The Rath Packing Co.

96 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (2) All unlicensed personnel on board all vessels owned and/or operated by Employer Inland, excluding licensed officers, stewards, boatswains, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as de- fined in the Act. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] THE RATH PACKING COMPANY and UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 46, CIO, PETITIONER. Cases Nos. 18-RC- 1556, 18-RC-1557, and 18-RC-1593. October 03, 1952 Decision, Order, and Direction of Elections Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Harry Irwig, 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 this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees of the Employer. 3. For the reasons set forth in paragraph numbered 4, below, ques- tions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation of em- ployees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, in Cases Nos. 18-RC-1556 and 18-RC-1557, but none exists in Case No. 18-RC-1593. 4. At its Waterloo, Iowa, plant, the Employer is engaged in the slaughtering of livestock and the processing of meat products. The Petitioner, which has represented the production and maintenance employees at this plant since 1948, now seeks an election in three groups currently excluded from the production and maintenance unit. ' National Brotherhood of Packinghouse Workers, Confederated Unions of America, was granted leave to intervene in Cases Nos. 18-RC- 1556 and 18-RC-1557 on the basis of contracts then in force but now expired. Its request to intervene in Case No. 18-RC-1593 was denied for lack of a sufficient showing of interest. At the hearing the Intervenor sought to introduce evidence to show that certain persons alleged to be or to have been officers and policy makers of the Petitioner were in fact Communists. The hearing officer properly rejected the evidence. We are administra- tively satisfied that non-Communist affidavits have been filed by the officers of the Petitioner, as required by Section 9 (h) of the Act . Congress has made the truth or falsity of those affidavits a concern of the Department of Justice, not of this Board. The fact of compliance by a labor organization which is required to comply is not litigable by the parties to Board proceedings . Sunbeam Corporation, 94 NLRB 844, 93 NLRB 1205, and 89 NLRB 469. 101 NLRB No. 25. THE RATH PACKING COMPANY 97 The Cooperage Department-Case No. 18-RC-1556 Early in 1950 the cooperage department employees severed from the production and maintenance unit and designated the Intervenor as their bargaining representative, pursuant to an election directed by the Board.2 The parties agree that this cooperage unit is still appro- priate. Accordingly, we reaffirm our earlier finding that all employees in the cooperage department at the Employer's Waterloo plant, ex- cluding the foreman and other supervisors as defined in the Act, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. The Plant Cafeteria-Case No. 18-RC-1557 Since at least 1948 the employees at the Waterloo plant cafeteria have been represented by the Intervenor in a separate unit. In 1950, when an election was held in this unit, cashiers and checkers were ex- cluded by the Board pursuant to agreement of the parties.3 The Inter- venor now desires the inclusion of these employees, whereas the Em- ployer wishes their continued exclusion. The Petitioner apparently takes no position on this issue. There are five checkers and four cashiers. The checker computes the total price of the food selected by each customer and indicates that total on his ticket. The cashier then collects the ticket and the cus- tomer's money or signature. Checkers and cashiers share the work of totaling the charge tickets and preparing summaries. At times when meals are not being served, the checkers assist the other cafe- teria employees in their work; moreover, in emergencies they serve as countergirls. Checkers and cashiers receive the same pay, which is about the same as that of the other cafeteria employees; and they punch the same time clock.' Like the others, they are supervised by the cafeteria manager. On the basis of these facts, and because the checkers and cashiers work in such close association with the other cafeteria employees, we find that their interests are similar and we shall include them in the cafeteria unit.5 It is true that, unlike the other cafeteria employees, they are clericals; but it is generally the practice of the Board to in- clude in a plant unit those clerical employees whose work brings them 87 NLRB 664. Case No. 18-RC-556, March 27, 1950, not reported in printed volumes of Board decisions 4 Their vacation benefits are somewhat greater : 2 weeks after only 2 years ' service instead of after 5 years , as is the case with the other cafeteria employees . Their insurance benefits are also slightly different. 5 Walworth Company, 51 NLRB 1206 . See also Dr. Pepper Bottling Co., 78 NLRB 1261. 98 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD into constant association with the plant employees 6 We see no rea- son to depart from this practice in the case of clerical employees as- signed to a cafeteria 7 Accordingly, we find that all employees in the Employer's Waterloo plant cafeteria, including the checkers, the cash- iers, the storeroom girl," and the candy counter girl,9 but excluding the chef, the breakfast cook, the late cook,SO and all other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. The Mechanical Storeroom Clerks-Case No. 18-RC-1593 The Petitioner seeks a separate election for 11 employees in the mechanical storeroom, which adjoins the maintenance shop. It de- sires to add these employees to its production and maintenance unit. Six of the men sought, who are designated "window clerks," issue tools and supplies to the maintenance employees, who present requisition slips at the storeroom windows. Four of the remaining five employees sought are designated "helpers." Two of these are learning to wait on the windows; one helps handle the paper work involved in ordering, receiving, and returning the supplies; the duties of the fourth helper are not indicated. The last employee works in the yard outside the storeroom and cares for scrap material. 6 Goodman Manufacturing Co., 58 NLRB 531 (production and maintenance unit) ; National Cash Register Company, 95 NLRB 27, 29 (production and maintenance unit) ; Hanna Motor Company, 94 NLRB 105, 108 (service unit) ; Bemis Brothers Bag Co., 95 NLRB 44, 46 (operating unit). I Walworth Company, supra. A contrary rule was enunciated in four early cases ; S. & W. Cafeteria of Washington, 20 NLRB 259, and 30 NLRB 1236; Welfare Association of the U S Department of Agriculture, 45 NLRB 285; and Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, 53 NLRB 1428. However, the decisions in at least the first three of these cases seem to have rested primarily upon extent of union organization, a factor to which the Board may no longer accord controlling weight. See Section 9 (c) (5) of the Act. Moreover, all of these cases were decided before Proximity Manufacturing Co., 56 NLRB 264, and Goodman Manufacturing Co., 58 NLRB 531, which first authorized the placement of plant clericals with units of physical employees. Although the S & W cases were relied on as precedent even after the issuance of Proximity Manufacturing Co. (see Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp., 58 NLRB 205; General Motors Corporation (Eastern Aircraft Division), 60 NLRB 81; Shoreham Drug Company, 61 NLRB 1437; Air Terminal Services, Inc., 67 NLRB 702), it does not appear that the Board was asked to or did consider whether the new rule regarding plant clericals might be applied to cafeteria clericals as well. Nor was any such possibility raised in Fairchild Cafeteria, 87 NLRB 667, where an employee who did some cashier duty was excluded from a cafeteria unit on the authority of a case which excluded an office clerical from a unit of plant employees. We therefore do not regard these cases as determinative of the present issue. "The parties were in agreement that this employee, who works 2 hours a day as a countereirl and the rest of her time as a storeroom attendant, should be included in the unit, and we so find. O This employee operates a candy and cigarette counter in the east dining area of the front dining room. In addition to her counter tending, cashiering, and relatively minor ordering duties, she spends a substantial portion of each day helping clean the cafeteria areas; and at times she cuts butter. We find that her interests are similar to those of the other cafeteria employees and we therefore include her. 3o The parties agreed that the breakfast cook and the late cook, like the chef, possess supervisory authority ; and we adopt their agreement. STOKELY FOODS, INC. 99 Also in the mechanical storeroom, though not sought by the Peti- tioner, is an inventory clerk. Working in other plant areas, moreover, are various other plant clerical employees who are presently excluded from the production and maintenance unit." None of these others are now sought by the Petitioner. The employees sought are thus only a segment of a larger group whose status and interests are similar. To permit the Petitioner to round out its production and maintenance unit by adding the excluded plant employees piecemeal as now pro- posed would not only be administratively burdensome, but would also transgress the requirement of Section 9 (c) (5) of the Act, which bars the Board, in making unit determinations, from giving controlling weight to extent of organization. We will therefore dismiss the peti- tion in Case No. 18-RC-159312 Order IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed in Case No. 18-RC-1593 be, and it hereby is, dismissed. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] MEMBER PETERSON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision, Order, and Direction of Elections. 11 Most of the employees in the Employer 's other storeroom , the one which serves the production employees , are excluded from the production and maintenance unit. So are the 6 scalers, who weigh animal carcasses in plant areas, and the 2 hide graders, who inspect and rate the quality of the hides stored in the Employer 's hide cellars in the plant. Also excluded are about 100 employees who handle various kinds of paper work at desk locations in plant areas. 12 Kennecott Copper Corp., 96 NLRB 1423 ; Southern California Gas Co., 74 NLRB 48, STOKELY FOODS, INC. and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, PETITIONER. Case No. 17-RC-1308. October 23,1952 Supplemental Decision and Certification of Results of Election Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued herein on duly 16, 1952,1 an election by secret ballot was conducted on August 13, 1952, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, among the employees in the voting group established by the Board. Following the election, a tally of ballots was furnished the parties. The tally shows that of approximately 97 eligible voters, 78 cast valid ballots, of which 31 were for, and 47 were against, the Petitioner.2 There were 6 challenged ballots. n Not reported in printed volumes of Board Decisions. No other union appeared on the ballot. 101 NLRB No. 20. 242305-53-8