Klapp's Packinghouse Market

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 13, 1976

226 N.L.R.B. 363 (N.L.R.B. 1976)

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