The Long-Bell Lumber Co.

In the Matter -of THE LONG-BELL LUMBER COMPANY and LUMBER & SAWMVLILL WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 2512, CHARTERED'BY THE UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Case No. R-3737.-Decided May 27, 1942 Jurisdiction : logging industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: con- flicting claims of rival representatives ; supplementary agreement concluded during the pendency of proceedings and in the face of petitioner' s conflicting claims, held no bar; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance employees at one division of Company, including electricians and a named individual, but excluding supervisory employees with the power to hire, and discharge ; office employees ; civil engineers ; machinists for whom a separate representative had been previously certified by the Board ; mercantile em- ployees; townsite miscellaneous employees; scalers; yarder, skidder, high lead, steel gang, and section foremen ; the rig-up foreman, the line-gang fore- man, and the -pile-driver foreman. . Mr. David E. McLean, of Longview, Wash., for the Company. Mr. C. D. Cunningham, of Centralia, Wash., for the A. F. of L. Mr. James J. Molthan, of Seattle, Wash., for the C. I. O. Mr. George H. Gentithes, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2512, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the. A. F. of L., alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Long-Bell Lumber Company, Longview, Washington, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis S. Penfield, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Ryderwood, Washington, on April 17, 1942. The Company, the A. F. of L., and International Woodworkers of America, Local 3-34 (C. I. 0.), hereinafter called 41 N. L. R. B., No. 82. i 389 390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the C. I. 0., appeared, participated, and were afforded full oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made, at'the hearing are free from prejudicial error and' are hereby affirmed. A brief was filed on behalf of the Company which the Board has duly considered. Upon the entire record "in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF F ACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Long-Bell Lumber Company is a Missouri corporation with principal offices in Kansas City, Missouri. This proceeding is con- cerned solely with the Company's division at Ryderwood, Washing- ton, where it is engaged in logging operations. Trees or logs are felled by the logging employees of Ryderwood and are transported to the Company's Longview division by rail where they are manu- factured into-lumber at a sawmill. In 1938 this sawmill turned out 206,926,613 feet of lumber, commercial log scale. Fifty-six percent of the logs used in the manufacture. of this lumber came from the Company's Ryderwood properties; the remainder being purchased in the open market. The value of the lumber manufactured at Long- view in 1938 was $5,267,242.22. The Company also sold logs valued at $438,343.18, some of which were obtained from Ryderwood and others in the open market. Of the lumber sold from Longview, 93.5 percent was shipped to places outside the State of Washington, while 41.1 percent of the logs were shipped to places outside the State of Washington. Together the Ryderwood and Longview divisions pur- chased during 1938 the following raw materials from the States in- dicated : $200,000 worth of logging machinery from Washington and Oregon; 25,000 gallons of gasoline from California; 50,000 barrels of fuel oil from California and miscellaneous items valued at $50,000 from various States throughout the country. The Company's present operations are approximately as above-described.' The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2512, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. ' By stipulation of the parties the operations of the Company at the present time are substantially described in Matter of Long-Bell Lumber Company and Internatsohal Associa- tion of Machinists . Local No. 1350, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 16 N L. R B 892 The above findings are based upon the findings of the Board in that case. THE' LONG-BELL LUMBER -COMPANY 391 International Woodworkers of America, Local 3-34, iss a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.' 1 III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION .-The A..F. of L. has made no formal request that the Company bargain with it, believing that such a request would be of no avail because of an existing sole recognition contract between the Company and the C. I. O. This contract was entered into on September 25, 1940. It provided for continuation until April 1, 1941, and there; after until April 1 of each succeeding year until 1945 unless written notice to terminate or change the terms is given not less than 60 days prior to April 1 of any year. It further provided. that if such notice to terminate or change the terms is given and negotiations continue, the agreement shall remain in force until a subsequent agreement is reached or negotiations are discontinued. Supplemental agreements' were signed on December 23, 1940, and August 9, 1941. Late in January 1942, at the request of the C. I. 0., negotiations covering the subjects of wages, hours, vacations, and termination were begun: The-Company 'exercised its privilege of cancelation and notified the C. I. O. that it chose to terminate the contract. This led to further negotiations culminating in a supplementary agreement dated Febru= ary 27, 1942, which provided that regardless of any notice of termi- nation or cancelation theretofore given by either party, the agreement should remain in full force pending the outcome of current negotia-, lions, and that except for the four subjects above enumerated, all provisions of the previously existing agreement should remain un- changed. Prior to the signing of the supplementary agreement of February 27, 1942, the Company was notified that the A. F. of L. had filed its petition in this proceeding. Inasmuch as said agree- ment was concluded with the C. I. O. during the pendency of this proceeding and in the face of the conflicting claims of the A. F. of, L. we find that it does not constitute a bar to a present determination of representatives. A statement of a Field Examiner introduced in evidence at the hearing indicates that the A. F. of L. represents- a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2 ' 2 The Field Examiner reported that the A F of L had submitted 257 names on a peti- tion designating it as the exclusive bargaining agent for • the signatories and re- voking any authority theretofore given by them to the C I 0 Of the 257 signatm es 189 were names appearing on the Company's pav roll of ' March 20 , 1942 , which, after the deduction of certain stipulated exclusions , contains 495 names All signatures appeared to be genuine The C I . O. submitted no evidence to the Field Examiner , contending that it represents these employees by virtue of the contract between it and the Company. During the hearing, hoccever , it submitted its membership list of 263 persons in addition to 13 application-for-membership cards 392 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 Subject only to dispute concerning the inclusion of three groups of employees discussed below, the parties agree that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, at its Ryderwood, Wash- ington, division, including -electricians and W. C. Greer, but exclud- ing supervisory employees with the power to hire and discharge, office employees, civil engineers, and machinists for whom a separate representative has been previously certified by the Board,3 constituted an appropriate unit. Differences arose as to the following employees : a. Mercantile employees The A. F. of L. contends that mercantile employees of the Company are included within the above description of appropriate unit. The C. I. 0. and the Company contend that they should be excluded. The functions of the mercantile employees are the operation of a general store owned and operated by the Company. Its depart- ments include groceries, meats, hardware, dry goods, confectionery, furniture, and drugs. These departments are under the supervision of a manager under whom there is an assistant' manager. The em- ployees are paid directly by the Company on a monthly basis. Their work is limited to the particular department assigned them,, in the store. Sales are not confined to Company employees but are open to the general public. These employees were excluded from the unit in an earlier proceeding, pursuant to stipulation .4 For that reason and because their duties are not directly related to the principal business of the Company, we shall exclude them from the production and maintenance unit. b. Alleged supervisory employees By stipulation the parties agree to the exclusion of certain super- visory' employees appropriately marked on Board's'Exhibit 9 under ' In Matter of Long-Bell Lumber Company and International Association of Machinists, Local No. 1350, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 18 N. L R B. 40, Inter- national Association of Machinists , Local No. 1350, was certified as the representative of the employees in the machine shop of the Long-Bell Lumber Company at its Ryderwood, Washington, division , including one woods mechanic, but excluding supervisory employees, and those employees excluded by stipulations 4 16 N L. R. B. 892, 898. THE LONG-BELL LUMBER COMPANY 393 the heading "Dei.._.rtmental Supervisors." 5 They disagreed, how- ever, as to certain other supervisory employees. Except in the case_ of T. R. Lapp (line-gang foreman) where the C. I. 0. joins the Com- ,,pany in seeking his exclusion, the Company seeks their exclusion and the two unions request their inclusion. Those in dispute include : scalers; yarder, skidder, high lead, steel gang, and section foremen; a rig-up foreman, a line-gang foreman, and a pile-driver foreman. These employees perform no manual labor. They have authority to recommend hiring and discharge to their superiors. The procedure prescribed by the Company in hiring requires the foremen as well as the highest officials of the Company to employ men only through the employment office. Thus, a foreman desiring the services of a workman cannot hire him immediately but must send him to the employment office. The foreman's wishes, however, are always re- spected by the employment agent, so that unless the contemplated employee is physically disabled, the foreman's recommendation is equivalent to employment. The added step of routing future em- ployees through the employment office is principally for purposes of keeping accurate employment records rather than for limiting ,the foreman's power. With reference to discharging, a foreman dis- satisfied with one of his subordinates is not required to keep him although the employee may be transferred by a higher official to another foreman instead of being discharged. The employees in this group were excluded from the unit in the prior proceeding before the Board. For that reason and because, in view of their authority, we are of the opinion that they fall within the category of supervisory employees with the power to hire and discharge, we shall exclude them. I c. Townsite miscellaneous Those disputed under this category include two town watchmen, one town clean-up man, one hotel clerk, two town carpenters, and a town garbage man. The A. F. of L. would include all of these employees while the C. I. 0. and the Company would exclude them. As is the case with the mercantile employees the activities of the group under discussion are not directly related to the principal busi- ness of the Company. They will be excluded from the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Ryderwood, Washington, division, including electri- cians and W. C. Greer, but excluding supervisory employees with the power to hire and discharge; office employees; civil engineers; s The names thus marked were : C. Vandercook , Sr, C J. Hines, H. W. Alexander, C. H. Blake, J. P. Brown, J. A Derks, C . A. Edwards , J. R Edwards, George Enten- man, Andrew Holman, B F . Nelson, C. A. Russell, Frank Scherieble, C. J. Simpson, R. R. Van Orden , Clair Vaughn, B B. Walkley , and H. B. Whitten. 394 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR, RELATIONS BOARD machinists for whom a separate representative has been previously certified by the Board; mercantile employees; townsite miscellaneous employees; scalers; yarder, skidder, high lead, steel gang, and sec- tion foremen; the rig-up foreman, the line-gang foreman, and the pile-driver foreman, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. . t- V. THE DETERMIN AXON OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the employees 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 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Long-Bell Lumber Company, Longview, Washington, an election by secret bal- lot be conducted as early as possible but not later than thirty (30) 'days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervi- sion of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, 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 any such employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2512, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or by International Woodworkers of America, Local 3-34 - (C. I. 0.), or by neither.