Weston Biscuit Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 31, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 407 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of WESToN BISCUIT COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , DISTRICT LODGE No.
156, FOR ITSELF AND ON BEHALF OF ITS LOCAL LODGE No . 758, PETI-
TIONER
Case No. 21-RC-445.-Decided January 31,1949
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.
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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
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 named below claim to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act?
4. The Petitioner seeks certification as bargaining representative of
a unit consisting of all maintenance employees at the Employer's Bur-
bank, California, plant. The Employer and the Intervenor contend
that, because of over-all integration in the plant operations, the unit
sought is inappropriate and that only a plant-wide production and
maintenance unit is appropriate.
The Burbank plant, in which the Employer manufactures biscuits
and crackers, occupies three separate buildings, one housing the
production department , one the maintenance employees , and one the
*Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray.
i The employer contends that its existing contract with Bakery and Confectionery Workers
International Union , Local 418, AFL , herein called the Intervenor , bars this proceeding.
As the contract was not signed before the Petitioner filed its petition herein , we find no
merit in this contention . Matter of Kraft Foods Company, 76 N. L . R. B. 492.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 70. 407
408 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cafeteria. The maintenance employees, constituting a separate de-
partment under its own foreman, include three machinists, a car-
penter, and an electrician. The machinists keep the production ma-
chinery in repair, and also do oiling, greasing, and lathe and welding
work when necessary. The carpenter and the electrician do the
usual work associated with their crafts. Apart from a written docu-
ment in the form of an agreement between the Intervenor and the
Employer, but not signed by the Employer, covering all production
and maintenance employees, there has been no collective bargaining
on behalf of any of the Burbank plant employees since the plant was
opened in April 1918.
Under these circumstances, and as the maintenance employees form
an easily identifiable group composed primarily of craftsmen, we
believe that they possess interests in common sufficiently distinct from
those of the remaining employees to warrant their representation as
a separate bargaining unit, if they so desire.2 However, we shall
make no final unit determination until we have ascertained the desires
of the employees involved.
We shall direct that an election be held among all maintenance
employees at the Employer's Burbank, California, plant, including
machinists, the carpenter, and the electrician, but excluding all super-
visors as defined in the Act. If, in this election, a majority of the
employees select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit .3
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purpose 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-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees in the voting group 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
2 Matter of Armstrong Cork Company , 80 N. L. R. B. 1328.
8 The Employer requests exclusion of the carpenter and the electrician on the ground
that they are temporary employees . The request is denied , as the Employer admits, in its
brief, that the employment of these employees will not be terminated until November 1949.
4 Any participant in the election directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
WESTON BISCUIT COMPANY, INC. 409
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been 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 represented, for purposes of
collective bargaining, by International Association of Machinists,
District Lodge No. 156, for itself and on behalf of its Local Lodge
No. 758, or by Bakery and Confectionery Workers International
Union, Local 418, AFL, or by neither.