Kimberly Clark Corp.

In the Matter of ATLAS WALL PAPER DIVISION OF THE KIMBERLY CLARK CORPORATION and LOCAL 298, INTERNATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANTS' UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. OF L. Case No. 13-R-3061.-Decided April 16, 1946 Messrs. S. N. Moe and M. H. Kettenho fen, both of Neenah, Wis., for the Company. Mr. Joseph B. Roche, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Clement B. Newcomb, of Neenah, Wis., for the Pressmen. Mr. Jerome Zapp, of Appleton, Wis., for the Independent. Mr. Jerome J. Dick, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Local 298, international Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, A. F. of L., herein called the Pressmen, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Atlas Wall Paper Division of the Kimberly Clark Corporation, Appleton, Wis- consin, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Leon A. Rosell, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Appleton, Wisconsin, on January 24, 1946. At the hearing the Trial Examiner granted a motion of The Wallpaper Workers Union of the Fox River Valley, herein called the Independent, to intervene in the proceeding. The Company, the Pressmen, and the Independent appeared and par- ticipated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. At the hearing the Company moved to dismiss the petition on various grounds. For reasons hereinafter stated, the motion to dismiss is denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. 137 N. L. R. B., No. 48. 347 348 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Kimberly Clark Corporation is a Delaware corporation which maintains plants in the States of Wisconsin and New York, where it is engaged in the manufacture of pulp and paper products. This proceeding is solely concerned with the Atlas Wall Paper Division of the Kimberly Clark Corporation, which consists of a plant and a warehouse in Appleton, Wisconsin, where wall paper is manufactured. During the year 1945, the Atlas Wall Paper Division purchased raw materials exceeding $500,000 in value, 40 percent of which was shipped from points outside the State of Wisconsin. During the same period, the sales of finished products of the Atlas Wall Paper Division were approximately $1,000,000 in value, all of which were shipped to points outside the State of Wisconsin. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Local 298, International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. The Wallpaper Workers Union of the Fox River Valley is an un- affiliated labor organization, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Pressmen, a few days prior to the filing of its petition on May 2, 1945, requested that the Company recognize it as the exclusive bar- gaining representative of employees within an alleged appropriate bargaining unit. The Company replied that it could not accord the Pressmen the recognition sought because it had a contract with the Independent which expired September 30, 1945, and that it was also in the process of negotiating with the Independent for a new contract. Subsequently, on September 29, 1945, the Company and the Inde- pendent entered into a new contract, and the Company now urges that this contract constitutes a bar to the proceeding. Since the Company had notice of the Pressmen's claim to represen- tation and request for recognition prior to the date on which the con- tract of September 29, 1945, was executed, we find that this contract KIMBERLY CLARK CORPORATION 349 cannot operate as a bar to an immediate determination of represen- tatives.1 A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the Pressmen 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 The Pressmen seeks a unit consisting of all the employees in the printing department 3 and embossing department 4 of the Company's Atlas Wall Paper Division, including journeymen color mixers, but excluding the employees in the maintenance division and materials division, watchmen, and clerical and supervisory employees. How- ever, the Independent and the Company contend that only a plant- wide unit is appropriate, and assert that the unit should consist of all production and maintenance employees, excluding only office cler- icals and supervisory employees. The Atlas Wall Paper Division consists of the Atlas plant and the Marshall warehouse. Raw materials are received at the plant, there manufactured into finished products, and these products are then trucked by an independent contractor to the warehouse from where they are shipped to outside points. The Atlas plant is divided into 3 divisions, the manufacturing, materials, and maintenance divisions. The manufacturing division is composed of the printing and embossing departments and the jour- neymen color mixers. In this division the Company maintains 16 See Matter of Kimberly Clark Corporation, 59 N L. R B 568 2 The Field Examiner repotted that the Pressmen submitted 33 cards, of which 25 cards bore the names of employees listed on the Company 's pay roll of November 9, 1945 ; and that 2 of the cards are undated, the remamdei being dated in March and Apiil At the hearing, the Piessnien submitted 15 additional cards, of which 9 were undated and the remainder dated in March and April There were approximately 44 employees in the unit sought by the Pressmen at the time the petition was filed, however, at the date of the hearing the same unit consisted of 105 employees The Company asserts that, in view of the increased number of employees in the unit sought, the Pressmen has insufficient evidence of representation As of the date of filing of the petition , the Pressmen 's percentage showing was 56 percent , and at the time of the hearing, its percentage showing was 38 percent. We find the Pressmen's showing to have been substantial at all times For its interest in the proceeding, the Independent relies upon its contract with the Company 3 The job classifications in the printing department are as follows : surface printer operator , rota press operator, sanitary press operator, block conditioner, color grinder, roto press helper , sanitary color mixer helper, grinder operator, independent grinder helper, surface printer helper, squeeze roll operator , sanitary press helper , winderman, color grinder helper , surface color mixer helper and block conditioner helper. 4 The job classifications in the embossing department are as follows • multi-color emboss- ing operator, ink embossing operator , plain embossing operator , finisher, multi-color embossing helper , bundle tier, winderman, salvage man, salvage girl, hand roller girl and rewindei girl 350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD large machines for the manufacture of wall paper. There are 9 machine printers 5 and approximately 80 other employees in the divi- sion. The unit sought by the Pressmen is limited to the manufacturing division. The maintenance division consists of 7 employees, under the supervision of the chief engineer. They adjust and repair the plant machinery, devise new parts for the plant machinery, and also maintain the plant and warehouse. The materials division consists of 31 employees, 50 percent of whom unload raw stock and load fin- ished products at the plant, while the other 50 percent load and unload finished products at the warehouse. Substantially all new employees start work in the materials division, which is the Company's labor pool. They are promoted to the manu- facturing division on the basis of seniority and merit. There is con- stant interchange of employees between the materials and manufac- turing divisions, both by promotions and demotions,s and also on a temporary basis. This is a result of the seasonal nature of the Com- pany's business, and this policy is followed so that the Company can retain a maximum amount of employees during the slack season. On November 29, 1938, the Independent was certified by the Board as the bargaining agent for all hourly paid employees of the Atlas Wall Paper Division,' exclusive of the journeymen color mixers and machine printers." On November 29, 1938, the Board also certified the United Wall Paper Craftsmen and Workers of North America, A. F. of L., herein called the Craftsmen, as the bargaining representa- tive for a separate unit of color mixers and machine printers .9 Al- though the Craftsmen had two conferences with the Company in December 1937 and January 1938, no contract was executed between them, and the Craftsmen withdrew from all negotiations, making no further attempt to bargain for this unit. The Independent and the Company entered into a contract, dated January 24, 1939, cover- ing all hourly paid employees, except for the journeymen color mixers and machine printers, and continued to bargain solely with respect to this unit until January 2, 1945. At that time this unit 5 The surface printer operators , roto press operators, and sanitary press operator are considered to be machine printers. a There is also a constant interchange of employees between the materials division and the maintenance division 7In 1938 the Atlas Division included the KimIark plant which also manufactured wall paper In July 1942 the Kimlark plant was converted to an ordnance factory and all of its wall paper machinery was stored or transferred to the Atlas plant , since that time all wall paper operations have been concentrated at the Atlas plant proper. The Company ceased manufacturing ordnance at the Knnlark plant and converted it to a maintenance headquarters, known as the field service division. The employees of the field service divi- sion install new heavy machinery in all company plants , and have no relationship with the employees of the Atlas division Pursuant to a consent election all the employees of Kimlark are represented by Industrial Construction Machinery Erection Workers of America, an unaffiliated labor organization , which has filed a disclaimer of interest int this proceeding. See Matter of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, 9 N. L. R. B. 1287. See footnote 8, supra KIMBERLY CLARK CORPORATION 351 was expanded as the result of an election directed by the Board 10 to include therein the machine printers and journeymen color mixers. Since January 2, 1945, the Independent has represented the entire Atlas Wall Paper Division on a plant-wide basis. Thus the bargaining history shows that from January 1939, to January 2, 1945, the Independent represented the Company's em- ployees on a plant-wide basis, including the printing and embossing departments, with the exception of a small grouping of machine printers and journeymen color mixers. This grouping was added to the comprehensive unit on January 2, 1945, after a Board election, and since that time the Independent has been bargaining with the Company on the basis of the enlarged unit. In view of the past bargaining history and the interchange of employees among the Company's various divisions, we conclude that the complete plant-wide unit desired by the Independent and the Company is appropriate."' We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company's Atlas Wall Paper Division, excluding clerical employees and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis- charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit ap- propriate 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 employ- ees 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. 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 Rela- tions 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 Atlas Wall Paper Division of the Kimberly Clark Corporation, Appleton, Wisconsin, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not ° See Matter of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, 59 N. L. R. B 780. Apparently watchmen were always bargained for by the Independent, and perform the usual duties associated with this classification . They are, accordingly , included in the unit. 352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela- tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations among the employees in the unit found ap- propriate 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 said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em- ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them- selves 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 Local 298, International Printing Press- men and Assistants' Union of North America, A. F. of L., or by The Wallpaper Workers Union of the Fox River Valley, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.