R.E. Atchison Lumber Co.

In the Matter of R. E . ATCHISON LUMBER COMPANY and LOCAL S 212, INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Case No. C-1747.-Decided December 17, 1940 Jurisdiction: lumber industry. Settlement : stipulation providing for compliance with the Act. Remedial Orders : entered on stipulation. Mr. Alexander E. Wilson, for the Board. Huey & Welch, by Mr. W. G. Stone, for the respondent. Mr. J. A. Lipscomb, of Bessemer, Ala., for the Union. Miss Edna Loeb, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon charges and amended charges duly filed by Local S 212, International Woodworkers of America, herein called the Union, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, by the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia), issued its complaint dated October 26, 1940, against R. E. Atchison Lum- ber Company, Bessemer, Alabama, herein called the respondent, al- leging that the respondent had engaged in and was engaging in un- fair labor, practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Sec- tion 8 (1) and (3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. Copies of the complaint and accompanying notice of hearing thereon were duly served upon the respondent and the Union. The complaint alleged in substance that (1) the respondent ter- minated the employment of five of its employees and refused to rein- state them because they joined and assisted the Union and engaged in concerted activities for their mutual aid and protection; (2) the re- spondent engaged in numerous acts designed to discourage member- ship in and activity on behalf of the Union, including cursing, threatening, assaulting, and evicting from company houses, employees who had joined and refused to withdraw from the Union; and (3) 28 N. L. R. B., No. 94. 638 R. E. ATCHISON 'LUMBER COMPANY 639, by these,and other acts the respondent interfered with, restrained, and coerced its employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in Sec- tion 7 of the Act. Prior. to .a hearing, the respondent, the Union, and counsel for the Board entered into a stipulation dated November 29, 1940. The stip- ulation provides as follows : STIPULATION, It is hereby stipulated by and between R. E. Atchison Lum- ber Company, hereinafter called the Respondent; Local S 212, International Woodworkers of America, hereinafter called the Union; and Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, as follows : 1. Respondent is and for a long period of time has been an Alabama corporation with its principal office and only -plant in the City of Bessemer, Jefferson County, State of Alabama. Respondent is now and for a long period of time continuously has been engaged in the production, sale, and distribution of yellow pine lumber. Respondent's products for the year 1939 amounted in value to approximately $63,000. Of this amount, products of the value of approximately $27,000 were shipped from Respondent's place of business in Bessemer, Alabama, to points outside the State of Alabama. Materials and supplies purchased and used by Respondent during the year 1939 in the manufacture of its products amounted in value to approximately $25,000, and of this amount materials and supplies amounting in value to $-- were transported to Respondent's place of business at Bessemer, Alabama, from points and places out- side the State of Alabama. For purposes of this proceeding, - and not otherwise, Respondent admits that it is engaged in inter- state commerce within the meaning of Section 2, subdivisions (6) and (7), of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The Union is a labor organization within the meaning of Sec- tion 2, subdivision (5), of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. Respondent hereby waives its -right to file an answer to the Complaint of the National Labor Relations Board filed herein; to its right to a hearing and to appear in person or otherwise and 640 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to give testimony and examine and cross-examine witnesses, as provided in Section 10 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act and in National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 2, as amended; and all parties hereto, and each of them, hereby waive the making of findings of fact and conclusions of law by the National Labor Relations Board and to any other procedure by or before the National Labor Relations Board that may be provided in said National Labor Relations Act or National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 2, as amended ; and all parties hereto, and each of them, agree that the formal papers in this proceeding, including the Amended Charge, Complaint and Notice of Hearing, Affidavit of Service of Complaint and Notice of Hearing, copy of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 2, as amended, and this Stipulation, and nothing else, shall constitute the entire record in this case and shall dispose of the necessity for the hearing referred to in said Complaint and Notice of Hearing and as provided in Section 10 (b) and (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. This waiver and agreement is expressly con- ditioned upon the approval of this Stipulation by the National Labor Relations Board. 4. Upon the record herein and upon this Stipulation, if and when approved by the National Labor Relations Board, an Order may forthwith be entered by said Board providing as follows : (1) Respondent, R. E. Atchison Lumber Company, shall cease and desist from : (a) Discouraging or encouraging membership in any labor organization of its employees by discharging, demoting, or re- fusing to reinstate any of its employees, or in any manner dis- criminating with regard to their hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition thereof, because or on account of their membership in, activities in behalf of, or sympathy toward, any such labor organizations; (b) Urging, persuading, or warning its employees, or in any manner influencing or attempting to influence said employees, to form, join, assist, or participate in any labor organization, or not to form, join, assist, or participate in any labor organization; (c) In any manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees, or any of them, in the exercise of the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choos- ing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of R. E. ATCHISON LUMBER COMPANY 641 collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, as guaranteed in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. (2) Respondent shall take the following affirmative action in order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor Rela- tions Act : (a) Respondent shall immediately offer to Isaac Alexander, Veotes Mixon, Iotes Mixon, Walter Bowling, and Paul Greer reinstatement to their former or substantially equivalent posi- tions, without loss of seniority or other rights or privileges; (b) Post immediately at conspicuous places in its plant, and maintain such posting for a period of sixty (60) consecutive days from the date of posting, notices to its employees stating (1) that the Respondent will not engage in the conduct from which it is ordered to cease and desist in paragraphs (1) (a), (b), and (c) of this Order; and (2) that the Respondent will take the affirmative action set forth in paragraphs (2) (a) and (b) of this Order. ' (c) Notify the Regional Director for the Tenth Region within ten (10) days of the date of this Order what steps Respondent has taken to comply herewith. ' 5. After the entry of the Order by the National Labor Relations Board, as provided above, there may be entered in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit a decree by said Court enforcing in full the said Order of the National Labor Relations Board, and each of the parties hereto hereby consents to the entry of such decree and hereby waives prior notice thereof. 6. Respondent further agrees to pay to the Regional Director for the Tenth Region the sum of $300, to be distributed to the following-named employees in such amounts as he shall deem just -and proper: - k Isaac Alexander Veotes Mixon Iotes Mixon Walter Bowling Paul Greer which sum shall be in full settlement of the amounts said em- ployees would have earned as wages from the dates of termina- 642 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tion of their employment to the date of payment, less their respective net earnings during said periods. This sum of $300 shall be paid to the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, as aforesaid, immediately upon the approval of this Stipulation by the Board. 7. It is expressly understood and agreed that this Stipulation be subject to the approval of the National Labor Relations Board. 8. It is expressly understood and agreed that the entire agree- ment among the parties hereto, as recited above and as their signatures appear -below, is contained within the terms of this Stipulation, and there is no agreement of any nature, verbal or otherwise, which varies, alters, or adds to this Stipulation. On December 9, 1940, the Board issued and duly served on the parties an order approving the above stipulation, making it a part of the record in the case, and pursuant to Article II, Section 36, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, transferring the case to the Board for the purpose of entry of a decision and order pursuant to provisions of the stipulation. Upon the basis of the above stipulation and the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT The respondent, R. E. Atchison Lumber Company, is an Alabama corporation with its principal office and plant in Bessemer, Alabama. It is engaged in the production, sale, and distribution of yellow pine lumber. The respondent's products for the year 1939 amounted in value to approximately $63,000, about 43 per cent of which products, valued at approximately $27,000, were shipped from the respondent's place of business in Bessemer to points outside Alabama. For pur- poses of this proceeding, the respondent admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. We find that the above-described operations constitute a continu- ous flow of trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States. R. E. ATCHISON LUMBER COMPANY 643 ORDER Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the stipulation, and the entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that: (1) Respondent, R. E. Atchison Lumber Company, shall cease and desist from : (a) Discouraging or encouraging membership in any labor organ- ization of its employees by discharging, demoting, or refusing to reinstate any, of its employees, or in any manner discriminating with regard to their hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition thereof, because or on account of their membership in, activities in behalf of, or sympathy toward, any such labor organization; (b) Urging, persuading, or warning its employees, or in any man- ner influencing or attempting to influence said employees, to form, join, assist, or participate in any labor organization , or not to form, join, assist, or participate in any labor organization; (c) In any manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees, or any of them, in the exercise of the right to self-organ- ization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain col- lectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, as guaranteed in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. (2) Respondent shall take the following affirmative action in order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor Relations Act : (a) Respondent shall immediately offer to Isaac Alexander, Veotes Mixon, Iotes Mixon , Walter Bowling, and Paul Greer reinstatement to their former or substantially equivalent positions , without loss of seniority or other rights or privileges; (b) Post immediately at conspicuous places ,in its plant, and main- tain such posting for a period of sixty (60) consecutive days from the date of posting, notices to its employees stating (1) that the respondent will not engage -in the conduct from which it is ordered to cease and desist in paragraphs ( 1) (a), (b), and (c) of this Order; and (2 ) that the respondent will take the affirmative action set forth in paragraphs (2) (a) and (b) of this Order; (c) Notify the Regional Director for the Tenth Region within ten (10) days of the date of this Order what steps respondent has taken to comply herewith. 413597-42-vol. 23 42