Booth Fisheries Corp.

In the Matter of BOOTH FISHERIES CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, PETITIONER Case No. 1-RC-1632.Decided September 21, 1950. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Joseph Lepie, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. 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-member panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and Styles]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. Questions affecting commerce exist 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. 4. The Petitioner contends that production and maintenance em- ployees at the Employer's plants B and, C, including watchmen, but excluding office and clerical employees, professional employees, boat- men, guards, executives, foremen, and other supervisors, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Employer contends that employees at plants B and C, respectively, constitute separate appropriate plant units. It would exclude watchmen and include American boatmen, taking a neutral position with respect to Canadian boatmen. There is no history of collective bargaining for employees at either plant. The Employer is engaged in canning sardines and in processing cod fish and herring at its two Lubec, Maine, plants, situated one-third of a mile apart and known, respectively, as plant B and plant C. Both plants are operated on a seasonal basis. The canning season for plant B runs from June to October, and the canning season for plant C runs from the end of August until the following April. The two 91 NLRB No. 72. 363 364 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD plants, though subject to general over-all supervision, are run as sep- arate enterprises, under different plant superintendents, and their production operations and machinery are unrelated. There is no interchange of employees between the plants. Each plant is separately equipped with a maintenance crew, and separate payrolls and records are maintained at each plant. Work differs, and piecework wage scales differ in the respective plants. In view of the dissimilarity of plant operations, the lack of employee interchange, and different work- ing conditions, we find that employees at plants B and C, respectively, constitute separate bargaining units. The Petitioner would include watchmen and would exclude boat- men. The Employer disagrees. Watchmen: The Employer has one watchman at plant B, not armed, uniformed, or deputized, who performs the customary duties of a watchman for approximately 90 percent of his working time. During the remainder of the time, he does maintenance work in the boiler room. We find that the watchman is employed as a guard within the meaning of the Act and shall exclude him from the unit found appro- priate for plant B employees.' Boatmen: To supply its Lubec plant with fish, the Employer owns three carrier boats, of which one is under American registry and oper- ated by American boatmen and the other two are under Canadian regis- try and operated by Canadian boatmen in American waters.. The boatmen on each carrier are a licensed captain'and an engineer with no special skill or experience.2 Boatmen buy fish for the Employer's cannery at a price and in an amount fixed by the Employer. The Employer reimburses the fishermen directly for the purchases made and compensates the boatmen on the basis of a fixed amount per hogs- head of fish, the exact amount depending on the distance travelled by the boatmen. From this amount, the Employer deducts social secu- rity, unemployment compensation, and workmen's compensation, as required by law ; makes an allowance for maintenance of the boat ; and pays the remainder to the captain, who shares it with the engineer. The captains have authority to hire engineers and recommend their discharge. The operations of the Employer's boatmen form an in- tegral part of the Employer's production processes. We shall include the engineers, but exclude captains, as supervisors, from the units.3 1 Riverside Mills,.85 NLRB 969. 2 Canadian boatmen hold American licenses and are not required to hold Canadian licenses. 'Cf. Seaboard Packing Company, 91 NLRB 529; North Lubec Manufacturing Can- ning., Company, 1-RC-1650 ; Haskins - Canning Corp.; 1-RC-1649 , decided this day. BOOTH FISHERTES CORPORATION 365 The following employees of the Employer constitute separate units appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act: (a) All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's plant B at Lubec, Maine, including engineers, but excluding office and clerical employees, professional employees, guards, watchmen, execu- tives, captains, foremen, and other supervisors. (b). All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's plant C at Lubec, Maine, including engineers, but excluding office and clerical employees, professional employees, guards, executives, cap- tains, foremen, and other supervisors. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] '