Southland Paper Mills, Inc.

In the Matter of SOUTHLAND PAPER MILLS, INC., EMPLOYER and LODGE 1808, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER Case Nos. 16RC--157 through 16-RC-16O.-Decided January 27,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidation thereof was ordered and a hearing held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the bearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed., Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members. * Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em- ployees of the Employer. 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 determination of representatives : The Petitioner seeks four separate units consisting of pipe fitters, carpenters, blacksmiths, and trainmen. The Employer does not con- test the appropriateness of these units. The Intervenor contends that they are inappropriate, as they are not true craft groups, and as there is an interchange of employees between these groups and the produc- I The hearing officer properly permitted the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, to intervene , on the basis of a contract between it and the Employer which expired July 1, 1948 . None of the parties assert that the current contract is a bar to this proceeding. 'Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray. 81 N. L. R. B., No. 57. 330 SOUTHLAND PAPER MILLS, INC. 331 tion and maintenance departments? It moves that the Board dismiss the petition because of the history at the Employer's plant of bargain- ing on a plant-wide basis. For the reasons hereinafter stated, the motion is denied. While the record is not entirely clear as to the details of the bar- gaining history at the Employer's plant, it appears that in 1940 the Intervenor was recognized as bargaining representative of a pro- duction and maintenance unit excluding, among other job classifica- tions, the pipe fitters. The pipe fitters were represented by another labor organization until 1943, when they became a part of the pro- duction and maintenance unit; since that time, they have been rep- resented by the Intervenor. The Intervenor also was certified as bargaining representative of a unit of switch engine engineers, switch- men and firemen, and section crew employees. The Employer and the Petitioner agree that the units here sought by the Petitioner are composed of skilled employees. The Intervenor appears to agree, except as to the blacksmith and his helper. As black- smiths have been historically recognized as a craft group,3 and as the record contains no substantial evidence to indicate that the blacksmith and his helper here in question do not exercise the customary skills of this craft, we find that they may constitute a separate appropriate unit. Under all the circumstances, we find that the units here sought by the Petitioner are craft groups which may appropriately be severed from the existing plant-wide unit, despite the history of bargaining on a plant-wide basis.4 We shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall direct that a separate election by secret ballot be held among the em- ployees in each of the following groups, including helpers and lead men,5 but excluding all supervisors as defined in the Act. In each group, if a majority of those voting select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bar- gaining unit. 2 The record discloses that this interchange takes place only when there is a vacancy for a helper in a craft group. Upon such occasions , production employees may apply for the helper's position. 8 Matter of Reynolds Metals Co , 70 N L R. B 1338. 4Matter of B. F. Goodrich Chemical Co ., 75 N. L. R. B. 1142 ( pipe fitters) ; Matter of Gulf Oil Corporation, 77 N. L. R. B . 308 (carpenters ) ; Matter of The Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Co, 71 N. L. R. B 1337 (trainmen). Board Member Gray would not direct an election for the trainmen's group , because in his opinion the trainmen do not constitute a craft on the basis of the iccord in this case. 'The record discloses that there is a lead man with the pipe fitters and one with the carpenters. These lead men spend 90 percent of their time performing physical labor. Upon the entire record in the case, we find they are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act. 332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 1. All pipe fitters. 2. All carpenters. 3. All trainmen. 4. All blacksmiths. DIRECTIONS OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the em- ployees in the voting groups described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar- gaining, by Lodge 1808, International Association of Machinists, or by International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill `Yorkers, AFL, or by neither.