Colorado River Farms

160 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD COLORADO RIVER FARMS and UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE WORKERS, LIU 78, CIO, PETITIONER H. TATOSIAN & COMPANY 1 and UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE WORKERS, LIU 78, CIO, PETITIONER EATON FRUIT Co. and UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE W ORKERS, LIU 78, CIO, PETITIONER CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES AND/OR WILCO HONEY DEWS and UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE WORKERS, LIU 78, CIO, PETITIONER WILCO PRODUCE Co. and UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE WORKERS, LIU 78, CIO, PETITIONER L. M. AZHIDARIAN 2 and UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE WORKERS, LIU 78, CIO, PETITIONER . Cases Nos. 201-RC-0O9, ,°L1-RC-9031, 2,1-RC-0392, 21-RC-,0033, 21-RC-°2034, and 21-RC- 4035. May -7691952 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held on August 6, 1951, November 9, 1951, and, pursuant to an Order of the Board dated February 4,1952, reopening the record and remanding the proceeding to the Regional Director of the Twenty-first Region for further hearing, on March 13, 1952, before Ben Grodsky, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.3 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Peterson]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. Each of the Employers is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act .4 ' The petition and other formal papers in Case 21-RC-2031 are amended to show the correct name of the Employer. 2 The petitions and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct names of the Employers in Cases Nos 21-RC-2032, 21-RC -2034, and 21-RC-2035. 3 The motion of Wilco Produce Company, concurred in by the Petitioner , to dismiss the petition in Case No. 21-RC-2033, on the ground that there is no such employer as Cali- fornia Vegetables and/or Wilco Honey Dews , is hereby granted. 4 Employer L. M. Azhidarian shipped 125 carloads of cantaloupes to points outside of California in the fiscal year ending in July 1951 . L. M. Azhidarian conceded, and we find, that the value of these shipments was in excess of $25,000. Although Employer H. Tatosian shipped 227 carloads of cantaloupes out of State from the same area and on the same railroad as L. M. Azhidarian, there is no showing in the record of the value of these shipments . However, in view of our finding with respect to the smaller shipments of L. M . Azhidarian, we find that H. Tatosian has shipped out of State.cantaloupes valued in excess of $25,000 ; accordingly , we find that Employer H. Tatosian is engaged in com- merce within the meaning of the Act. Stanislaus Implement and Hardware Company, Limited, 91 NLRB 618. 99 NLRB No. 41. COLORADO RIVER FARMS 161 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em- ployees of the Employers. 3. The Petitioner seeks to represent the packing shed workers of the several Employers in this proceeding. Employers Wilco Produce Co. and Eaton Fruit Co. contend that these workers are "agricultural laborers" and not "employees" within the meaning of Section 2 (3) of the Act, and that therefore the Board has no jurisdiction over such workers. Each Employer operates one or more sheds in the vicinity of Blythe, California, for the packing of several of the following types of produce : Lettuce, melons, cantaloupes, honeydews, and cauliflower. There are two general packing seasons. Lettuce is packed in Novem- ber, December, and January, and melons are packed in late May and June. An example of a typical operation is found in the packing of lettuce. Lettuce is trucked into a shed in baskets which are rolled into the shed by receivers. The baskets are set up on a hydraulic lift. The lettuce is trimmed and then packed into a crate. After a crate is packed, it is placed on a moving belt and on this belt the crate passes through a washer. Ice is put on the top layer of lettuce, paper is laid over the ice, the crate is lidded, labeled, and checked. The crate is then placed on a turntable outside of the shed and loaded on cars. After the crate is loaded, ice is blown over the crate by means of an ice blower. The particular facts affecting the operations of individual Employ- ers are discussed below. Eaton Fruit Co. The shed and the packing equipment of this Em- ployer represents an investment of $20,000. All the produce packed is grown on leased land approximately 31/2 miles from the packing shed, to which it is afterward hauled by truck. In the shed are em- ployed an average of 145 employees, about 30 percent of whom also works on the Employer's farm when not engaged in packing shed operations. However, the bulk of the shed workers are recruited from among migratory workers who travel with the crop. Furthermore, all packing shed employees are paid in accordance with wage scales estab- lished for packing operations rather than at farm labor rates. Al- though both farm laborers and shed workers are carried on a master payroll, this payroll is subdivided into a separate listing for each group. Farm laborers are separately hired and fired, and have sepa- rate supervision from shed workers. Wilco Produce Co. This Employer has invested at least $21,000 in packing equipment and in 2 packing sheds, one of which it owns and one of which it leases. Produce packed in these sheds is grown on leased farm lands which are located an average of 9 miles in distance from the sheds. The farming and packing operations require ap- proximately 260 farm hands and 140 packing shed employees, re- 162 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD spectively. With the exception of 3 employees who may work in sheds and on farms the same day, there is no interchange between the group of farm laborers and packing shed employees. About 60 per- cent of the packing shed employees is recruited from the ranks of migratory workers. Although farm laborers and packing shed em- ployees are carried on a master payroll, they are separately supervised. H. Tatosian & Company: This Employer operates two sheds, one for melons and cantaloupes and the other for lettuce and honeydews. Both sheds are leased. It owns machinery in the melon shed with a replacement value of $25,000, and a press or lidding machine in the lettuce shed valued at approximately $4,000. This Employer, who grows melons and vegetables on leased land within a radius of 8 or 9 miles of Blythe, packs only its own products, except for a small amount of packing for neighbors. This amount does not exceed 10 percent of the total amount of produce packed. During the lettuce packing season, the Employer employs 45 people in the shed. During the melon season 20 people are employed but during a 2-week peak in this season, the number increases to 50 or 60 employees. Although some workers are recruited from persons liv= ing in the Blythe area, the majority is drawn from among migratory workers. Packing shed employees receive substantially the same rate of pay as other packing shed employees in the area. There is no appreciable interchange between packing shed employees and farm laborers; and each group is carried on a separate payroll. Colorado River Farms: This Employer cultivates approximately 800 acres, and its farm and shed operations are similar to those of Employer H. Tatosian & Company. However, Employer Colorado River Farms operates only one shed, which, together with packing machinery, is valued at $125,000. L. M. Azhidarian Company: - The operations of this Employer are almost identical to those of Employer H. Tatosian & Company; ac- cordingly, no further discussion is required for this Employer. Thus each of the Employers herein maintain plants in which there is a substantial investment in building and equipment, and in which they conduct extensive packing operations. Employees in these pack- ing sheds are separately supervised from farm laborers. The bulk of each labor force employed in these packing sheds performs no functions in connection with the planting, cultivating, or harvesting of their Employer's crops, and are paid in accordance with the wage scales paid by other packers in the area to their packing shed em- ployees. For these and other reasons more fully set forth in Imperial Garden Growers,5 we are of the opinion that the packing sheds of 5 91 NLRB 1034. See also Arena Norton, Inc., at at, 93 NLRB 375; D'Arrsgo Bros. Co. of California, 93 NLRB 827 ; Comer Produce Co., et at, 95 NLRB 542; J. J. Crosetti Co., 98 NLRB No. 42; Interpretative Bulletin No . 14„par. 10, 1949 WIIM 35. 351. REHRIG-PACIFIC COMPANY 163 Employers Eaton Fruit Co., Wilco Produce Co., H. Tatosian & Com- pany, Colorado River Farms, and L.M. Azhidarian Company, respec- tively, are operated as separate commercial enterprises and not merely as incidents to or in conjunction with the farming operations of those Employers. Accordingly we find that the employees in the packing sheds of each of these Employers are "employees" within the meaning of the Act. We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of each of these Employers within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate unit : We find that all packing shed employees of each of the several Employers set forth above in packing sheds of these Employers in the vicinity of Blythe, California, excluding clerical employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute separate units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean- ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 5. In accordance with our usual practice in seasonal operations of this kind, we shall direct that separate elections be held at or about the next approximate seasonal peak 6 on a date to be determined by the Regional Director, among the employees in the several appropriate units who are employed during the payroll period immediately pre- ceding the date of issuance of the notices of election by the Regional Director.' [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume.] ° This appears to occur in the latter part of May and June, during'the melon pack. ° See footnote 5, supra. MURIEL H. REHRIG, D/B/A REHRIG-PACIFIC COMPANY 1 and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND, JOINERS,, OF 'AMERICA, WOOD- WORKERS LOCAL 530, AFL. Case No. 21-CA-1053. May 19, 1952 Decision and Order On October 12, 1951, Trial Examiner Howard Myers issued his Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respondent had engaged 'in and was engaging in certain unfair labor practices in violation of Section 8 (a) (1), 8 (a) (2), and 8 (a) (5) of 1 The Respondent is designated in the complaint and other pleadings as Rehrig-Pacific Company. The record, however, shows Muriel H. Rehrig, an individual doing business as Rehrig-Pacific Company, to be the Respondent herein We have so amended all the'formal papers. 99 NLRB No 34.