Southern Paperboard Corp.

In the Matter.-of SOUTHERN PAPERBOARD CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTIERHOOD OF PAPERMAKERS, AFL; .INTERNA- TIONAI; BROTHERHOOD OF PULP, SULPHITE AND PAPER MILL WORKERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA; INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL; INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION '.OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE No. 96, PETITIONER Case No. 10-RC-256 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND AMENDED - DESCRIPTION OF UNIT June 29,1949 On-December. 23, 1948, the, Board issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the, above-entitled proceeding'': . Thereafter, on January 13, 1949, the Employer filed a motion requesting the Board to; amend and clarify its Decision and Direction of Election by determining the status of woodyard crew leaders, woodroom operators, recovery oper- ators, the head,oiler, the power house maintenance leadman,-and "sliip- ping clerks, all of whom the Employer contended are supervisors. The Board denied the. Employer's motion without prejudice to the Em- ployer.'s right to,challenge the ballots of the individuals in these cate- gories at the election. The election was held- on January 19 and .20, 1949. The Employer challenged the ballots of the individuals in these categories, but, as the challenged ballots could not affect the results of the election, the Board declined to,rule on the challenges. Thereafter, the Employer filed a motion requesting the Board to reconsider its earlier motion of January 13, 1949, and to determine the supervisory status of these individuals for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are or are not included in the bargaining unit found appropriate in the Board's Decision and Direction of Election. On March 9,1949, the Board granted the Employer's motion. As there was not suffi- cient evidence in the record upon which such a determination could be made, the Board ordered that the record be reopened and that the case be remanded to the Tenth Region for further hearing. 84 N. L. R. B., No. 91. 822 SOTTTHERN PAPERBOARD 'CORPORATION.' 823, In accordance with the Board's order, a further hearing was held•'on April 5, 1949, before M. A. Prowell, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error, and are hereby affirmed.' - After due consideration and upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following findings concerning the supervisory status of employees in question : A. Woodyard Crew Leaders.-There are 3 woodyard crew leaders, one being assigned to each shift. Normally, they perform no manual labor. Each crew leader has under him about 20 laborers who unload pulp -wood from railroad cars or trucks into conveyors or pile it -for storage. The crew leaders themselves are under the supervision of the woodyard and-woodroom foreman on each-shift. The crew leaders can take'no independent disciplinary action. Employees under them who for any reason should be reprimanded, are reported to the wood- yard and woodroom-foreman who makes an independent investigation and imposes the necessary 'disciplinary measures. If a laborer does not report to work, the crew leader reports that fact to the woodyard and woodroom foreman who secures a replacement. The crew leaders receive $1.13 an hour, which is 8 cents more than the laborers in their crews are paid. - ' - - . ^ I . B. Woodroom Operators.-There are three woodroom operators. Each woodroom operator works a different shift and has approxi-, mately six employees under him 2 As in the case of the woodyard crew leaders, the woodroom operators report to the woodyard and woodroom foreman. While the woodroom operators occasionally per- form manual labor, the major portion of their time is spent in seeing that the flow of wood on the conveyors is uninterrupted as it passes from the barking drum through to the chippers. They receive $1.47 an hour, which is 9 cents more than the highest paid employee under them. ' C. Recovery' Operators.-There are 4 ,recovery operators, one on each shift, who are in charge of the recovery process.and work under the general supervision of the shift foremen of the powerhouse. Each recovery operator has approximately 10 employees under him. He spends the major portion of his time watching gauges and adjusting valves which control the flow. of various substances in, and out of the evaporators and-the recovery furnace., He performs little manual labor except in emergencies.. There is an 11 cent differential between ' In view of our findings 'which follow, it is unnecessary for us to rule on the Joint Petitioners' motion, made at the hearing , to dismiss the reopened hearing, because the- employees involved 'are specifically included in their contract with the Employer 2 They are the knife grinder, the chipper feeder, chipper leader helpers, and clean -up men.' 824 DECISIONS"fOF NATIONAL: LABOR RELATIONS ,BOARD the recovery operator's hourly wage rate ;and the wage rate of the highest paid employee under him., . - D. Head Oiler.-There.is one head oiler, who is assigned to the day. shift and has eight oilers under him. The head oiler is supervised by the maintenance foreman, who instructs him as to the type of lubri- cant to be used in the various machines. The head oiler is engaged in performing manual labor as well as directing the oilers in the execu- tion of a constant maintenance program. The head oiler receives $1.80 an hour, whereas an oiler, after 12 months of employment, receives $1.38 an hour., E. Power House Maintenance Lead man.-There is one power house maintenance leadman, who is engaged in performing minor repair and maintenance tasks under the supervision of the maintenance foreman. There are no employees regularly assigned to work under his super- vision. If he needs assistance, he informs the maintenance foreman, who assigns other employees to help him. He receives $1.90 an hour. F. Shipping Clerks.-There are four shipping clerks who, together with car loaders, car cleaners, roll handlers, electric truck operators, and other similar employees, work under the supervision of the ship- ping foreman. The shipping foreman is present only during the day shift, but leaves instructions that are carried out by the shipping clerks on the other two shifts. In the absence of the shipping foreman, the shipping clerks are under the supervision of the paper mill shift fore- man, to whom they report any refusal to work or breach of discipline during their shift. The shipping clerks receive $1.58 an hour. None of the employees in the above categories, participates in the meetings which the Employer regularly holds for its supervisors. In general, the Employer pays its supervisors on a salary basis, whereas all these employees'are hourly paid. They also do not enjoy the special benefits which accrue to supervisors, such as additional vacation and sick leave benefits, or continuous pay during lay-offs. Furthermore, the record indicates that the authority "and. responsibility giyeh,these employees is comparable to that given other employees, such as the digester cooks and machine tenders, whom the parties have agreed to include in the unit. We do not, believe that these employees -exercise such a degree of independent judgment or discretion in the perform- ance' of. their duties as would warrant a finding that they are super- visors within the meaning of Section 2 (11) of the Act. The record indicates that they have, some authority to direct other employees in the performance of work and to assign them jobs. However, such authority appears to be routine in nature and is carried out under the guidance of a superior. Nor does it appear that the employees involved SOUTHERN PAPERBOARD CORPORATION 825 can effectively recommend a change in the status or the disciplining of employees under them. Under all the circumstances, we find that the woodyard crew leaders, woodroom operators, recovery operators, the head-oiler, the `powerhouse maintenance leadlnan, and the shipping clerks are not supervisors within the meaning of Section 2 (11) of the Act. We shall include them in the unit found appropriate in our original Decision and. Direction of Election, and shall order that the unit description be amended accordingly. AMENDED DESCRIPTION OF UNIT IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the unit description be, and it hereby is, amended to read as follows : All production and maintenance employees of the Southern Paperboard Corporation at its Port Wentworth plant, including woodyard crew leaders, woodroom operators, recovery, operators, the head oiler, the power house maintenance man, and shipping clerks, but excluding clerical employees,3 professional employees,* landscape laborers, temporary woodhandlers, executives, watch- men, guards, superintendents and foremen,6 and all other super- visors; constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. MEMBERS HOUSTON and MURDOCK took no part in the consideration of the above Supplemental Decision and Amended Description of Unit. 8 Excluded as clericals are the steam clerk, clerk -typist under the instrument and general labor foremen , chief chemist's clerk, storekeeper and storekeeper 's clerk. _ * The parties agree to exclude the draftsman as a professional employee. 5Excluded in these latter categories are the superintendents and 'assistant superin- tendents in the paper and pulp mill and the power and maintenance departments , the shift foremen, the shipping foreman, the landscape foreman , the woodyard and woodroom foreman, the head scaler, the maintenance foreman in the maintenance department, the pipe fitter and machine shop foremen , the chief electrician , the instrument and general labor foremen , and the chief chemist and the shift chemists. -