Old Dominion Box Co., Inc.

In the Matter of OLD DOMINION Box Co., INC., EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PULP, SULPHITE AND PAPER MILL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 5-R-2488.Decided September 23, 1946 Mr. W. S. Blakney, of Charlotte, N. C., for the Employer. Mr. Ames S. Killen, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. Donald W. Hunt, of Richmond, Va., for the Petitioner. Mr. Melvin J. Welles, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 6, 1946, before Charles B. Slaughter, hear- ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The Employer, a Virginia corporation, owns and operates a number of plants in Virginia and North Carolina. Only its Charlotte, North Carolina, plant is involved in the present proceeding. During the past year, the Employer purchased for its Charlotte plant raw materials valued in excess of $100,000, of which approxi- mately 20 percent was shipped to the plant from points outside the State of North Carolina. During the same period, the Employer manufactured at its Charlotte plant finished products valued in excess of $150,000, of which approximately 25 percent was shipped from this plant to points outside the State of North Carolina. The Employer does not deny, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 71 N. L. R. B., No. 1. 1 2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner and the Employer agree that a unit of all production and maintenance workers, excluding office and clerical employees, and supervisory employees, is appropriate. They disagree, however, with respect to the following : Floating gang: The Petitioner contends that those employees classi- fied as the "floating gang" should be included in the twit, the Employer opposing this contention. These employees move raw materials which have been delivered to the plant from trucks and railroad cars to storage locations or to a department for processing, and move finished products from the shipping department to trucks and railroad cars for shipment outside the plant. In addition, they clean inside and outside the plant, cut the grass, and tend the flowers. Inasmuch as these employees constitute an integral part of the production processes of the plant, and perform maintenance work in the plant, we are of the opinion that their interests lie with those of the other production and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, include the floating gang in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. The floating gang, consisting of about 24 employees, is under the supervision of a working foreman. Although the working foreman also performs manual work, he is paid $18 more weekly than the employees in the floating gang. Furthermore, he recommends dis- charge for inefficiency or insubordination, and his recommendations are usually followed, despite the fact that they are subject to an independent investigation by the general superintendent. We are of the opinion that the working foreman of the floating gang is a super- visory employee within the meaning of our customary definition. We shall, therefore, exclude him. Cost-clerk in the set-up department: The Petitioner, contrary to the Employer, would exclude this employee from the unit. She is engaged in computing the time spent on each job from job tickets OLD DOMINION BOX CO., INC. 3 which are routed to her. She compiles a master record, which is used to determine production speed in all of the Employer's plants, from these job tickets. All of her time is spent in this manner, doing clerical work only. Although she is under the supervision of the superintendent of the set-up department with respect to her hours of work and conduct on the job, the actual work which she performs is supervised by a man who is in charge of the installation of a. cost system in all plants of the Employer. Thus, her duties are not con- trolled by production supervisors. Nor does she engage in any pro- duction work, her duties being solely clerical in nature. Under these circumstances, we shall exclude the cost clerk in the set-up department from the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Janitor in the set-up department: The Petitioner seeks the inclusion of this employee, whereas the Employer seeks his exclusion. The janitor, who is supervised by the superintendent of the set-up depart- ment, cleans the department, performing the usual janitorial services, and mixes glue, which is used to fasten paper wraps on rough paper- board boxes. He devotes about one half of his time to glue mixing. We are of the opinion that his interests lie with those of the other production and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, include the janitor in the set-up department in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Elevator operator: The Petitioner would include this employee, the Employer taking a contrary position. His sole duty is to operate a freight elevator, which moves unfinished products from one depart- ment to another during the production process. Since this is an essential part of the production process, we shall include the elevator operator in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Stoclchanadlers in the carton department: The Petitioner, contrary to the Employer, would i,iclude these employees. Their duties in the carton department are similar to those of the floating gang employees, whom we have included in the unit, except that the stockhandlers work only in one department. We shall, therefore, include the stock- handlers in the carton department in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em- ployer's Charlotte plant, including the floating gang, the janitor in the set-up department, the elevator operator, the stockhandlers in the carton department, and the technicians in the technical department,' but excluding the cost clerk in the set-up department, office and clerical employees, the working foreman of the floating gang, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis- cipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or ef- ' The parties agreed to include these employees, who are engaged in checking incoming material for quantity and quality , which work constitutes part of the production process. 4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD fectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Old Dominion Box Co., Inc.,. Charlotte, North Carolina, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) 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 Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 4, 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 said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca- tion 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 dis- charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre- sented by International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining.