United States Baking Company, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 23, 1967

165 N.L.R.B. 951 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

U.S. BAKING COMPANY
United States Baking Company , Inc.' and
International Union of District 50 , United
Mine Workers of America , Petitioner. Case
25-RC-3467.
June 23, 1967
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS FANNING
AND ZAGORIA
Upon a petition filed under Section 9(c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer William A.
Molony. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. The Petitioner filed a brief.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel.
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 labor organizations involved claim to
represent certain employees of the Employer.'
3. A question affecting commerce exists
concerning the representation of employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer is engaged at Seelyville,
Indiana, in the manufacture of cookies and crackers.
The Petitioner requests an election in a unit of
production employees in the following classifications:
depositer machine, machine operator, sealer.
wrapper and bundler, packing and miscellaneous
help, matron, and relief girls; but excluding
maintenance employees, truckdriver, office clerical,
professional employees, guards, all other
employees and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Since 1937, the Employer has had collective-
bargaining agreements with locals of Bakery and
Confectionery Workers' International Union of
America covering its production employees. Prior to
1962, the Employer's production employees were
represented by two separate Bakery Workers Local
Unions, one for male and the other for female
employees. Since 1962, the Intervenor, Bakery
Workers, Local No. 372, which admits all production
employees into membership, has represented such
employees in two separate units.
' The name of the Employer appears in the caption as corrected
at the hearing
2 Bakery Workers, Local No 372, affiliated with Bakery and
Confectionery Workers' International Union of America,
intervened on the basis of its current contract covering employees
involved herein Local 144, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
951
At the present time, the Intervenor has separate 2-
year contracts, effective until June 7, 1967, one
covering the classifications of employees in the unit
requested by the Petitioner set forth above and
referred to as production unit "one"; and the other
covering the following classifications of production
employees, referred to as production unit "two":
cracker mixer, sponge mixer, cake mixer, marsh-
mallow mixer, creme mixer, mixer helper, machine
man, relief man, cross-roller, sandwich machine
operator, oven man, case-sealer, stockman, lead
shipper, shipper, receiver, leadman, porters, enrober
machine man, enrober setup man, and motorized
stockman. Teamsters Local 144 is the contractual
bargaining representative of the Employer's
warehouse employees and truckdrivers; and Local
764, International Union of Operating Engineers, is
the contractual representative of the maintenance
employees.
All production departments of the Employer's
plant are located in one open area, and the
production process is a single, integrated, straight-
line operation. All production employees have the
same working conditions, share the same plant
facilities such as the lunchroom, and punch the
same timeclock. Production employees work in the
two receiving departments; the mixing and baking
department; the packaging, sealing, and packing
department; and the shipping department.
Production unit "two" employees perform the work
to the point where the goods flow through the dough
trough into the ovens. After the dough mixture
passes through the oven and cools, it then is
processed by employees in production unit "one"
classified as packing and miscellaneous help. From
that point in the packing and shipping processes to
the actual shipping of the product, employees in the
two production units work together, and, in some
instances, on the same job. For example, the outside
protective wrapping is applied by a machine
operated by employees in both units, and other
packaging and loading operations are done in some
instances by employees in unit "two" and in others
by employees in unit "one." There is no separate
supervision -of employees in the two production
units.
Although there is no such indication on the face of
the separate contracts covering production
employees, the undisputed evidence establishes,
and the parties admit, that the sole basis for the
separate units and the separate contracts, is that
unit "one" includes all female production
employees, and unit "two" includes all male
%sas represented at the hearing, but requested leave to withdraw
its interest in this proceeding on the ground that the warehouse
and drivers unit it represents "is not being disturbed by any of the
claims of the other parties " This request was referred by the
Hearing Officer to the Regional Director, who did not rule
thereon In the absence of any objection, the request is granted
165 No. 109
952 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
production employees. Admittedly, the only reason
why no classifications in the separate units are the
same is for the purpose of distinguishing between
male and female production employees. In fact,
when a man is hired, he is invariably placed in a
classification included in the contract covering unit
"two" employees, and every woman who is hired is
placed in a classification covered by the unit "one"
contract. In addition, separate seniority lists are
maintained, one for unit "two" male employees and
the other for unit "one" female employees.
At the hearing, the Employer, the Petitioner, and
the Intervenor agreed to the appropriateness of the
unit requested. They also agreed, however, that the
requested unit includes only a portion of the
production employees and excludes all male
employees. The Board has held that units based
solely upon sex of employees are inappropriate,3 and
since there is no other basis upon which the
requested unit can be justified, we find that the
requested unit is inappropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining. However, we find, in all the
circumstances, that a unit of all production
employees is appropriate,4 and, as the Petitioner
8 Cuneo Eastern Press, Inc., 106 NLRB 343.
4 The unit found appropriate herein is substantially larger
than the unit requested ; therefore, if Petitioner does not desire to
participate in an election in this unit , it may withdraw its petition
without prejudice to the filing of a new petition , by notifying the
Regional Director within 10 days of the issuance of the Decision
and Direction of Election.
S An 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 25 within 7 days after the
date of this Decision and Direction of Election The Regional
has demonstrated an adequate showing of interest
therein, we shall direct an election in such unit.
Accordingly, we find that the following employees
constitute an appropriate unit for purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act: All production employees at the
Employer's plant at Seelyville, Indiana, including
employees classified as depositer machine, machine
operator, sealer, wrapper and bundler, packing and
miscellaneous help, matron, relief girls,
cracker mixer, sponge mixer, cake mixer, marsh-
mallow mixer, creme mixer, mixer helper, machine
man, relief man, cross-roller, sandwich machine
operator, machine helper, oven man, case-sealer,
stockman, lead shipper, shipper, receiver, leadman,
porters, enrober machine man, enrober setup man,
and motorized stockman; but excluding maintenance
employees, truckdrivers, office clerical employees,
professional employees, guards, and supervisors as
defined in the Act.
[Direction of Election5 6 omitted from
publication.]
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. Excelsior
Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.
6If Bakery Workers, Local No 372, wins the election and is
certified, and it should later be shown, in an appropriate
proceeding , that equal representation has been denied to any
employee in the unit, the Board will consider revoking its
certification . Pioneer Bus Co., 140 NLRB 54.