L. J. Williams Lumber Co.

In the Matter of L. J. WILLIAMS, D/B/A L. J. WILLIAMS LUMBER COM- PANY AND ADA W. WILLIAMS D/B/A VARNVILLE WOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY,' EMPLOYER and PLYWOOD AND VENEER WORKERS LOCAL UNIONS Nos. 3130 AND 3135, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 10-RC-673.-Decided December 13, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Gilbert Cohen, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .2 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 labor organization involved claims to represent certain 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 : The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit consisting of all production and maintenance employees of the Williams Lumber Company, herein called Williams, and the Varnville Wood Products Company, herein called Varnville. The Employer, while agreeing to the various cate- gories to be included in the unit, contends that separate units should be established for the production and maintenance employees of the two concerns. ' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. 2 The Employer requested permission for oral argument before the Board. As the record sufficiently covers the issues involved , this request is hereby denied. 87 NLRB No. M. 610 L. J. WILLIAMS LUMBER COMPANY 611 L. J. Williams is the owner and manager of Williams, and is the general manager of Varnville, which is owned by Ada W. Williams, his wife. Williams manufactures pine lumber; Varnville manufac- tures hardwood squares, a product used by furniture manufacturers. Williams' plant consists of three buildings, and Varnville's plant con- sists of five. All are located on a single tract of land, and, together with their machinery and equipment, are owned by Ada Williams. For his use of the buildings and machinery, L. J. Williams pays his wife rent in the form of fuel, consisting of waste lumber from his plant,' for the steam boilers required by both companies. Otherwise, there are no sales or exchanges of materials between the companies. The two companies share a single office building, as well as a single heat and steam plant. They jointly employ one head bookkeeper and each pay one-half of his salary. The assistant bookkeeper is employed by Williams but spends about 10 percent of his time working for Varn- ville. The wages of the firemen who fire the boilers and those of the watchmen and saw filer are paid by the two companies in equal shares. Each company, although under the general supervision of L. J. Wil- liams, is separately directed by a superintendent who has complete charge of all the various operations of that company, including the hire and discharge of its employees. Each superintendent pays the employees under his direction with funds drawn upon a joint account carried by the two companies. The checks, of different colors for each company, are signed by the superintendent and countersigned by the head bookkeeper. Although there is no interchange of employees between the two companies, the rates of pay and other conditions of employment in the two concerns are the same. In view of the close proximity and single ownership of plants and equipment, and the common over-all management.of both businesses, together with the joint employment of some employees within the unit, we find that the employees of the two companies may appropriately be joined in a single unit for purposes of collective bargaining.' Accordingly, we find that all production, maintenance, and yard employees of Williams Lumber Company and Varnville Wood Prod- ucts Company employed in their operations at Varnville, South Caro- lina, and vicinity, including firemen, but excluding office clerical and professional employees, watchmen, guards, woods foremen,5 and all 3 L. J. Williams testified that one reason for establishing his pine lumber operation on his wife's property was to supply fuel for the hardwood plant. 'Ilome Furniture Company, 77 NLRB 1437: Salter Mills Company, 76 NLRB 930 Gurney Manufacturing Company, et at., 72 NLRB 311. See also, Illin t Coach Company, et at., 80 NLRB 273. The woods foreman is in charge of the log cutting operations and has the power to hire and discharge h1s hubordinates. 877359-50-vol. 87-40 '612 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes 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 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 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 Plywood and Veneer Workers Local Unions Nos. 3130 and 3135, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL.