Bomber Bait Co., Inc.

710 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Bomber Bait Company, Inc. and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 16-RC-6327 December 4, 1973 DECISION ON REVIEW BY MEMBERS FANNING, KENNEDY, AND PENELLO On August 24, 1973, the Regional Director for Region 16 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding, in which he directed that the Employer's homeworkers vote as a separate voting group in a self-determination election to determine whether they would be includ- ed in a bargaining unit consisting of all production and maintenance employees, including shipping and receiving department employees, or whether they would be unrepresented .1 Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations , Series 8, as amended, the Employer filed a ' timely request for review of the Regional Director's Decision, together with a sup- porting brief, asserting inter alia that in failing to include the homeworkers in the plant production and maintenance unit in accord with the positions of the parties the Regional Director made erroneous fact findings and departed from established Board precedent and that there are compelling reasons for reconsideration of an important Board rule or policy. On September 17, 1973, the National Labor Relations Board by telegraphic order granted the request for review and stayed the election pending decision on review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three -member panel. The Board has reviewed the entire record in this case and makes the following findings: The Employer is a Texas corporation engaged in the manufacture of fish lures and accessories. At the time of the hearing it employed approximately 63 plant production and maintenance employees and 14 homeworkers . Both the Employer and the Petitioner agree that the homeworkers should be included in the requested production and maintenance unit. I The Petitioner did not seek to represent the homeworkers in a separate unit. 2 The Tribune Company, 190 NLRB 398; Film & Dubbing Productions, Inc., 181 NLRB 583; Joseph R. Osherenko, 73 NLRB 670. 3 In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their addresses which may be used to communicate with them . Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236; N.L.R.B. v. Wyman-Gordon Co., 394 U.S. The record establishes that the homeworkers, like plant employees, assemble fish lures for the Employ- er, although the finishing work is performed by plant employees. The homeworkers and the plant employ- ees are paid on the same day from a single payroll, the homeworkers being required to come to the plant to pick up their paychecks. Like the plant employees, the homeworkers receive instructions and materials at the plant and must satisfy plant production standards. The homeworkers work between 20 and 40 hours a week and are paid on a piecework basis as compared to plant employees who work 40-hour week and receive hospitalization and vacation benefits. However, both the homeworkers and the plant employees receive a yearend bonus based on hours worked during the year and seniority. The Regional Director found that there was "a substantial basis upon which to base a finding of an appropriate unit in accord with the position of the parties which would include the homeworkers in the plant production and maintenance unit." Neverthe- less, he directed elections in two separate voting groups of homeworkers and plant production and maintenance employees. In view of the record evidence which establishes that the homeworkers and the plant employees share a community of interest, and in view of the agreement of the parties to include these employees in the same unit which is not contrary to Board policy,2 there is no basis for failing to include homeworkers in an overall production and maintenance unit. Accordingly, we conclude that the following unit is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All production and maintenance employees, including shipping and receiving department employees and homeworkers employed at or working out of the Employer's Gainesville, Texas, plant, excluding all office clerical employees, professional employees, technical employees, guards, watchmen and supervisors as defined in the Act. Accordingly, we shall remand the case to the Regional Director for the purpose of conducting an election pursuant to his Decision and Direction of Election, as modified herein, except that the payroll period for determining eligibility shall be that immediately preceding the date of issuance.3 759. Accordingly, it is hereby directed that a corrected election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 16 within 7 days of the date of this Decision on Review. The Regional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election . No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed. 207 NLRB No. 120