Enid Co-Operative Creamery Association

In the Matter of ENID Co-OPERATIVE CREAMERY ASSOCIATION, EM- PLOYER and GENERAL DRIVERS, CHAIIFFEuRS AND HELPERS, LOCAL 886, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 16-RC-106.-Decided August 31, 1948 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 panel consisting of Board Members Houston, Gray, and Reynolds.' Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.2 2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion 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 a unit of inside employees at the Em- ployer's creamery and dairy plant, excluding employees in the egg department, ice cream' manufacturing department, retail fountain department, and garage, farm pickup drivers, and milk deliverymen, office clerical employees, and supervisors. The Employer would in- clude all its non-supervisory employees in the appropriate unit. The Employer is a cooperative dairy association. It processes for sale and shipment the milk, cream, and eggs received from its members. 1 Member Reynolds is not participating in this case. 2 For the reason set forth in our decision in an earlier proceeding concerning the Em- ployer's operations, wherein the same jurisdictional issue was raised, we find without merit the Employer's contention that its milk -department employees are not subject to the provi. sions of the Act. Matter of Enid Co-Operative Creamery Associatson, 58 N. L. R. B. 592. 79 N. L. R. B., No. 62. 444 ENID CO-OPERATIVE CREAMERY ASSOCIATION 445 In the earlier proceedings, noted above, the Board found appropriate a production and maintenance unit similar to that which the Peti- tioner now seeks . The Petitioner, however, presently desires to ex- clude from the unit employees in the egg department . Since the issu- ance of our decision in the earlier case, the Employer has enlarged the scope of its operations by adding an ice cream manufacturing depart- ment, a retail fountain department , a group of milk deliverymen, and a garage. The Petitioner would also exclude from its proposed unit employees in these added departments. Egg department employees. The eight non-supervisory employees in the egg department clean, grade , inspect, and crate for shipment all eggs received by the Employer . Although these employees are located in a building separate from other plant employees , they are subject to the same supervision and general working conditions as other plant employees. In the earlier case, the Petitioner sought, and the Board found appropriate , the inclusion in the unit of employees in the egg department. The record fails to disclose any grounds upon which these employees should now be excluded. We find that employees in the egg department constitute an integral part of the Employer's plant-production operations , and we shall include them in the unit. Ice cream manufacturing department employees . There are one ice cream maker and three other workmen in this department. The only work performed by these four employees is the making of ice cream from the,products received by the Employer from its members. They are located in the same building with the creamery-department em- ployees, and are subject to the same supervision and working condi- tions. We find that employees in the ice cream manufacturing depart- ment are an integral part of the Employer's plant-production opera- tions, and in the absence of any reason for their exclusion , we shall, therefore, include them in the unit. Retail fountain employees. The six non-supervisory employees in this department are sales clerks in the Employer 's retail store, where they sell ice cream, milk, and related plant products . We find that the retail fountain employees possess interests dissimilar from those of the plant-production and maintenance workers, and we shall, there- fore, exclude them from the appropriate unit. Garage . The two employees in the garage , one mechanic and one helper, service the Employer's trucks. They work in the garage, located in the same building with the other plant employees, and are subject to the same supervision and general working conditions. We shall include the garage employees in the unit.3 3 Matter of Mil- Co Gasoline Company, 74 N. L. R. B. 910. 446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Farm pick-up truck drivers and milk deliverymen. Five farm pick-up truck drivers pick up cream and milk from the Employer's members. They spend their time away from the plant. These em- ployees were excluded from the plant unit previously found appro- priate, and no change has occurred in their working conditions. We shall exclude them from the unit found appropriate herein. Since the, issuance of the earlier decision, the Employer has added 1. 16 milk deliverymen; who deliver milk, ice cream, and other plant products to the Employer's customers. Like the farm pick-up truck drivers, they spend the majority of their time away from the plant, and are basically truck drivers and driver-salesmen. We shall exclude the milk deliverymen from the plant unit. Office clerical employees. The four clerks in the production and retail office and the eight clerks in the accounting office constitute the non-supervisory office clerical workers. The record does not disclose any duties performed by these employees that are not customarily per- formed by office clerical employees in manufacturing plants. We ex- cluded office clerical employees from the unit found appropriate in the earlier proceeding. We find no reason to depart from that finding and from the established principle of excluding clerical employees from units of production employees in manufacturing industries. We shall exclude office clerical employees from the plant unit. We find, therefore, that all inside employees at the Employer's creamery and dairy plant, including employees in the egg department, the ice cream manufacturing department, and the garage, but exclud- ing retail fountain employees, farm pick-up truck drivers and milk deliverymen, office clerical employees, and all supervisors within the meaning of the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining withiii the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 5. We shall direct an election among employees in the unit found appropriate to determine whether the employees therein desire to be represented by the Petitioner. If, however,.-She Petitioner does riot desire to participate in an election among employees in the unit herein found appropriate, which is larger than the unit sought in its instant petition, the Petitioner may, upon proper application to the Regional Director within 5 days after the issuance of this Decision and Direction of Election , withdraw its petition. 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 30 days from the date of this Direction , under the direction and supervision of ENID CO-OPERATIVE CREAMERY ASSOCIATION 447 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 appro- priate 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 reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre- sented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by General Drivers, Chauffeurs and Helpers, Local 886, AFL.