Utah-Idaho Sugar Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 3, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 469 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of UTAH-IDAHO SUGAR Co., EMPLOYER and INTERNA=
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION 112,
A. F. L. , PETITIONER
Case No. 19-RC-137.-Decided February 3,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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. The Employer operates a beet sugar refining plant at Toppenish,
Washington, one of 10 such plants in the northwest that it owns. The
Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor claiming to represent employees of the
Employer. Sugar Workers Union Local No. 21268, herein called the
Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Fed-
eration of Labor.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9
(c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner requests a unit of all electricians at the plant, ex-
cluding supervisors. Since the plant was constructed in 1937, there
has been a succession of contracts between the Employer and the
Intervenor covering a plant-wide bargaining unit.
The plant is powered entirely by electricity. From September to
March of each year it operates on a 24-hour, 3-shift, 7-day-a-week
basis. During this period, called the "campaign," the beet processing
takes place. This is a continuous process to avoid loss of sugar con-
tent due to prolonged storage of the beets. During the remaining 6
months of the year, termed the "inter-campaign," the mill and loading
81 N. L. R. B., No. 85.
469
470 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
stations are repaired by the staff then on duty. A total of 300 are
employed during campaign and 100 during inter-campaign.
In the last few years there has been a year-round complement of 9
electricians, including the chief electrician. During campaign the
chief electrician works a 7-day week like most other plant employees.
However, the remaining 8 electricians work only a 40-hour, 5-day
week, rotating so that a mill electrician and a powerhouse electrician
are on duty at all times, on all 3 shifts. The chief electrician has a
desk in the electrical shop. He is on duty during the day shift and
leaves written instructions for the other 2 shifts. In emergencies he
works along with the other electricians. Once or twice on each shift
the mill electrician on duty circulates through the plant checking the
425 motors which drive the production machinery. The powerhouse
electrician on each shift spends his time in the powerhouse looking
after the turbo-generator. Several of the electricians have worked up
through the plant but most have been hired as experienced electricians
through the Petitioner.
We are of the opinion that these electricians, engaged solely in main-
tenance and construction work, constitute a distinct and skilled craft
group who may form an appropriate separate unit if they so desire,
notwithstanding the bargaining history on a plant-wide basis and the
prevailing pattern of industrial bargaining in other beet sugar plants
in this area.'
We find that all electricians employed at the Employer's Top-
penish, Washington, plant, including powerhouse operators but ex-
cluding supervisors as defined in the Act,2 may constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act. However, we shall make no final unit deter-
mination at this time, but shall be guided in part by the desires of
these employees as expressed in the election hereinafter directed. If
a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
60 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
' See Matter of U S Gypsum Co , 79 N. L. R. B 1282 and Matter of Hunter Packing
Co , 79 N . L. R. B 197 , distinguishing Matter of National Tube Co., 76 N . L R B. 1199,
and Matter of Ford Motor Co , 78 N L R B . 887, on which the Employer relies.
2 We find that the chief electrician is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act He is
responsible for hiring electricians and assigning their work.
UTAH-IDAHO SUGAR CO. 471
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were 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
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 112,
A. F. L., or by Sugar Workers Union Local No. 21268, A. F. L., or by
neither.
MEMBER MURDOCK, dissenting :
In view of the bargaining history on a plant-wide basis, the prevail-
ing pattern of industrial bargaining in the beet sugar industry in the
area, and also the extent of integration between the electrical main-
tenance work and the production process disclosed in the record, I
would not sever these electricians from the industrial unit.