International Paper Co.

In the Matter Of INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, SOUTHERN KRAFT DIVISION, EMPLOYER and UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, LOCAL 706, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 15-RC-254.-Decided November 16,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Robert B. Stark, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear- ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .1L 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 Houston 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 labor organization involved claims to represent certain 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 2 4. The Petitioner, United Association of Journeymen and Appren- tices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local 706, herein called the Plumbers, contends that pipe fitters and their helpers at the Employer's paper plant constitute a separate appropriate unit and seeks to sever these employees from the existing bargaining unit of maintenance employees presently repre- 1Contrary to the contention of International Brotherhood of Paper Makers Local 380, AFL, herein called the Paper Makers, an Intervenor herein, we find no evidence of bias on the part of the bearing officer in this proceeding. 2 The Paper Makers contends that the petition should be dismissed or, in the alternative, that the case be remanded for further hearing. For reasons set forth in paragraph 4 below, the motion to dismiss is denied. Full opportunity was afforded all parties in the hearing to introduce evidence bearing on the issue . The motion to remand the case for further hearing is therefore denied. 8T NLRB No. 13. 49 50 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD rented by the Paper Makers. The Paper Makers contends ( 1) that the Employer 's pipe fitters are not sufficiently skilled to constitute a true craft group ; and (2 ) that the work of the pipe fitters is too closely integrated with the production work to warrant their severance .from the more comprehensive unit at this time. The, Employer has 11 pipe fitters, of . which 3, one for each shift, serve as "operating pipe fitters " or "trouble. shooters," making .minor and temporary repairs, and 8 serve as "maintenance" pipe fitters, re- sponsible for the more permanent pipe maintenance and repairs. All the pipe fitters have substantially the same skills and qualifica- tions and all are under the direct supervision of the pipe fitter fore- man, working in and out of the- pipe fitter shop. Because approxi- mately 95 percent . of the Employer's production involves the use of pipe, pipe fitters necessarily work throughout the plant where their skill is required. The work of the pipe, fitters includes cutting, threading, and fitting pipe; cleaning pipe which carry chemical solutions ; fitting pipe on offsets and angles; installing valves of various types; reading blue- prints; installing and replacing pipe of various size and type on tanks. vats, boilers, gauges, and instruments ; and corking and pouring lead joints. All incidental welding work on pipes is performed by welders and helpers who are regularly assigned to work with pipe fitters. Al- though there is some disagreement among the parties as to the degree of the various skills required of the pipe fitters in the performance of their work for the Employer, all parties, including the Paper Makers, agree that the Employer's pipe fitters are skilled workmen. The Employer has adopted no formal apprenticeship program for pipe fitters , but an extended on-the-job training for pipe fitter help- ers has been developed at the plant . Three or four years' service as a pipe fitter helper is considered an adequate training period for the pipe fitter's rating. This period is comparable to a formal ap- prentice period. The current bargaining agreement provides for six steps of progression stretching over a period of 30 months in the pay scale for pipe fitter helper. Only those helpers that have at- tanned the top rating are, in the event of a vacancy, considered eligible for promotion to the rank of pipe fitter. In an earlier representation proceeding involving the same par- ties,3 the Board rejected a request of the Plumbers for a pipe fitters' unit at the Employer 's plant, finding in the record of that case no evidence "as to the precise nature of the work performed by the pipe fitters, as to the degree of skill . required of them, or as to whether or not they serve a formal apprenticeship." That finding is inap- 8 79 NLRB 747. INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 51 plicable in this proceeding because such evidence is now in the record before us. Although the Employer's paper mill operations are necessarily in- tegrated, and the Employer's pipe fitters must work to a considerable extent in production areas, the Employer's operations are not unlike those involved in other paper mill cases where we have directed sepa- rate elections for employees in craft or traditional bargaining groups.4 The Employer's pipe fitters are skilled employees, with a long training period designed to qualify. them for their traditional craft work. Therefore, notwithstanding a past history of collective bargaining on a more comprehensive basis, we find that the Employer's pipe fit- ters and helpers clearly constitute an identifiable, traditional craft group who may, if they desire, constitute a separate unit appropriate for bargaining purposes .5 Because two welders are permanently as- signed to work with the pipe fitters, and the International Associa- tion of Machinists, Lodge No. 1365, also an Intervenor herein, which represents welders in a larger bargaining unit, does not oppose the inclusion of these particular welders in the unit proposed by the Petitioner, we shall include, in the voting group welders who are regularly assigned to work with the pipe fitters and pipe fitter helpers. We shall, therefore, direct an election among pipe fitters and pipe fitter helpers working at the Employer's paper mill plant, including welders who are regularly assigned to work with pipe fitters, but excluding supervisors. We will make no final unit determination at this time, but shall first ascertain the desire of these employees ex- pressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit. DIRECTION OF ELECTION 6 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered'4, above, who were em- 4 Smith Paper, Inc., 76 NLRB 122; Worthy Paper Company, Ass'n., 80 NLRB 19. 6 Southland Paper Mills, Inc., 81 NLRB 330. 6 As the Paper Makers ' Local 380 has not complied with the filing requirements of the Act, its name is omitted from the ballot. In the event it effects compliance within 2 weeks from the (late of this Direction, the Regional Director is hereby instructed to accord it a place on the ballot. 877359-50-vol. 87-5 52 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election , including employees who did not work dur- ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem- porarily 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 or not they desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargaining, by United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumb- ing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local 706, AFL.