely engaged in
maintenance work, such as new construction and the
repairing, rebuilding, cleaning and painting of the
174 NLRB No. 18
92 - DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
plant and its equipment. At such times production
employees work in close association with the
year-round maintenance employees, and, like the
latter, are under the direction of the plant engineer.
The storage employees, whose number varies from
20 to 35, perform receiving, storage, and shipping
functions throughout the year. At times during the
busy season they also perform production functions.
During the slack season, they also perform
occasional maintenance functions.
Some key production employees have higher wage
rates than the maintenance employees, and all
year-round employees appear to receive higher
wages than busy season employees. The year-round
employees enjoy the same paid vacations, holidays,
and other conditions of employment, while few if
any of the busy season employees work for a
sufficient period to become eligible for paid
vacations. Maintenance employees share timeclocks
with production and storage employees.
Relying on American Cyanamid Company,; the
Regional Director concluded that the Employer's
maintenance employees constitute a cohesive and
readily identifiable group with a distinct community
of interest which warrants their representation in a
separate unit. We disagree.
We conclude, based on the record as a whole, that
the maintenance employees lack the identity and
cohesiveness which is required for their
representation in a separate unit. During the busy
season, the maintenance employees work largely in
production areas in close contact and cooperation
with production employees and frequently work
under the direction of production supervisors. The
work of the maintenance employees at such times is
essential to, and closely integrated with, the
Employer's production processes. On the other
hand, during the slack season, the production
employees are almost entirely engaged in
maintenance functions, and apparently perform such
work to the Employer's satisfaction. Storage
employees also do maintenance work during the
slack season. None of the maintenance work at this
plant seems to require craft training or skills, and
the maintenance employees do not possess such
skills. Finally, the maintenance employees share no
conditions of employment distinguishing their
interests from the interests of other year-round
employees. In consideration of these factors we find
that a unit limited to the Employer's year-round
maintenance employees is inappropriate.
The same factors, however, establish the
appropriateness of a unit of the Employer's
year-round production, maintenance and cold
storage personnel. Thus, these employees constitute
the Employer's permanent "blue collar" work force
and share the basic responsibility of providing
continuity of plant operations from year to year.
'131 NLRB 909.
The employees of each group, on the basis of
frequent interchange and work under common
supervision, have developed, sufficient skills to
perform each others' functions and to work
together. Further, all the year-round employees
share the same terms and conditions of employment
including paid vacations. We find therefore that a
unit of the Employer's year-round production,
maintenance and cold storage employees excluding
the busy season employees4 is appropriate.5
Accordingly, and as the Petitioner has a showing
of interest adequate for an election in a unit of the
year-round employees, we shall direct an election
therein." The appropriate unit is:
All year-round production, maintenance and cold
storage employees employed by the Employer at its
Exmore, Virginia plant and cold storage facility,
excluding busy season employees, temporary
employees,7 office clerical employees, professional
employees, agricultural employees, watchmen,
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Direction
The case is hereby remanded to the Regional Director
for Region 5 for the purposes of conducting an election
according to his Decision and Director of Election as
modified herein, except that the eligibility date shall he
the payroll period immediately preceding the date of
issuance. 8
4The busy season employees are less skilled than the year-round
employees, and perform only routine production assignments under
production supervision, The busy season employees receive lower wages,
and few, if any, are entitled to a paid vacation. Further, it does not appear
that any of the busy season employees have the opportunity to become
year-round employees Because the record establishes that the busy season
employees do not share the same community of interest as the year-round
employees , and since Petitioner does not seek to represent them, we
exclude the busy season employees See, for example, Franklin County
Sugar Company, 92 NLRB 1341; Bear Creek Orchards, 87 NLRB 1348,
Hunt Foods, Inc, 68 NLRB 800; Stokely Brothers & Company, Inc., and
Van Camp's, Inc., 15 NLRB 872; Bishop & Company, Inc., 4 NLRB 514
'See Maine Sugar Industries , 169 NLRB No. 31, Franklin County
Sugar Company, supra, Bear Creek Orchards, supra, Hunt Foods, Inc.,
supra But see California Vegetable Concentrates, Inc., 137 NLRB 1779,
where seasonal employees sought by the union therein were included in a
unit with year-round employees.
'However, as the unit found appropriate is broader than that sought by
the Petitioner, the Petitioner may withdraw its petition without prejudice
upon written notice to the Regional Director within 10 days from the date
of this Decision on Review. Independent Linen Service Company of
Mississippi, 122 NLRB 1002.
'At times during the busy season, the Employer employs extra
maintenance employees on a temporary basis. They appear to be
temporary employees and, in accord with the Board's customary practice,
are excluded.
'A corrected election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses
of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional
Director for Region 5 within 7 days after the date of this Decision on
Review, and Direction. The Regional Director shall make the list available
to all parties to the election. No extension of time to file this list shall be
granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances
Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside
the election whenever proper objections are filed . Excelsior Underwear
Inc , 156 NLRB 1236