Central Foods Co.

In the Matter of CENTRAL FOODS COMPANY,' EMPLOYER, and CITRUS, CANNERY WORKERS AND FOOD PROCESSORS UNION, LOCAL 24473, AFL,2 PETITIONER Case No. 39-RC-62.-Decided May 13,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION - Upon a petition duly-filed, a hearing was held before Charles Y. Latimer, 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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray]. 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 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 following employees constitute an appropriate unit for pur- poses of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act : All production and maintenance employees 3 at the Employer's Mission, Texas, plant, excluding office and clerical employees, pro- fessional employees, guards, watchmen, and all supervisors as de- fined in the Act. 3 The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. s In accordance with a stipulation by the parties entered into after the hearing, and made part of the record herein, the letters "AFL," designating the American Federation of Labor, have been added to the name of the Petitioner. s Although the Employer requested that the maintenance men employed during the closed season should be excluded from the unit , it appears that these employees have the same general working conditions and employment interests as the Employer's other employees and we shall therefore include them in the unit. 83 N. L. R. B., No. 90. 608 CENTRAL FOODS COMPANY 609 5. The Employer is engaged in the business of canning and process- ing vegetables. The Employer's operating season usually begins about the first of December and extends through February. The plant then closes until about June 1, when the tomato season begins and canning operations are resumed for approximately 1 month. During the peak seasons, occurring in June and December, there are approxi- mately 150 employees. During the closed season the Employer em- ploys from 1 to 3 maintenance employees. We believe that to hold the election at or about the peak of the June or December canning season will result in making the franchise available to the greatest number of employees having an interest in the selection of a bargaining representative. We shall therefore direct that the election be held at or about the peak of the June or December 1949 canning season, on a date to be determined by the Regional Director, among the employees in the appropriate unit who are employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the issuance of notice of election by the Regional Director. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain respresentatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted on a date to be selected by the Re- gional Director, subject to the instruction set forth in paragraph num- bered 5, above, under the direction and supervision of the 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 Regu- lations-Series 5, as amended, in the unit found appropriate in para- graph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the issuance of notice of election by the Regional Director, 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 or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar- gaining, by Citrus, Cannery Worker-, and Food Processors Union, Local 24473, AFL.