L. Antonsanti, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 13, 1952

100 N.L.R.B. 1485 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

L. ANTONSANTI, INC.
L
1485
posed of the following employees of each of the three Employers,
C. & H. Foods, Inc., Dietrich Market and Food Lines, Inc., and
Kaiser's Market : All employees of the Employer, excluding the meat
department employees, office and clerical employees, guards, and
supervisors as defined by the Act.
- 5. There remains for consideration the part-time employees. The
Petitioners object to the inclusion in the unit of all part-time em-
ployees; the Union desires to include all those part-time employees
who work in excess of 4 hours per week. The record shows that all
part-time employees perform duties similar to those of full-time em-
ployees, and share the same supervision and working conditions. Some
part-time employees have worked for their Employer as long as a year.
All work a regular weekly schedule from 5 to 31 hours per week. A
number of the part-time employees are high school students, some of
whom are employed full time during the summer. It has been Board
policy to permit regular part-time employees who work a substantial
amount of time to cast ballots in representative elections, although they
may be high school students.3 As it appears that all part-time em-
ployees, regardless of the number of hours they work, do the same type
of work as full-time employees, are on the regular payroll of the Em-
ployer, and work at regularly assigned hours a substantial amount of
time each week, we shall include them in the bargaining unit and per-
mit them to vote in the representation election.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
s Burrows 4 Sanborn, Inc., 84 NLRB 304.
L. ,NTONSANTI, INC. and UNION INSULAR DE TRABAJADORES DE LA.
CONSTRUCCION, FEDERACION LIBRE DE LOS TRABAJADORES DE P. R.
(PUERTO Rim FREE FEDERATION OF LABOR),' PETITIONER. Case No.
24-RC-423. October 13, 195 3
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 Roy J. Cohen, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel'[Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles].
' The name of the Petitioner appears as amended in accordance with the request of the
Petitioner which was made subsequent to the hearing and was unopposed by the Employer.'
100 NLRB No. 246.
1486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Petitioner claims to represent certain employees of the
Employer.2
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 construction and maintenance
employees, including operators of light and heavy equipment, at
the Employer's Catano Transit Sheds project in Barrio Monacillos,
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.3 The Employer would limit the unit to
employees who were hired locally to work only for the duration of
the Catano project, and it contends that its regular employees, i. e.,
those who were previously employed on four other projects of the
Employer, should be excluded from the unit.
The Employer, which is engaged in the construction business in
Puerto Rico, has about 80 employees at the Catano Transit Sheds,
the only project involved herein. Although there are 25 or 30 regular
employees in this working force, they as well as the other employees
are listed together without distinction on the Employer's Catano pay-
roll. All of the employees are under the ultimate supervision of the
project superintendent, have the same hours, devote their working
day to the Catano project ,4 and are paid an hourly rate. In the event
work ceases because of rain, broken equipment, or for some other
reason, the Employer may sometimes pay regular employees, par-
ticularly operators of heavy equipment, for the time lost. While
regular employees are more likely to receive a Christmas bonus on
the basis of their greater length of service with the Employer, bonuses
have also been given to other employees who have performed "ex-
traordinary service." The Employer provides about 15 of the regular
employees whose homes are in distant areas with food and living
quarters .5
On the basis of the foregoing and the record as a whole, we find that
the employees at the Catano project have a community of interests
and substantially similar conditions of employment. Therefore, we
shall include the regular employees along with the other employees
in the unit found appropriate herein. Accordingly, we find that the
2 Union de Trabajadores de Pozos , also called Union de Trabajadores de Pozos Artesianos,
which appeared at the hearing in response to a notice from the hearing officer , made no
showing of interest and does not desire to represent any of the employees in the instant case.
s The parties agreed on certain exclusions which are set forth in the unit finding, infra.
4 However , a truck-driver attached to the Catano project spends 3 or 4 hours a week on
work connected with other projects of the Employer.
6 One other regular employee , who is also working away from home, receives a per diem
allowance.
BANDERSON AND PORTER 1487
following employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act : 8
All construction and maintenance employees at the Employer's Ca-
tano Transit Sheds project in Barrios Monacillos, Rio Piedras, Puerto
Rico, including operators of light and heavy equipment, but exclud-
ing all office and clerical employees, timekeepers, assistant timekeepers,
rodmen, engineers, professional, executive, and administrative em-
ployees, guards,' foremen,8 and all other supervisors as defined in
the Act.
5. The record discloses that the Catano project, which started in
April 1952, will continue until June 1953. At the time of the hearing,
July 14 and 16,1952, the Employer planned to take on 10 or 15 addi-
tional employees at the conclusion of the steel strike in the United
States. As the Catano project will be in operation through the middle
of 1953, and a substantial and representative working force will ap-
parently be employed during this time, we find that the employees
herein should be afforded an opportunity to select a collective bargain-
ing agent at this time.,'
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
The Employer contends that if the Petitioner represents employees in other industries,
it should not be permitted to act as bargaining agent for the construction employees herein.
We find no merit in this contention as the Board has frequently held that the willingness
of a petitioner to represent the employees in issue is controlling under the Act. Northern
Redwood Lumber Company, 88 NLRB 272 ; Iowa Packing Company , A Dirieion of Swift
and Company, 85 NLRB 1080.
4 As the record contains inadequate evidence concerning the amount of time certain
employees who work part time as watchmen spend as guards within the meaning of the
Act, we shall permit them to vote subject to challenge.
8 The record shows, and we find, that the foremen are supervisors within the meaning
of the Act.
Cf. The Girdler Corporation (Dana Project ), 96 NLRB 894.
r
FRANCIS BLOSSOM, R. L. HAMILL, D. J. WALSH, HARRISON SMITH,
HENRY W. BUTLER, W. E. HAMILTON , P. B. TAYLOR, D. S. PELLETIER,
A PARTNERSHIP D/B/A SANDERSON AND PORTER AND MONONGAHELA
POWER COMPANY ' and UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND
JOINERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 1339 , AFL, PETITIONER . Case No.
6-RC-1119. October 13,1952
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held in this case before
W. G. Stuart Sherman, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings
I The name of the first Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
100 NLRB No. 244.