🗞️ NLRB Clears Path for Simplot Drivers to Vote on Union, Rejecting Broader Bargaining Unit

The National Labor Relations Board's Region 32 office has directed a manual election for a bargaining unit limited to delivery drivers at J.R. Simplot Company's agricultural distribution facility in Helm, California, a procedural step sought by Teamsters Local 431. Regional Director Christy J. Kwon found that the roughly sixteen drivers, split between shuttle drivers who supply Simplot's own retail stores and retail drivers who deliver directly to customers within about 90 miles of the facility, form a cohesive group distinct enough to bargain on their own, without including warehouse workers, dispatchers, or office employees.

Simplot had argued that any appropriate unit needed to include all employees at the facility, pointing to shared supervision, workplace policies, and benefits across departments. Under the American Steel Construction standard the Board reinstated in 2022, however, an employer seeking to expand a petitioned-for unit must show that the excluded workers share an "overwhelming" community of interest with those the union wants to represent. Kwon concluded that Simplot did not meet that standard: drivers hold commercial licenses and hazmat endorsements that other employees lack, spend most of their working hours away from the facility, are subject to federal trucking regulations that do not apply to warehouse or clerical staff, and rarely swap jobs with coworkers in other classifications.

The decision does not resolve whether the drivers will ultimately unionize. It only sets the terms of the vote, which the Board scheduled for August 5, 2026, at the Helm facility. Simplot retains the right to seek Board review of the unit determination even after the election takes place.

Key Points

• The petitioned-for unit covers full-time and regular part-time drivers in two job classifications, Operations Support 3 and Seasonal DOT Operations Support, at Simplot's Helm, California facility.
• Teamsters Local 431 filed the representation petition on May 21, 2026; an NLRB hearing officer took testimony over videoconference in June.
• Simplot sought a wall-to-wall unit including warehouse, dispatch, and office employees, arguing shared supervision and common workplace policies.
• The Regional Director applied the overwhelming community of interest standard, which places the burden on the employer to justify enlarging a petitioned-for unit.
• Drivers were found distinct based on licensing requirements, DOT regulation, time spent away from the facility, and minimal interchange with other job classifications.
• The election is scheduled for August 5, 2026, with ballots printed in English and Spanish.
• Simplot may still file a request for Board review under Section 102.67 of the NLRB's rules, which would not automatically delay the election.

Primary Source Author: Christy J. Kwon, Regional Director, NLRB Region 32

Primary Source: Decision and Direction of Election, J.R. Simplot Company, LLC and Teamsters Local 431, Case 32-RC-387441 (July 24, 2026)

Primary Source Link: NLRB Case 32-RC-387441

Supplemental Links

• American Steel Construction, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 23 (2022) decision text
• Congressional Research Service overview of the overwhelming community of interest standard
• Perkins Coie analysis of the Board's return to the Specialty Healthcare standard
• Blue Man Vegas, LLC v. NLRB, 529 F.3d 417 (D.C. Cir. 2008)
• NLRB rules on requests for Board review, Section 102.67