The Green Lumber Co.

In the Matter of THE GREEN LUMBER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA , CIO, PETITIONER Case No.15-RC-185.-Decided April 7,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-man panel.* 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 organizations named below claim 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 appropriate unit : We find, in accordance with the stipulation of the parties, that all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Laurel, Mississippi, plant, excluding all retail-store employees, over-the-road truck drivers, watchmen, office-clerical employees, and supervisors as defined in the amended Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 5. The determination of representatives : The parties are in dispute as to the eligibility to vote of certain laid- off employees. The Employer and the Intervenor 1 contend that these *Houston, Reynolds, and Murdock. ' United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL. 82 N. L. R. B., No. 104. 886 THE GREEN LUMBER COMPANY 887 individuals were permanently severed and therefore are ineligible to vote; the Petitioner contends that they were temporarily laid off and therefore should be permitted to vote. The record indicates that on and after December 10, 1948, the Employer laid off certain of its employees in connection with its plan to curtail and reorganize its operations for economic reasons.2 At the date of the hearing the Employer employed 81 employees in the alleged appropriate unit.a The Employer estimated that its ultimate normal complement of em- ployees would be approximately 128, of whom approximately 115 would be employed in the appropriate unit. In support of its contention that the employees laid off on and after December 10, 1948, should be eligible to vote in the election, the Peti- tioner relies in part on a previous agreement incorporated into the contract of December 1947 which provided that: All employees who are on a temporary laid-off status shall be carried on the pay-roll records of the Company for thirteen (13) weeks from the date of their lay-off. After the said lay-off period of thirteen (13) weeks, employees will be dropped from the seniority list and from the pay-roll records of the Company. Under these circumstances, and particularly in view of the facts that the Employer has not completed its retrenchment and reorgan- ization program and that the current pay roll does not include the anticipated full complement of employees, it would appear that at least some of the laid-off employees may be rehired or reinstated. However, it is impossible to determine which of them have a reason- able expectation of obtaining further employment with the Employer in the near future. Therefore, we shall, at this time, make no final determination with respect to the eligibility issue raised by the parties but shall permit those employees laid off on and after December 10, 1948, to vote subject to challenge. In the event that the counting of the challenged ballots would affect the results of the election, the ques- tion as to which of them shall be opened and counted must await a further investigation concerning the employment status of the indi- vidual laid-off employees. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Green Lumber Company, 2 From December 29, 1947, to December 16, 1948, the Employer and the Petitioner were parties to a collective bargaining contract. Following a strike which took place in Sep- tember 1948, the Employer granted its employees a wage increase. Thereafter, on Novem- ber 17 , 1948, the Employer notified the employees of its intention to reduce its working force after December 10, 1948. On November 15, 1948, the alleged appropriate unit contained 270 employees. 888 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Laurel, Mississippi, an election 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 Direc- tor for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Reg- ulations-Series 5, as amended and subject to our determination in paragraph numbered 5, supra, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, 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 election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be represented, for the purposes of collective bargaining, by International Woodworkers of America, CIO, or by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join- ers of America, AFL, or by neither 4 Any participant in the election directed herein may, upon prompt request to, and approval thereof, by the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.