Wine Growers Guild

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 11, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 650 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of WINE GROWERS GUILD, CENTRAL CELLARS LODI, EM-
PLOYER and COOPERATIVE WINERY AND BOTTLING PLANT WORKERS
UNION (UNAFFILIATED), PETITIONER
Case No. 20-RC-10.Decided March 11, 1948
Sacramento Valley Associated Industries, by M11r. J. S. Norman, of
Sacramento, Calif., for the Employer.
Litts, Mullen & Perovich, by Messrs. Robert H. Mullen and Anthony
N. Perovich, of Sacramento, Calif., for the Petitioner.
Messrs. Wallace D. Henderson and Norman W. Smith, of Fresno,
Calif., for the Intervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Lodi,
California, on December 16, 1947, before Leslie Lubliner, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board'- makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Wine Growers Guild, a California corporation, is engaged at Lodi,
California, in the blending, bottling, and marketing of wines and
other distilled products. During 1947, the Employer's purchases
exceeded $2,000,000, of which apps:oxiiuately 20 percent represented
shipments from points outside the State of California. During the
same period the Employer's sales exceeded $1,000,000, of which about
85 percent represented shipments to points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
1 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act , the Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three -man panel consisting of the undersigned
Board Members [ Houston , Murdock, and Giay].
76 N. L. R. B., No. 101.
650
WINE GROWERS GUILD
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
651
The Petitioner is an unaffiliated labor organization claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
Distillery, Rectifying and Wine Workers Union, Local No. 45,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, substantially in agreement with the parties, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees at the Lodi, California, opera-
tions of the Employer, excluding watchmen,2 office and clerical em-
ployees, professional employees, wine makers, champagne makers,3 and
all supervisors constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Wine Growers Guild, Central
Cellars Lodi, of Lodi, California, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Twentieth Region, and subject to
Sections 203:61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations-Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 5, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, includ-
2 Although the parties agreed to exclude guards and to include watchmen in the bar-
gaining unit , the record discloses that the Employer has only watchmen in its employ and
that they perform plant -protection duties. In view of the foregoing and for the reasons
set forth in Matter of C. P. Hill & Company, Inc, 76 N. L. R. B., 158, we shall , contrary
to the agreement of the parties , exclude watchmen from the unit.
a The Employer does not currently employ anyone in this category.
* Any participant in the election may, upon its prompt request to, and approval thereof
by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
652 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing 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 reinstated prior to the date of the election,
and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to rein-
statement, to determine whether they desire to be represented by
Cooperative Winery and - Bottling Plant Workers Union (Unaffil-
iated)-or by Distillery, Rectifying and Wine Workers Union, Local
No. 45, A. IF. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.