Pacqua, Inc.

PACQUA, INC. 895 Pacqua, Inc. and. Independent Particle , Board Employees, Inc., Petitioner Sierra Lumber, Inc. and Lumber & Sawmill .Workers Local'Union 2949, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases Nos. 36-RC-1 4,24 and 36-RC-1436. September 8, 1959 DECISION AND DIRECTION,OF ELECTIONS Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before E. G. Strumpf, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Rodgers,.Bean, and Fanning]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. Pacqua and Sierra are separate corporations which are affiliated through stock ownership and common management with Pacific Ply- wood Company. The three corporations are all engaged in producing and fabricating lumber products in a single contiguous area at Dillard, Oregon. The president of Pacific Plywood personally supervises all production operations, sets the business policy and labor relations policies for the three producing corporations and for a number of other affiliated corporations which are exclusively engaged in per- forming maintenance, purchasing, and sales work for the entire corporate structure. Pacific Plywood and Pacqua share one building while Sierra is located in a separate structure close by. Pacific Ply- wood produces plywood exclusively; Pacqua manufactures particle board from wood chips; Sierra purchases particle board from Pacqua and converts it into floor tile. In view of the integration of ownership, management and operations, and the centralized control of labor relations policies, we find that Pacific Plywood Company, Pacqua, Inc., and Sierra Lumber, Inc., constitute a single employer for juris- dictional purposes. As the total shipments of the Employer to points outside the State of Oregon were valued in excess of $500,000 during the last year, we find that the employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. Plywood District No. 9 and Local 9-436, International Wood- workers of America, AFL-CIO, referred to herein as IWA, inter- vened in both cases on the basis of its bargaining agreement with Pacific Plywood Company. The Petitioners, referred to herein as 124 NLRB No. 115. 896 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Independent and Lumber Workers, also intervened in each other's case. IWA and Lumber Workers refused to stipulate that Independent was a labor organization, and also filed motions to dismiss its petition on the ground that it was instigated and supported by supervisory employees of Pacqua. We are satisfied on the basis of the record that Independent is an organization in which employees participate, and which exists for the purpose of dealing with Pacqua and other employers concerning wages, hours, and other conditions of employ- ment. We find that it is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5). We also deny the motions to dismiss, since allegations that an employer has instigated the filing of a petition are not litigable in a representation proceeding.' 3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representation of employees of Pacqua and Sierra within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. In Case No. 36-RC-1424, Independent seeks to represent a unit of all employees of Pacqua, and in Case No. 36-RC-1436, Lumber Workers seeks a similar unit of Sierra employees. In the alternative, each Petitioner is willing to represent a combined unit of employees at both operations. IWA contends that neither the separate, nor the combined, unit sought by the Petitioners are appropriate, and that the employees of Pacqua and Sierra should be included within its contract unit. The Employer takes no position on the scope of the unit or units. Pacqua manufactures particle board by combining wood chips and resin or glue on a forming tray. The wood chips are obtained from Pacific Plywood or from Pacqua's own salvage material. After being formed, the particle board is trimmed to 4 x 8 foot sheets of varying thicknesses, and is then sent to Pacific Plywood for sanding. There are approximately 27 employees engaged in Pacqua's operations. Sierra purchases all its requirements of particle board from Pacqua. It makes floor tile therefrom by cutting the board into squares, groov- ing the bottom and performing certain finishing operations. Sierra's production of floor tile constitutes 80 percent in volume of its opera- tions. It also fabricates particle board and plywood into paneling. Sierra employs about 14 production workers. The superintendents of Pacqua and Sierra hire and discharge their own employees. There have been occasional transfers of employees between Pacqua, Sierra, and Pacific Plywood on a temporary basis, but such transfers are infrequent. Each operation maintains its separate payroll and seniority lists. Although there are some identical 1 Bi-State8 Company, 1,17 NLRB 86; cf. Union Manufacturing Company, 123 NLRB 1633. PACQUA, INC. 897 job classifications in the three production companies, the actual duties are dissimilar in view of the different manufacturing processes per- formed. The corporations all own their own production equipment and use it almost exclusively in their own operations. On occasion, however, it may be contracted out to one of the affiliated corporations which pays a rental charge therefor. The finished products of each operation are stored on its own premises, but employees of Pacific Plywood do all loading and shipping for the three companies. The Lumber Workers were recognized in 1951 as the bargaining representative for a unit of production employees at Pacific Plywood. In 1954 or 1955, the Employer expanded its operations by acquiring Pacqua, which was then independently owned, and by forming Sierra. The Pacqua and Sierra employees have never been included in the con- tract unit of Pacific Plywood employees. After a consent election in 1958, the Lumber Workers was supplanted by IWA as the certified representative of a unit of production and maintenance employees at Pacific Plywood and Forest Machine and Manufacturing Co., a wholly owned subsidiary. There have been no claims prior to the instant peti- tions by any labor organization to represent the employees of Pacqua or Sierra, and there is consequently no history of collective bargaining at either of these operations. In view of the common management and integrated operations of the three production companies, we believe that the Pacqua and Sierra employees may properly be included in the unit for which IWA has been certified. Although a single unit of all the Employer's produc- tion and maintenance employees may be appropriate, it does not pre- clude a finding that separate units of Pacqua and Sierra employees may also be appropriate. The products and production processes of the three companies are different, the certified representative at Pacific Plywood has made no prior claim to represent Pacqua or Sierra em- ployees, and these employees are separately hired and supervised. Moreover, the Board normally permits employees of a new operation to decide whether they wish to be separately represented even when the new operation is integrated with the old.2 However, as Pacqua and Sierra employees manufacture and process the same basic material, we find that they may also constitute a com- bined unit.' We shall, therefore, make no final determination with respect to the unit or units at this time, but shall first ascertain the de- sires of the employees as expressed in the elections directed herein. We shall direct elections among employees in the following voting groups: 2 Fleming & Sons, Inc., 118 NLRB 1451, 1453; Armstrong Cork Company (Lancaster Floor Plant), 106 NLRB 1147, 1149. 'Zip-O-Log Veneer, Inc., 112 NLRB 1303, 1306. 525543-60-vol. 12'4-5 8 898 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (a) All employees of Pacqua, Inc., at Dillard, Oregon, including truckdrivers and leadmen,4 but excluding office clerical and profes- sional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) All employees of Sierra Lumber, Inc., at Dillard, Oregon, ex- cluding office clerical and professional employees, guards and super- visors as defined in the Act. The employees in voting groups (a) and (b) will be given a choice among the two Petitioners, the IWA,5 or no labor organization. If a majority of employees in voting group (a) or voting group (b) vote for the IWA they will be taken to have indicated their desire to be- come part of the existing unit currently represented by the IWA, and the Regional Director will issue a certification of results to that effect. If a majority of employees in voting group (a) or voting group (b) vote for either Petitioner, Independent Particle Board Employees, Inc., or Lumber and Sawmill Workers, Local Union 2949, the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for such unit, which the Board under these circumstances, finds to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. If a majority of employees in each voting group votes for the same Peti- tioner, they will be taken to have indicated a desire to be represented in a single unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the successful Petitioner for such unit, which the Board, under these circumstances, finds to be appro- priate for purposes of collective bargaining. If, on the other hand, a majority of employees in one voting group vote for one of the Unions and a majority of employees in the other voting group vote for no labor organization, the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of results to the IWA, in the event it is chosen as the majority representative, or issue a certification of representatives to the successful Petitioner for such unit, which the Board, under these circumstances, finds to be appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] 4 Pacqua has four production crews each of which consists of seven men including a leadman . Eighty percent of each leadman's work involves measurement of the particle board and quality testing. The work is repetitive and requires no technical training. Chemical testing of the board is done by an outside firm . The record indicates that the leadmen do not hire or fire, have no authority to recommend such action , nor possess any other indicia of supervisory authority within the meaning of the Act. We find, contrary to the contention of IWA, that the leadmen are not supervisors. 5 As IWA did not expressly decline, either at the hearing or in its brief , to appear on the ballot for the units found appropriate herein, we shall direct the Regional Director to accord it a place oil the ballot . It may, on appropriate notice to the Regional Director, withdraw from the elections directed herein.