Plywood-Plastics Corp.

In the Matter of PLYwooD-PLASTICS CORPORATION , EMPLOYER and PLYWOOD AND VENEER WORKERS LOCAL UNIONS 3130 AND 3135, AF- FILIATED WITH UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER Case ,No. 10-RC-501.-Decided July 19, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Jerold B. Sindler, 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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray]. 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 Petitioners are labor organizations claiming to represent employees 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. ' At the hearing, the Employer contended that, as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina, the Employer has been named Debtor in Possession and designated to continue its operations under the direction of the Court. It argues that the provisions of the Chandler Bank- ruptcy Act enjoins the Board from taking any action with respect to the instant petition. We find no merit in this contention. N. L. R. B. v. The Baldwin Locomotive Works, 128 F. 2d 39 (C. A. 3). The Employer also contended that the petition should be dismissed allegedly because the Petitioners are guilty of racial discrimination in that Local 3130 is composed exclusively of white members , and Local 3135 is composed of Negro members. The Board will not pass on the internal organization of the petitioning unions in the absence of proof that they will not fairly represent all employees regardless of race, color, or creed. As no such proof was adduced , we reject this contention. Matter of Veneer Products, Inc., 81 N. L. R. B. 492, and cases cited therein. 85 N. L. R. B., No. 48. 265 266 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 4. The appropriate unit : The Petitioners seek to represent a unit of all production, main- tenance, and yard employees at the Employer's Hampton, South Caro- lina, plant, including plastic, resin, and glue department employees, but excluding logging employees, inspectors, professional employees, guards, and supervisors. The Employer disagrees with this proposed unit to the extent that the Employer would include logging employees and inspectors, but exclude plastics, resin and glue department employees. Logging employees: The Employer manufactures plywood and plastic products at its Hampton plant. It obtains some of the lumber for manufacturing purposes from a logging operation which it car- ries on at Cottageville, South Carolina, about 40 miles from the manu- facturing plant. The logging operation employees cut and ship tim- ber to the Hampton plant. They are separately supervised and do not interchange with plant employees. In view of the geographical sepa- ration of the logging and plant operations, the difference in the type of work performed, and the absence of any history of bargaining on a broader basis, we shall exclude the logging operation employees from the unit.2 Plastic, resin, and glue department employees: The Employer would exclude these employees solely on the ground that the Petitioner "cannot constitutionally represent" employees in the plastic industry. The Petitioners dispute this alleged infirmity. In any event the Peti- tioners are prepared to represent them .3 As they constitute an inte- gral part of the plant's operations, we shall include them in the plant- wide unit. Inspectors: The Petitioners would exclude 14 inspectors who check on quality of the manufactured products at various stages in the manu- facturing process. Thirteen of the inspectors are hourly paid and perform ordinary production work when they are not engaged in in- spection. As inspectors they may reject inferior work of production workers and recommend improvements in methods of quality control, but they have no authority to affect the status of any employee. We find that those 13 inspectors are not supervisors and shall include them in the Unit .4 The fourteenth inspector, John G. Stevens, Jr., is a salaried em- ployee, who, in addition to his work as an inspector, responsibly directs the work of five employees engaged in production work. He also 2 Matter of Georgia Fertilizer Company, 83 N. L . R. B. 180. 8 Matter of Baldwin Locomotive Works, 76 N. L. R. B. 922. 4 Matter of Veneer Products Inc., supra; Matter of General Plywood Corporation, 79 N. L. R. B. 1458. PLYWOOD-PLASTICS CORPORATION 267 attends managerial meetings. We find that he is a supervisor and shall exclude him. Supervisors: The parties agree to the exclusion of 34 named individ- uals as supervisors.-' They disagree, however, as to the alleged super- visory status of 46 other employees. The Petitioner contends that all 46 are supervisors. The record contains insufficient evidence as to the alleged supervisory duties of 27 of these employees 6 We shall there- fore make no determination of their status in this Decision. If they are supervisors within the Act's definition they will be deemed excluded from the unit; if they are not, they will be deemed included. Of the remaining 19 employees in dispute we find that the following are not supervisors within the definition of the Act : Paul Murdough, E. Z. Eckstein, and J. H: Padgett who are mainte- nance men in the boiler room. Jim Holland and John Tuten, electrician and electrician's helper, respectively, in the maintenance department. W. J. Robinson and Homer Polk, maintenance man and saw filer, respectively, in the maintenance department. Carey Youmans, a treator operator in the plastics department. Al- though he has two assistants working on his machine, his relationship to these assistants is like that of a mechanic to his helper. Homer Warren, who operates a small press in the plastics depart- ment. He also has two assistants. Joe Nixon, a set-up man and equalizing saw operator in the flush door assembly department. Lee Murray Mills, a door patcher in the flush door assembly depart- ment. Although he sometimes gives instructions to other employees performing the same type of work, actual supervision is exercised by the foreman of the department. Francis Bell and J. B. Sauls, machine operators in the veneer room department. Although each has a number of assistants helping in the operation of the machines which they run, actual supervision over these assistants is exercised by the foreman of the department. 5 These employees are : Frank Owens, Wilton De Leoch, James L. Altman, Glattice Porter, Frank Porter, R. E. Barnes, Arch Stauss, Arthur Atkenson, Leon Bradley, George Wohnhass, Warren M. Tebeau, O. J. Darling, Vernon Marr, George Guillory, Allen Anderson, Albert F. Frowning, J. O. Marr, Buck Watson, A. P. Eddy, Joe Russell, Charles DeWitt, L. H. Coleman , Claude Gooding, J. B. Marr, Ralph Lampken, Nathan Marr, Sam Polk, Joseph Bourden , Causey Mason , Elmer Folk, Ed Hanley, Phillip Terrey , and T. H. Vaughn. 6 These employees are : Albert Crosley, George H. Fennell , Claude Gooding, Woodward Gooding, Aaron Gray, James Herndon, Ernest Herndon , Ted Jacobsen , William Johnson, B. E. Moore, Frank Ogelesby, J. H. Parry, Edward E. Rentz, James R. Rivers, J. L. Russell, Lilly Sauls , Howard Shipes, John Smith, Albert Stanley, Elihugh Thomas , Norman Weaver, Sam Winstead , Bobby Joe Williams, Orla Corwin, Harold Kinard , W. E. Johnson, and Joe Robinson. 268 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We find that the following employees are supervisors within the definition of the Act : W. J. Blackwell who responsibly directs the work of approximately 10 employees in the green end department. Ray Mole, Hugh Gooding, and Theodore Mason each of whom re- sponsibly directs the work of from 10 to 12 other employees in the hol- low core department. Eck Polk and Joe Peoples, working foremen in the core department. We find that all production, maintenance, and yard employees at the Employer's Hampton, South Carolina, plant, including inspectors, and employees in the plastic, resin and glue department, but excluding logging employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 7 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 supervi- sion of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Section 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, 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 of Election, 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 rein- stated prior to the date of the election and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar- gaining, by Plywood and Veneer Makers Local Unions 3130 and 3135, affiliated with United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, A. F. L. 7 The compliance status of both petitioning labor organizations has lapsed since the hearing in this matter . In the event they fall to renew compliance with Section 9 (f) and (g ) within 2 weeks from the date of this Direction , the Regional Director is to advise the Board to that effect. No election shall be conducted unless and until compliance has been renewed.