Padre Vineyard Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 14, 1939

11 N.L.R.B. 1121 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of PADRE VINEYARD COMPANY and WINERY WORKERS
UNION, LOCAL No. 21286 (A. F. OF L.)
Cases Nos. C-824 and R-763.-Decided March 14, 1939
Liquor Industry-Settlennent : stipulation providing for compliance with the
Act, including disestablishment of labor organization as representative of em-
ployees, abrogating contract , and reinstatement with back pay-Order : entered
on stipulation.
Mr. David Sokol, for the Board.
Mr. Walter T. Casey, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the respondent.
Miss Carol Agger, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon charges and amended charges duly filed by Winery Workers
Union, Local No. 21286 (A. F. of L.), herein called the Union, the
National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, by Towne
Nylander, Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region (Los An-
geles, California), issued its complaint dated January 7, 1938, against
Padre Vineyard Company, Cucamonga, California, herein called the
respondent, alleging that the respondent had committed unfair labor
practices affecting commerce, within the meaning of Section 8 (1),
(2), (3), and (5) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act.,' The complaint
and accompanying notice of hearing were duly served upon the re-
spondent and Independent Winery Employees Union, Inc., herein
called the Independent.
The complaint, as amended, alleged in substance that the respond-
ent had refused and continued to refuse to bargain collectively with
the Union as the representative of a majority of its employees in an
appropriate unit; that the respondent discharged, demoted, and sub-
'The Union also filed a petition for investigation and certification of representatives.
On October 8, 1938, the Union requested permission to withdraw the petition and on
October 11, 1938, the Board granted the Union's request and closed Case No. R-763.
11 N. L. R. B. No. 100.
1121
1122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sequent to a strike refused to reinstate certain of its employees for
the reason that they joined and assisted the Union; that the respond-
ent dominated and interfered with the formation and administration
of the Independent, a labor organization of its employees; and that by
such acts and other acts it had interfered with, restrained, and co-
erced its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section
7 of the Act.
On January 27, 1938, the respondent filed an answer to the amended
complaint, in which it denied that its participation in interstate com-
merce was sufficiently large to burden or obstruct commerce or that
it had engaged in the unfair labor practices alleged in the com-
plaint. The respondent affirmatively alleged that it had conferred
with representatives of the Union although the Union had not pre-
sented proof that it represented a majority of the employees in the
alleged appropriate unit and that it discharged and failed to rein-
state the employees named in the amended complaint for reasons other
than their membership in and activity on behalf of the Union.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held in Los Angeles, California,
on January 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 31, and February 1, 1938, before
Walter Wilbur, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board.
The Board and the respondent were represented by counsel and par-
ticipated in the hearing. The Independent was not represented.
Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine wit-
nesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues was afforded
all parties.
On July 27, 1938, the Trial Examiner filed his Intermediate Report,
finding that the respondent had dominated and interfered with the
formation and administration of the Independent and had demoted
and discharged Primo Scorsatto because he had joined and assisted
the Union. He further found that the other employees named in
the complaint as having been discriminatorily discharged or denied
reinstatement were not discharged for the reasons alleged in the com-
plaint, and that the respondent had not refused to bargain collec-
tively with the Union. The Trial Examiner recommended that the
respondent cease and desist from engaging in the unfair labor prac-
tices, that it withdraw all recognition from the Independent as a
representative of its employees for the purpose of collective bargain-
ing, that it offer Primo Scorsatto immediate reinstatement at a rate
of pay equal to that which he received before his demotion, and that
it make him whole for any loss of pay he had suffered by reason of his
discriminatory demotion and discharge.
On August 17, 1938, the Union filed exceptions to the Intermediate
Report. On September 9, 1938, pursuant to a stipulation between the
Union and the respondent, the exceptions were withdrawn.
PADRE VINEYARD COMPANY ET AL. 1123
On September 16, 1938, counsel for the Board, counsel for the
respondent, and the Union's business representative entered into the
following stipulation :
STIPULATION
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between PADRE VINEYARD COM-
PANY, respondent herein, WINERY WORKERS UNION LOCAL No.
21286 (A. F. of L.), and the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD,
that the National Labor Relations Board may, upon the record
and Intermediate Report herein, forthwith enter an order as
follows :
1. That Respondent is engaged in the manufacture and sale
of wine and related products. It owns and operates a winery at
Cucamonga, California. It also conducts an office, salesroom
and warehouse at Los Angeles, California.
2. That the raw material used in the process of manufacture
consists exclusively of grapes grown in the vicinity of the winery
and produced exclusively in the State of California. Incidental
supplies, such as containers, corks, chemicals, etc., are produced
or purchased almost exclusively within the State. Figures fur-
nished by the Respondent indicate that between April; 1, 1936,
and December 31, 1937, the total cost of all materials used
amounted to $1,128,219.84, of which amount all but $2,776.76 was
expended for purchases within the State. During the same pe-
riod, the Respondent shipped outside the State 19% of its
Champagne products, 60.18% of its wines, and 74.81% of its
brandy. In the aggregate, 1,411,628.63 gallons of champagne,
wines and brandy, amounting to 60.75% of its total product, con-
stituted shipments without the State of California. The re-
spondent is the second largest winery in output in Southern
California. It employs one salesman working outside the State
of California, an, agent in Baltimore, Maryland, and an agent
in Denver, Colorado. It maintains a storage place in Chicago.
3. That the activities of the Respondent as set forth above
occurring in connection with the operations of the Respondent
have a close, intimate and substantial relation to trade, traffic,
commerce and transportation among the several states and tend
to lead and have led to labor disputes burdening and obstructing
commerce and the free flow of commerce.
4. That Respondent cease and desist from interfering with,
restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of the right
to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations,
to bargain collectively through representatives of their own
1124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of
collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.
5. That Respondent cease and desist from discouraging mem-
bership in any labor organization of its employees by discrimina-
tion in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or
condition of employment.
6. That respondent cease and desist from dominating or inter-
fering with the formation or administration of the Independent
Winery Employees Union, Inc., or any other labor organization,
and from contributing financial or other support to said Inde-
pendent Winery Employees Union, Inc., or any other labor
organization.
7. That in order to effectuate the policies of the Act, Respond-
ent take the following affirmative action :
(a) Withdraw all recognition from the Independent Winery
Employees Union, Inc. as a representative of its employees for
the purpose of dealing with the Respondent concerning griev-
ances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment,
or conditions of work, and completely disestablish said union as
such representative;
(b) Offer to Primo F. Scorsatto immediate restoration to em-
ployment at a rate of pay equal to that which he was enjoying
at the time of his demotion, without prejudice to his seniority
status and other rights and privileges;
(c) Make whole to Primo, F. Scorsatto for any loss of pay he
may have suffered by reason of the Respondent's discrimination
as to hire and tenure of employment by payment to him of a sum
of money equal to that which he would normally have earned as
wages from the date of his demotion to the date of the Respond-
ent's offer of reinstatement, less the amount he has earned dur-
ing said period;
(d) Post immediately and continuously for sixty (60) days
notices, in conspicuous places in its plant at Cucamonga, Cal-
ifornia, stating that the Respondent will cease and desist as
hereinabove set forth, and that the agreement signed with the
Independent Winery Employees Union, Inc., is void and of no
effect.
8. Respondent does hereby expressly consent to the entry by
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States of an
enforcement order embodying the terms of the Board Order
herein referred to and the terms herein expressly set forth; and
Respondent does hereby waive further notice of the application
for said enforcement order before said Circuit Court of Appeals.
This Stipulation is subject to the approval of the National
Labor Relations Board.
PADRE VINEYARD COMPANY ET AL . 1125
On February 28, 1939, the Board approved said stipulation and
granted the petition of the Union for permission to withdraw its
Exceptions to the Intermediate Report of the Trial Examiner.
Upon the stipulation and the entire record in the case, the Board
makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FAcYr
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
The respondent, Padre Vineyard Company, is a California cor-
poration engaged in the manufacture and sale of wines, brandy,
and vermouth. It owns and operates a winery at Cucamonga, Cali-
fornia, and an office, salesroom, and warehouse at Los Angeles,
California. Only the winery is here involved. In addition it owns
certain agricultural properties in California with which we are not
here concerned. The respondent maintains a storage place in Chi-
cago and employs agents in several large cities outside the State
of California. The respondent is the second largest winery in out-
put in Southern California.
California grapes constitute the principal raw material used by
the respondent. A very small percentage of the other materials
used by the respondent are procured from outside the State.
During the period from April 1, 1936, to December 1, 1937, the
respondent shipped 1,411,628.63 gallons of its products to points
outside the State. This amount represented 60.75 per cent of its
total product, divided as follows : 19 per cent of its champagne, 60.18
per cent of its wines, and 74.81 per cent of its brandy.
We find that the operations of the respondent at its Cucamonga
Winery, Cucamonga, California, constitute trade, traffic, and com-
merce among the several States.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Winery Workers Union, Local No. 21286, is a labor organization,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to
membership all employees of the respondent's winery except super-
visory and office employees, salesmen , and chemists.
Independent Winery Employees Union, Inc., is a labor organization
unaffiliated with any other labor organization. It admits to mem-
bership employees of the respondent. The record does not disclose
the precise limits of its jurisdiction.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and stipulation, and
pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the respond-
164275-39-vol. xi--72
1126 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ent, Padre Vineyard Company, Cucamonga , California , and its offi-
cers , agents, successors , and assigns , shall :
1. Cease and desist :
(a) From interfering with , restraining, or coercing its employees
in the exercise of the right to self -organization , to form , join, or
assist labor organizations , to bargain collectively through represen-
tatives of their own choosing , and to engage in concerted activities
for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or pro-
tection ;
(b) From discouraging membership in any labor organization of
its employees by discriminating in regard to hire or tenure of em-
ployment or any term or condition of employment;
(c) From dominating or interfering with the formation or ad-
ministration of the Independent Winery Employees Union , Inc., or
any other labor organization , and from contributing financial or
other support to said Independent Winery Employees Union, Inc.,
or any other labor organization.
2. That in order to effectuate the policies of the Act, the respond-
ent take the following affirmative actibn :
(a) Withdraw all recognition from the Independent Winery Em-
ployees Union, Inc., as a representative of its employees for the
purpose of dealing with the respondent concerning grievances, labor
disputes , wages, rates of pay, hours of employment , or conditions of
work, and completely disestablish said union as such representative;
(b) Offer to Primo F. Scorsatto immediate restoration to employ-
ment at a rate of pay equal td that which he was enjoying at the
time of his demotion, without prejudice to his seniority status and
other rights and privileges;
(c) Make whole to Primo F . Scorsatto for any loss of pay he may
have suffered by reason of the respondent 's discrimination as to hire
and tenure of employment by payment to him of a sum of money
equal to that which he would normally have earned as wages from
the date of his demotion to the date of the respondent 's offer of
reinstatement , less the amount he has earned during said period;
(d) Post immediately and continuously for sixty ( 60) days notices,
in conspicuous places in its plant at Cucamonga , California , stating
that the respondent will cease and desist as hereinabove set forth,
and that the agreement signed with the Independent Winery
Employees Union , Inc., is void and of no effect.
MR. DONALD WAKEFIELD SMITH took no part in the consideration
of the above Decision and Order.