Beatrice Foods Co.

BEATRICE FOODS CO. 459 4. As to the Company's failure to hire Tom A. Holt Tom A. Holt testified that early in January 1954 he contacted Paint Superin- tendent Charles B. Tidwell and asked him for a job. The evidence shows that Tidwell had no authority to hire painters, therefore, Holt did not make a valid application for employment at that time. Accordingly, without considering any other matters, the General Counsel has failed to make out a prima facie case of discriminatory refusal to hire Holt.36 CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Maxon Construction Company, Inc., is, and at all times relevant herein was, engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. The Respondents have not engaged in any unfair labor practices within the meaning of the Act. [Recommendations omitted from publication.] 3e N. L. It. B. v Del Al. Webb Const, uction Company, supra. Beatrice Foods Co. and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, AFL, Lo- cal Union Number 190, Petitioner . Case No. 19-RC-1628. April 25, 1955 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Albert L. Gese, hear- ing 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 organization involved claims to represent certain employees 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 Petitioner seeks a unit of all the Employer's production and maintenance employees including route salesmen, but excluding office clerical and management employees and supervisors. The Employer contends that office clerical employees should be included in the unit, and that a part-time janitor, maintenance employees, and branch driver-salesmen should be excluded. The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of ice cream and but- ter, and the distribution of frozen foods and other food products. Its main plant is located in Billings, Montana.' It also has four branch refrigerated warehouses located in Worland, Sheridan, and Powell, 1 The Employer has another plant in Montana which is not involved in this proceeding. 112 NLRB No. 63 460 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Wyoming, and Miles City, Montana.' Merchandise is delivered from the main plant to the branches by transport drivers from the main plant. The merchandise is put in the refrigerated warehouses and then redistributed to customers in the various areas by driver-salesmen working in those particular areas. The record shows that the driver-salesmen stationed at the branches do the same work as employees in the same classifications working in the main plant.3 Both groups are paid a base salary, plus commis- sion, and work under the supervision of the main plant distribution supervisors.4 There is little, if any, interchange of employees from one branch to another, but there have been transfers from the branches to the main plant. Supervisory vacancies are usually filled by em- ployees from one of the branches. Except for the transport drivers, however, there is no contact between the branch and main plant em- ployees, other than quarterly sales meetings which are conducted at Billings for all salesmen. We believe that the branch employees have essentially the same interests and working conditions as those in the main plant, and that the two groups properly belong in the same bargaining unit.' We shall, therefore, include all branch employees in the unit. The janitor is a part-time employee, who works about 2 or 3 hours a day after the other employees have left the plant. He works under the supervision of the plant supervisor. As the janitor is a regular part- time employee, we shall include him in the unit.6 The Employer does not employ any full-time maintenance em- ployees. The maintenance work is done by one of the cream haulers on days that he is not delivering cream to the plant. It is clear that this employee is properly included in the unit because of his work as a cream hauler. Furthermore, in the absence of a cogent reason for separating them, the Board customarily includes maintenance em- ployees in a unit with production employees.' Accordingly, we shall include this employee in the unit. There are three office clerical employees who work under the sepa- rate supervision of an office supervisor. They do all the clerical work for the four branches as well as for the main plant. Occasionally, one of these employees will assist in the plant for about an hour. We do 2 The distance between Billings and the branches are as follows : Worland , 170 miles Sheridan, 140 miles ; Powell, 90 miles, and Miles City, 150 miles a Included in the category of driver-salesmen are route salesmen , combination route salesmen, milk driver-salesmen , and transport drivers who also do selling 4 The record indicates that all branch employees work under the supervision of main plant supervisors . Except for the driver-salesmen, all nonsupervisory employees are hourly rated and work under the supervision of the plant supervisor 6Sanitary Farms Dairies, Inc, 107 NLRB 955; Holsum Bakers, hte, 102 NLRB 1495, 1496-1497 6 Pacific Moulded Products, 111 NLRB 882 ; Elizabeth R Lynett and Edacard J. Lynett d/b/a The Scranton Times , 111 NLRB 780; American National Insurance Company, 111 NLRB 340. 7 San Joaquin Compress and Warehouse Company, 95 NLRB 279, 281. STANLEY AVIATION CORPORATION 461 not believe, however, that this is sufficient to warrant departing from the Board's established policy of excluding office clerical employees from a production and maintenance unit.' We shall, therefore, ex- clude the office clerical employees from the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Em- ployer's plants at Billings and Miles City, Montana, and Worland, Sheridan, and Powell, Wyoming, including driver-salesmen and janitors, but excluding office clerical and management employees, su- pervisors,' and guards, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] AfMBER LEEDOM took no part in the consideration of the above De- cision and Direction of Election. 9 Dura Steel Products Company, 109 NLRB 179. 6 The record shows that the two distribution supervisors , the office supervisor, and an employee who is engaged primarily in adveitising and display work have authority to hire and discharge employees They are therefore excluded from the unit as supervisors. Stanley Aviation Corporation and District Lodge No. 86, Inter- national Association of Machinists, AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 30-RC-997. April 25, 1955 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the Board on December 15, 1954,1 an election by secret ballot was con- ^ducted on January 12, 1955, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, among the em- ployees of the Employer in the unit found appropriate in the De- cision. Following the election, a tally of ballots was furnished the parties. The tally shows that of approximately 96 eligible voters, 89 cast ballots, of which 19 were for the Petitioner, 40 were for the Intervenor,' 20 were against both participating labor organizations, and 10 were challenged. On January 18, 1955, the Petitioner filed objections to conduct af- fecting the results of the election. As the challenged ballots were sufficient in number to affect the results of the election, the Regional Director investigated the challenges, as well as the Petitioner's objec- tions, and, on March 2, 1955, issued and duly served on the parties 1 Not reported in printed volumes of Board Decisions and Orders. a International Union , United Automobile , Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America , UAW-CIO 112 NLRB No. 61.