West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co.

In the Matter Of WEST VIRGINIA PULP & PAPER COMPANY and PAPER WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMI'i'rEE (C. I. 0.) Case No. 5-R-17,517.-Decided April 7, 1945 Mr. James W. Towsen, of New York City, and Mr. Charles E. Boyd, Jr., of Covington, Va., for the Company. Mr. Frank Grasso, of Richmond, Va., for the C. I. O. Mr. Lawson Wimberly, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. E. W. Wright, of Covington, Va., for the I. B. E. W. Mr. Julius Kirle, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon an amended petition duly filed by Paper Workers Organizing Committee (C. I. 0.), herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a ques- tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company, Covington, Vir- ginia, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Sidney J. Barban, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Covington, Virginia, on February 13, 1945. The Company, the C. I. 0., and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 464, A. F. of L., herein called the I. B. E. W., appeared and partici- pated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear- ing on the issues. At the hearing, the I. B. E. W. moved to dismiss the petition. For reasons set forth in Section III, infra, the motion is hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: 61 N. L. R. B., No. 56. 438 WEST VIRGINIA PULP & PAPER COMPANY FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 439 West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company is engaged in the manufac- ture and distribution of pulp and paper-mill products and chemical by- products. Its principal office is at New York City and it owns and operates mills at Covington, Virginia; Mechanicville, New York; Williamsburg and Tyrone, Pennsylvania; Luke, Maryland; and Charleston, South Carolina. The Company's Covington, Virginia, plant is the only plant directly concerned in this proceeding. The Company purchases annually for its Covington plant materials valued at in excess of $6,500,000, of which approximately 50 percent is shipped to the plant from points outside the State of Virginia. The Company manufactures annually at its Covington plant products valued at in excess of $14,500,000, of which approximately 98 percent is shipped from the plant to points outside the State of Virginia. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Paper 'Workers' Organizing Committee, affiliated with the Con- gress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. Local Union No. 464 of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The C. I. 0., by letter dated October 31, 1944, advised the Company that it represented a majority of the electrical employees at the Company's Covington plant and that it had filed a petition with the Board. The Company in its reply refused to recognize the C. I. O. On November 18, 1942, the Board certified the I. B. E. W. as the bargaining representative of all hourly paid electrical employees at the Company's Covington, Virginia, plant? Allegedly as a result of the time consumed in compiling data pertaining to wages and working conditions, the I. B. E. W. did not enter into negotiations with the Company until April 12, 1943, at which time it submitted to the Company the draft of a proposed bargaining contract. The Company, although recognizing the I. B. E. W. for the purpose of handling grievances under the Board's certification, refused to enter into '45 N. L. R. B. 59. 440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD negotiations with the I. B. E. W. until its contract with the Inter- national Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers (A. F. of L.), covering the remaining production and maintenance employees, expired on August 1, 1943.2 The Company maintained such position despite the intervention of the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor until June 24, 1943, when it agreed to enter into negotiations with the I. B. E. W. Between June 24, 1943, and September 11, 1943,, the Company and the I. B. E. W. met on at least four different occa- sions but were unable to consummate a bargaining agreement. How- ever, during the latter negotiation, a draft of a proposed contract embodying provisions agreed upon and a stipulation containing dis- puted issues were drawn up and submitted to the War Labor Board. Following a panel hearing, appeal to the Regional War Labor Board, and review by the National War Labor Board, the National War Labor Board, on June 13, 1944, issued a Directive disposing of all of the disputed issues except those pertaining to grievance procedures and apprentice training concerning which further negotiations were or- dered. However, no further negotiations were entered into between the I. B. E. W. and the Company from the time of the issuance of the Directive to the filing of the petition in the instant proceeding on November 1, 1944. The I. B. E. W. contends that the petition should be dismissed on the ground that the Board's certification of the I. B. E. W., the pro- posed contract embodying the provisions agreed upon by the Company and the I. B. E. W., and the proceedings before the War Labor Board, constitute a bar to a present determination of representatives. We find no merit in these contentions. The Board has held that a newly organized or certified representa- tive is entitled to a reasonable opportunity to obtain the benefits of representation as evidenced by a collective bargaining contract, and that when delay in obtaining such a contract is caused by resort to the orderly processes of Government, the Board will not proceed with a new investigation and determination of representatives.3 In the instant case, however, the failure of the I. B. E. W. to obtain a written collective bargaining contract from the Company can in no wise be attributed to delay caused by proceedings before the War Labor Board. On the contrary, it appears from the record that the I. B. E. W.'s failure to commence negotiations prior to April 12, 1943, was due to its own lack of data pertaining to wages and working conditions and 2 This contract originally covered the production and maintenance employees of the Company's Covington , Virginia ; Luke, Maryland ; and Williamsburg, Pennsylvania , plants, including the electrical employees at the Covington, Virginia , plant In 1942, when the I. B. E. W. filed its petition in behalf of the electrical employees at the Covington , Virginia, plant, the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers, A . F. of L., relinquished jurisdiction of the electrical employees to the I. B E. W. -8 See Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, 50 N. L: R. B 306. WEST VIRGINIA PULP AND PAPER COMPANY 441 that its failur, to consummate a written contract subsequent to the Directive of the National War Labor Board was due to its inability to arrange a conference with the Company for the purposes of further negotiation. Inasmuch as in the latter situation the I. B. E. W. did not file a charge alleging that the Company refused to bargain within the meaning of Section 8 (5) of the Act, such inability on the part of the I. B. E. W. to arrange for negotiations cannot be here considered as a valid explanation of its failure to consummate a contract with the Company 4 In view of the above circumstances, we find that the prior certifica- tion and the proceedings before the War Labor Board do not constitute a bar to a present determination of representatives. Nor does the proposed contract taken in conjunction with the stipulation and Direc- tive of the National War Labor Board constitute a bar to the instant proceeding, inasmuch as such contract was never signed .5 A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the C. I. 0. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate." We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT We find, substantially in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all hourly paid electrical employees of the Company at its Covington, Virginia, plant, excluding supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of 'employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. 4 See Matter of Jackson Box Company , 59 N L . R B. 808. 5 See Matter of Escor, Inc , 46 N. L. R. B. 1035. 9 The Field Examiner reported that the C. I. 0 submitted 27 cards ; that the names of 25 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll of November 16, 1944, which contained the names of 44 employees in the claimed appropriate unit ; and that 25 of the cards were dated from September 29, 1944, to November 2, 1944, and 1 was undated. 442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company, Covington, Virginia,, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction. including employees who did not work during the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, 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, to determine whether they desire to be represented by C. I. 0., or by Local Union No. 464, I. B. E. W. for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. 4 The C I. O. and the I B. E. W. requested that they be designated on the ballot as set forth above The request is hereby granted