Klapp's Packinghouse Market

KLAPP'S PACKINGHOUSE MARKET Klapp's Packinghouse Market and Retail Clerks Union, Local 1428, Retail Clerks International As- sociation, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 31-RC-3485 October 13, 1976 DECISION ON REVIEW By MEMBERS JENKINS, PENELLO, AND WALTHER On June 16, 1976, the Regional Director for Re- gion 31 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding in which he expand- ed the grocery unit sought by the Petitioner to in- clude 13 or 14 service counter employees. Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended; the Petitioner filed a request for re- view of the Regional Director's decision on the grounds that by including the service counter em- ployees in its requested grocery unit, he departed from established precedent. On July 14, 1976, by telegraphic order, the request for review was granted and the election stayed pend- ing decision on review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has considered the entire record in this case with respect to the issues under review, and makes the following findings: The Employer is engaged in the operation of a slaughterhouse and in the retail sale of meats and grocery products at its Ontario, California, location. Its meat sales amount to approximately 50 percent of the total sales, a much greater percentage than is found at most grocery stores. The slaughterhouse employees kill, skin, section, and gut the animals on a killing floor at the back of the building. The meat is then inspected and chilled in a holding bin adjacent to the killing floor. When the carcasses are sufficient- ly chilled, the four meatcutters cut, bone, and grind the meat in the meat cooler. One of the meatcutters periodically brings meat on trays from the cooler through the door to the meat and delicatessen (deli) counter where it is left unwrapped in bins inaccessi- ble to customers. Customers give their meat orders to a service counter employee who takes the meat from the bins, and weighs, wraps, and prices it for the cus- tomer. If the desired cut is not in the bins or if a special cut or a side of meat is ordered, the service employee opens the door to the meat cooler and re- quests the item from the meatcutters. After the meat products are received at the counter, they are taken 363 by the customer to the front of the store along with other purchases to the checkout stand. On occasion, customers may come into contact with the meatcut- ter, especially when, in purchasing a side of-meat, a customer may wish to select a carcass from the stor- age area. Of the approximately 13 or 14 service counter employees, 5 spend about half their time slic- ing lunch meats and cheeses, and preparing cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, etc., for sale at the deli counter. The other eight or nine service counter employees spend 95 percent of their time ser- vicing customers at the meat counter and the rest in slicing and preparing deli items. The store manager, and in his absence the owner, exercises close control over all aspects of operating the grocery store and exercises supervisory authority over all departments. Service counter employees and grocery employees are hired off the street by the store manager for whatever positions are vacant. All employees receive the same fringe benefits and work approximately 48 hours a week, although their hours are staggered to ensure that the store is covered at all times while open. The meatcutters at various times help out with the slaughterhouse operations but do not perform deli or meat counter functions as such. No service counter employees have been transferred or promoted to the slaughterhouse or to the meatcut- ting operations. Grocery employees go into the meat cooler hourly to check the stock of milk for the dairy case and five of them spend approximately 3 hours twice a week stocking frozen foods from the meat cooler. The service counter employees replenish the deli counter from the storage area located next to the stored milk. The meatcutters, on the other hand, are constantly bringing out meat to the service counter, especially ground beef which is brought out fresh ev- ery hour. The Regional Director, acknowledging record evi- dence of the area and industry practice of excluding meat department employees from units of grocery employees, viewed the functions of service counter employees to be more closely related to those per- formed by grocery and produce employees than meatcutters. Noting also the regular close contact be- tween the disputed employees and the requested em- ployees and their shared wage rates, benefits, hours, and working conditions, he found that the service counter employees are not meat department employ- ees and have a sufficient community of interest to warrant their inclusion in a unit of grocery employ- ees. Petitioner asserts that Board policy as set forth in Mock Road Super Duper, Inc., 156 NLRB 983 (1966), permits the establishment of separate units of gro- cery employees apart from meat department employ- 226 NLRB No. 60 364 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ees where it is justified by community of interest con- siderations and that the facts support such a unit finding herein. It contends that the service counter employees here are not the typical delicatessen em- ployees whom the Board included in a grocery unit in R-N Market, Inc., 190 NLRB 292 (1971). It as- serts, rather, that the Employer's primary product is meat and the work performed by service counter em- ployees is similar in many respects to that done by employees in atypical meat department; further, that the service counter employees work closely with the meatcutters; there is little, if any, functional integra- tion of their work with that of the grocery employees, and they are physically separated by a long service counter from the grocery and produce sections of the store. The Petitioner also notes the area and industry pattern of excluding meat department employees from units of grocery employees, and urges that no substantial changes have occurred since the Regional Director's earlier decision in Case 31-RC-1143 in which he excluded the service counter employees from a requested grocery unit.' For these reasons, the Petitioner urges that a grocery unit, excluding the service counter employees, is appropriate in this case. i In the earlier case, it was shown that meatcutters on occasion performed some of the functions of service counter employees We find merit in the Petitioner' s contentions. While it is true that the Employer's operations are somewhat different from those found in the- normal grocery store, the differences are not so great as to warrant a finding that the service counter employees share a closer community of interest with the grocery and produce employees than with the meatcutters. Contrary to the Regional Director, we find that the service counter employees, being principally engaged in handling and selling meats and working in close conjunction with meatcutters, are functionally meat department employees; therefore, on the facts of this case, we conclude that a unit limited to grocery and produce employees, as sought by the Petitioner, is appropriate herem.2 Accordingly, we hereby remand the case to the Re- gional 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 ending immediately before the issuance of this Decision on Review. [Excelsior footnote omitted from publica- tion.] 2 The unit, as amended herein, is described as follows All regular full- time and part-time grocery clerks, clerks' helpers , produce employees, and cashiers, excluding all slaughterhouse employees, meatcutters, service counter employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act