Allied Paper Mills, King Division

In the Matter of ALLIED PAPER MilLs, KING DIVISION 1 and UNITED PAPER MILL WORKERS' LOCAL INDUSTRIAL UNION 398 (C. I. 0. ) Cases Nos. C-1195 and B-1057.-Decided May 3,1939 Paper Manufacturing Industry Investigation of Representatives: controversy concerning representation of employees: refusal by employer to recognize union-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: hourly paid production and maintenance employees, exclusive of foremen, supervisors, and office help, in the powerhouse, machine room, beater room, maintenance department, box shop, finishing room and/or coating room, and the coloring room ; stipula- tion as to ; controversy only as to classification of boss machine tenders and one other person, who are excluded-Election Ordered Mr. Charles F. McErlean, for the Board. Mason, Sharpe d Stratton, by Mr. Don. B. Sharpe of Kalamazoo, Mich., for the Company. Mr. F. Hamilton Seeley, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On October 25, 1937, United Paper Mill Workers' Local Industrial Union 398 (C. I. 0.), herein called the Union, filed a petition with the Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan) alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Allied Paper Mills, King Divi- sion, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On the same date, the Union filed a charge with the said Regional Director alleging that the Company had engaged in and was en- gaging in unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of the Act. On June 8, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and i Incorrectly designated in certain of the formal papers in the case as Allied Paper Mills, Inc. 12 N. L. R. B., No. 76. 677 678 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director for the Seventh Region to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, and acting pursuant to, Article III, Section 10 (c), of said Rules and Regulations, further ordered that the two cases be consolidated for the purposes of hearing. On September 3, 1938, the Union filed an amended petition and an amended charge. On September 29, 1938, the Regional Director issued a complaint alleging that the. Company had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8 (1) and (5) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. Copies of the complaint, notice of hearing, charge, amended charge, petition, and amended petition were duly served upon the Company and upon the Union. Pursuant to notice a joint hearing was held in Kalamazoo, Michi- gan on October 11 and 12, 1938, before Herbert Wenzel, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board and the Com- pany were represented by counsel, and the Union by a representative ; all parties participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to produce evi- dence bearing upon the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made sev- eral rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evi- dence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. On February 18, 1939, the Trial Examiner filed his Intermediate Report in which he found that the Company had not engaged in the unfair labor practices alleged in the complaint and, accordingly, recommended dismissing the complaint. Neither the Union nor the Company has filed any exceptions to the Intermediate Report. Therefore, in accordance with Article II, Section 36, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, the case based upon the complaint shall be considered closed. The case based upon the petition remains for our consideration. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE_ BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Allied Paper Mills, a Michigan corporation, is engaged in the man- ufacture and sale of paper of several varieties. The Company op- erates in three divisions : the King Division and the Monarch Divi- ALLIED PAPPR MILLS, KING DIVISION 679 Sion, both in Kalamazoo; and the Bardien Division, in Otsego, Michigan. The King Division is the only one involved in this case. The chief raw materials used by the Company are pulp, paper stock, coal, and casein. $2,700,000 worth of such materials were purchased in 1937. $1,000,000 worth consisted of pulp, purchased from Scandinavian and Finnish companies in Europe. Approxi- mately half of the $500,000 worth of paper stock purchased was obtained from points outside the State of Michigan. Coal, amount- ing to $275,000 in 1937, is purchased from the South Appalachian fields. Of the products manufactured in 1937, valued by the Com- pany at $5,500,000, over 75 per cent were shipped outside the State of Michigan. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED United Paper Mill Workers' Local Industrial Union 398, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, is a labor organi- zation admitting to membership all hourly paid production and maintenance employees, exclusive of foremen, supervisors, and office help, in the King Division of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Following organizational activities among the employees of the Company, the Union, in September 1937, sent a committee to the Company stating that the Union represented a majority of the employees of the Company and requesting that the Company meet with the committee for the purpose of negotiating a collective bar- gaining agreement. There were several meetings between the Com- pany and the committee, and a tentative agreement was drawn up. The Company suddenly ceased negotiations and refused to meet with the Union unless the Union showed by a list of its members that it represented a majority of the employees. The Union re- fused to reveal such a list. Thereafter, the Union filed its petition for an investigation and certification of representatives. We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the respondent. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com- merce and the free flow of commerce. 680 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT At the hearing it was stipulated that all hourly paid production and maintenance employees, exclusive of foremen, supervisors, and office help, in the powerhouse, machine room, beater room, mainte- nance department, box shop, finishing room and/or coating room, and the coloring room, in the King Division of the Company, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining. There was, however, controversy as to the status of "boss machine tenders" and as to one C. E. Corning. It appears that the boss machine tenders at the King Division of the Company assign and are directly responsible for all work done on the machines. On the night shift, a boss machine tender can send a man home for improper work and recommend discipline to the superintendent. The Union contends that boss machine tenders ex- ercise supervisory authority and that they should be excluded from the appropriate unit. The evidence supports this contention, and we will exclude them. C. E. Corning is a brick mason who does occasional work for the Company. When the particular job requires more than one man, he employs other workers to help him. The Union requests that he be excluded from the appropriate unit because of his occasional status as an employer, and the Company failed to advance any substantial reason for his inclusion. He will be excluded. We find that all hourly paid production and maintenance em- ployees, exclusive of C. E. Corning and foremen, supervisors, boss machine tenders, and office help, in the powerhouse, machine room, beater room, maintenance department, box shop, finishing room and/or coating room and the coloring room in the King Division of the Company constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining, and that said unit will insure to employees of the Com- pany the full benefit of their rights to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Union claimed to represent a majority of the employees of the Company within the unit which we have found to be appropriate. The only evidence which it introduced in support of its contention was the oral testimony of one of its officers; no showing was made sufficient for purposes of certification on the record. We find that the question which has arisen concerning the representation of the Company's employees can best be resolved by the holding of an election by secret ballot. ALLIED PAPER MILLS, KING DIVISION 681 It does not appear that there was any agreement between the Union and the Company in regard to the pay-roll period which should be used in determining eligibility to vote in the election. Therefore, in accordance with our usual practice when a considerable time has elapsed since the filing of the petition and the holding of the hearing, we shall direct that those eligible to vote shall be employees within the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of our Direction of Election. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Allied Paper Mills, King Division, Kala- mazoo, Michigan, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All of the hourly paid production and maintenance employees, exclusive of C. E. Corning and foremen, supervisors, boss machine tenders, and office help, in the powerhouse, machine room, beater room, maintenance department, box shop, finishing room and/or coating room, and coloring room in the King Division of the Allied Paper Mills, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col- lective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is hereby Dumc'n that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Allied Paper Mills, King Division, Kalamazoo, Michigan, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within fifteen (15) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region, acting in this mat- ter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all of the hourly paid production and maintenance employees, exclusive of C. E. Corning and foremen, supervisors, boss machine tenders, and 682 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD office help, in the powerhouse, machine room, beater room, mainte- nance department, box shop, finishing room and/or coating room, and coloring room in the King Division of the Allied Paper Mills, whose names appear on the pay roll for the period next preceding the date of this Direction, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by the United Paper Mill `Yorkers' Local Industrial Union 398, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, for the purposes of collective bargaining.