The St. Mary's Packing Co.

In the Matter of THE ST, MARY'S PACKING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and TRUCK DRIVERS, WAREHI.HSEMEN AND HELPERS UNION, LOCAL No. 908, PETITIONER In the Matter of THE ST. MARY'S PACKING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL No. 824, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 8-R-2375 and 8-R-2414, respectively.-Decided February 13, 1947 Mr. J. C. Swonger, of Sidney, Ohio, and Mr. John H. Frericks, of Delphos, Ohio, for the Employer. Mr. Robert C. Knee, of Dayton, Ohio, and Mr. Morris C. Taylor, of Lima, Ohio, for the Truck Drivers. Mr. Medford E. Holstein, of Lima, Ohio, for the Engineers. Mr. Samuel G. Hamilton, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing in these cases was held at Delphos, Ohio, on November 13, 1946, before John W. Irving, 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 The St. Mary's Packing Company is an Ohio corporation engaged in the canning of various food products, including peas, beans, to- matoes, pumpkins, and pork and beans. It operates eight plants in various parts of the United States. The instant proceeding solely concerns the Employer's plant located at Delphos, Ohio. Annually, the Employer purchases in excess of $200,000 worth of raw materials, almost all of which is shipped to this plant from points within the State of Ohio. Annually, the Employer ships in excess of $500,000 72 N. L. R. B., No. 117. 596 THE ST. MARY'S PACKING COMPANY 597 worth of finished products, of which approximately 50 percent is shipped 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. 11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Truck Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers Union, Local No. 908, herein called the Truck Drivers, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. • International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 824, herein called the Engineers, is a labor organization affiliated with the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em- ployer. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer has refused to recognize the Truck Drivers or the Engineers as the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until either union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS The Truck Drivers seeks a unit of all year-round or permanent 1 production employees, truck drivers, warehousemen, garage mechanics and helpers, greasers, washers, watchmen, and general laborers. The Engineers desires a unit of all year-round or permanent employees of the powerhouse, including engineers, firemen and coal passers, and all maintenance employees who spend the greater part of their time maintaining the machinery, buildings, and equipment of the Em- ployer, other than automotive equipment. All parties agree that all office, clerical, and supervisory employees should be excluded from both units. But the Employer requests that certain seasonal em- ployees be included in the units sought by the petitioning unions. Seasonal Workers The Employer's off or dry packing season runs from January to June, and also includes parts of July and parts of August, November, ' All parties define as permanent or year -round employees those employees , numbering approximately 150, who are required to operate the plant during the off or dry packing season, approximately 100 of whom remain in the employ of the employer for periods rang- ing from 6 months to 1 year longer. 598 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and December. During the off or dry packing season approximately 150 employees are employed in order to operate the plant. These are the Employer's year-round or permanent employees. Of these em- ployees, approximately 50 have been in the employ of the Employer for 6 months or longer. In June and again in September and October of each year, the Em- ployer expands its operations so that it may process peas and tomatoes. The pea packing season is roughly in June, and the-tomato packing sea- son is roughly in September and October. Approximately 50 addi- tional workers are recruited locally in June, and work as peelers for 4 or 5 weeks during the pea packing season . A large percentage of these peelers are farm women, who apparently have other employ- - ment during the off season. A record is kept of their names, and those whom the Employer is able to reach and who are available are employed in succeeding seasons, including the tomato season in September and October. A majority of the tomato seasonal workers, however, are recruited from States other than the State of Ohio, and from Mexico , and there is no established practice of reemployment with respect to such em- ployees, since no record of their names is maintained. During the tomato packing season, from 450 to 500 workers are employed. The Employer contends that those workers whose names are listed in its records should be included in both units. While it is true that these employees have an expectancy of reemployment with the Em- ployer, all apparently look elsewhere than to the Employer for their livelihood during the larger part of the year. And they do not share with the permanent employees a common interest in continuous em- ployment. They are in fact seasonal, as distinguished from year- round employees. In addition, neither the Truck Drivers nor the Engineers seeks to represent these employees . Accordingly, under all the circumstances , we shall exclude from both units all seasonal employees.2 Upon the basis of the entire record, we find that the following units are appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: Unit 1. All year-round or permanent production employees, truck drivers, warehousemen, garage mechanics, helpers, greasers, washers, general laborers, and watchmen of the Employer's Delphos, Ohio, plant, excluding employees of the powerhouse , maintenance men who spend the greater part of their time maintaining the machinery and equipment of the Employer, other than automotive equipment, clerical 'Matter of Hunt Foods, Inc, 68 N L R . B 802 ; Matter of Stokely Foods, Inc, 66 N L. R. B 740 ; Matter of Reid, Murdock d Company, 56 N L R. B 284 . Matter of Libby, McNeill and Libby, 59 N. L R B 864 ; Matter of California Packing Company, 59 N. L. R. B 941 THE ST. MARY'S PACKING COMPANY 599 and office employees, and .all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action. Unit 2. All year-round or permanent employees of the powerhouse of the Employer's Delphos, Ohio, plant, including engineers, firemen and coal passers, and all maintenance employees who spend the greater part of their time maintaining the machinery, buildings, and equip- ment of the Employer, other than automotive equipment, but exclud- ing clerical and office employees, all employees in Unit 1, above, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES At the hearing the Employer suggested that elections be held in June to allow certain seasonal employees to vote. Since we have ex- pressly excluded all seasonal employees from the appropriate units, we shall not adopt this suggestion. We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among employees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The St. Mary's Packing Com- pany, Delphos, Ohio, separate elections by secret ballot shall be con- ducted 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 Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sec- tions 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the units found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and in- cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those em- ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections: (1) to determine whether or not the employees in Unit 1, described in See- 600 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tion IV, above, desire to be represented by Truck Drivers, Warehouse- men and Helpers Union, Local No. 908, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining; and (2) to determine whether or not the employees in Unit 2, described in Section IV, above, desire to be represented by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 824, affiliated with the American Fed- eration of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining. 0