Medford Corp.

I In the Matter Of MEDFORD CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL WOOD- WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION No. 6-221, AND INDUSTRIAL EM- PLOYEES' LOCAL UNION #8-11 In the Matter Of MEDFORD CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL WOOD- WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION No. 6-221, AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS, OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS Cases Nos. RE-18 and R-2004.-Decided March 12, 1941 Jurisdiction : lumber industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re- fusal to accord petitioner recognition ; conflicting claims of rival representa- tives; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its logging operations including main line railroad employees, but excluding the timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the log- ging foreman, the master mechanic foreman, the steel gang foreman, the spur maintenance foreman, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman, the main line section crew foremen, the bridge crew foreman, and the roundhouse foreman. Mr. William A. Babcock, Jr., for the Board. Mr. R. W. Maxwell, of Seattle, Wash., for the Company. Mr. L. H. Fenton, of Butte Falls, Oreg., for the I. W. A. Mr. J. G. Wolf, of Portland, Oreg., for the I. E. U. Mr. Bertram Diamond, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On September 13, 1940, Medford Corporation, Medford, Oregon, herein called the Company, and on November 25, 1940, International Woodworkers of America, Local Union No. 6-221, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the I. W. A., re- spectively, filed with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington), separate petitions, each alleging that a ques-, Lion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company employed at its logging operations at Butte Falls, Oregon, and requesting an investigation and -certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat., 449, herein called the Act. On November 26, 1940, 30 N. L. R. B., No. 38. 256 MEDFORD'. CORPORATION " 257 the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,' acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the 'Act 'and Article III, 'Section 3;''of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, 'ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, and, pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, ordered that the two cases be consolidated for the purposes of hearing. On November 29, 1940, the Regional Director issued a consolidated notice of hearing in the two cases, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the I. W. A., the, petitioners herein, and upon Industrial Employees' Union, Local Union #8-11, chartered by the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc., herein called the I. E. U., a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held at Medford, Oregon, on December 12, 1940, before Thomas S. Wilson, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. All parties were repre- sented by counsel or by official representative and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all. parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Exam- iner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed.' 'The'rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Medford Corporation is a Delaware corporation engaged in the business, of logging and of manufacturing lumber. Its logging oper- ations are conducted in and about the vicinity of Butte Falls, Oregon, and are the only operations of the. Company involved in 'this proceed- ing. All the logs produced by the Company are cut' into, lumber at the Company's mill at Medford, Oregon. In 1939 the Company produced approximately 44,000,000 feet of logs, log scale. Of this amount approximately 80 per cent was cut into lumber shipped to purchasers outside the State of Oregon. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 6-221, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Industrial Employees' Union, Local -Union #8-11, is a labor organ- ization chartered by•the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc. 258 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Both organizations admit to membership production and mainte- nance employees of the Company at its logging operations. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On July 23 and August 31, 1940, in conferences with representatives of the Company, the I. W. A. demanded recognition as exclusive bar- gaining agent of the Company's employees. At these conferences the Company declined to recognize the I. W. A. on the ground that it had an agreement with the I. E. U.1 and that the I. E. U. claimed to represent a majority of its employees. There was introduced into evidence a statement by the Board's attor- ney showing that each of the organizations involved represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit claimed by it to be appropriate.2 We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. 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 rela- tion to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT All the parties agreed upon the inclusion within the appropriate unit of the bulk of the production and maintenance employees at the 'This agreement , as noted below , is terminable upon 30 days ' notice. 2 The Company's pay roll for November 1, 1940, shows about 154 employees in the unit claimed by the I. W. A to be appropriate and about 194 employees in the unit claimed by the I . E U to be appropriate According to this statement the I W. A. submitted 08 application -authorization cards bearing what appeared to be genuine original signatures The cards were dated from January to December 1940, inclusive The I W A also submitted a petition designating it as sole collective bargaining agency and requesting the Company to cease deducting dues for the I. E. U. from the pay of the signers. All the 77 signatures on'this petition, dated August 20, 1940, appeared to be genuine original signatures The I. W A', further submitted a similar petition dated December 12, 1940 , bearing what appeared to be 85 genu- ine original signatures - Eliminating duplications , 97 of the persons whose names appear on either the cards or the petitions are listed on the Coin pany's,pay roll of November 1, 1940. The I E U. submitted 67 authorisation cards bearing what appeared to be genuine origi- nal signatures These cards were dated from March to September 1940 inclusive. It also submitted 7 authorization cards of another type, bearing what appeared to be genuine original signatures These cards were dated in December 1940 It also submitted 5 application cards bearing what appeared .to be genuine original signatuies ' and dated in December 19'0, and 3 application-authorization cards bearing what appeared to be genuine omnginal signatures and dated in May 1937 The total number of persons whose names appear on these cards and on the Company's pay roll for November 1. 1'140, is 78. The names of 23 persons appear both on the proof submitted by the I E U. and by the I W A MEDFORD CORPORATION 259 Company's logging operations and upon the exclusion of the logging superintendent, the logging foreman, and the timekeeper. There was disagreement over the inclusion (a) of employees on the main line railroad, and (b) of certain employees claimed to be supervisory. As of November 1, 1940, there were about 154 employees within the classifications included by stipulation. (a) The I. W. A.,seeks to exclude from the unit main line section and train crews. The Company and the I. E. U. contend for their inclu- sion: On November 1, 1940, there were about 35 main line railroad employees.3 The railroad runs from the Company's logging camp at Butte Falls to its mill at Medford, a distance of approximately 35 miles. It is not a common carrier but is used only to transport logs to the mill and supplies to the camp. At Butte Falls the main line railroad connects with the logging camp railroad. The crews attached to' the camp railroad are engaged in hauling logs to the main line and taking empty cars back from the main line to the woods for loading; except as described below, camp and main line railroad crews are separate and distinct. The main line railroad employees are engaged. in maintaining the road and its equipment and in operating the two main line locomotives, called the one-spot and the three-spot locomotives. There are three section crews, with about five employees in each. The first of these maintains about 9 miles of track from the Medford yards to the Butte Creek railroad bridge. The hands on this crew live in Medford.. The second maintains about 13 miles of track from Butte Creek bridge to Derby Station, and resides in and about Eagle Point, which is apparently somewhere along this stretch. The third main- tains about 11 miles of track from Derby Station to Camp 3 at Butte Falls, and resides in and about Butte Falls. In the summer this crew also maintains track at Camp 2, not on the main line. A bridge crew of about five men maintains and replaces bridges along the main line. Most of it's hands live on ranches along the highway from Medford to Camp 3; some may live in Butte Falls. The two train crews on the main line are made up of firemen,_con- ductors, brakemen, and engineers. The three-spot crew makes a daily trip from Medford to Butte Falls and back. At the'mill, where there is apparently a connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad, the three-spot crew also switches cars loaded with, or emptied of, finished products. The crew normally consists of four men; at the time of the hearing it had six men. These men live in Medford. The one- spot crew makes its trip from Butte Falls to Medford and back; it makes this trip, however, irregularly, on the order of the woods super- 3 This figure includes five persons whose inclusion within the unit is also objected to by the I \V A. and the Company on the ground that they occupy supervisory positions 44O l i n-4 2 -Vol 30---13 260 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD intendent, the frequency depending upon the quantity of logs to be hauled. The members of this crew number about four and reside in and about Butte Falls.!- They-are sometimes assigned by the woods superintendent to.assist the three woods locomotive crews. On such days the one-spot engine lies idle. It is estimated that, on an annual or semi-annual basis,,the one-spot crew spends between 10 and 20 per cent of its time in the woods.4 Both crews operate under the dispatch- ing of the assistant manager, who appears to be located at the mill. Since August 1937 the Company has had with the I. E. U. an exclu- sive recognition agreement covering the wages, hours, and working conditions of the employees at its logging operations. About the same time it entered into a similar agreement for the mill with another local of the Industrial Employees' Union; Inc., not here a party. Although after 6 months these contracts became terminable upon 30 days' notice, they are still in force. The contracts, however, are ambiguous with regard to whether, or the extent to which, main line employees are covered by one contract or the other. With respect to the bargaining practice under these contracts the evidence is as follows. - Jurisdiction over main line employees lies in the woods local. Asa matter of convenience,-however, one member of the mill local's conference committee, set up under the mill contract, represents main line employees who live near Medford; 6 a member, of the corresponding committee of the woods local also represents main line employees, presumably those residing in the vicinity of Butte Falls.' The record contains only a few instances of actual bargaining for such employees -apart from the negotiated contracts referred to above. The woods local has dealt with the Company about the terms and conditions of erizployment of a member of the one-spot crew and members, of A he section crew' working between Camp 3 and Derby. The mill local has also conferred with the Company about a caboose which- was transferred from one train crew to another. Frequently the committees of the woods and the mill locals have met jointly with the management. We are of the opinion that, by reason of their functions and of their bargaining history, main line railroad employees are in general closely associated with the woods operations.' We shall include in the unit non-supervisory main line employees. 4 On the Company's list of main line employees as of November 1, 1940, there also ap- pear theee log car repairmen, a track patiolman, and a roundhouse foreman. The round- house foreman and the repairmen seem to be located at the mill 5 He is , at present, an engineer on the three-spot locomotive. According to E II Card, field representative of the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc , the committeeman represents the shop and 3-spot crew and the section crew- on the lower end." Membeis of the three-spot clew are the only persons in the afore-mentioned group for whom the i ecord definitely establishes attendance at meetings of the mill local. ' The main line employees represented by this committeeman appear to be members of the one-spot train crew and of the section clew working between Derby and Camp 3, who attend meetings of the woods local. MEDFORD' CORPORATION 261 (b) The Company and the I. W. A. seek to exclude certain 'em- ployees from the unit on the ground that they occupy supervisory positions; the I. E. U. opposes this contention. About ten employees are involved," five of whom are engaged in activity connected with the main line railroad., On the Company's list of employees they appear as foremen; they are considered by the Company to be "foremen or subforemen or strawbosses." They all have the power to recommend hire and discharge and to give orders to the employees under them, who range in number from 3 to 40; the majority of them perform such supervisory functions either ex- clusively or mainly, rather than participate in the work done by those whom they direct. - The I. E. U. excludes from membership only those supervisory employees who have the power to hire and discharge, while the I. W. A. also excludes those who have the power to recommend hire'or discharge. The I. E. U. contends that head fallers likewise have the power to recommend the hire and discharge of their second fallers; but no party is asking for their exclusion and it does not appear that a head faller exercises the same kind of authority over the second faller with whom he works that the afore-mentioned foremen do over the employees under their supervision. We are of the opinion that the employees claimed to be super- visory by the I. W. A. and the Company should be excluded from the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its logging operations in the vicinity of Butte Falls, Oregon, including main line railroad employees, but excluding the timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the logging foreman, the master mechanic foreman, the steel gang foreman, the spur mainte- nance foreman, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman, the main line section crew foremen, the bridge crew foreman, and the round- house foreman, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that such unit will insure to the employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by, and we shall, accordingly direct, an election by secret ballot. ' 8 They are . the master mechanic foreman , the steel gang foreman , the spur maintenance foreman, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman, the main line section crew foremen, the bridge crew foreman , and the roundhouse foreman. 262 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Throughout most of the year the Company's working force is stable, except for the fact that in the fall about 15 men are added to the pay roll to do brush piling and burning for about 2 or 3 months. The pay roll for November 1, 1940, shows about nine brush pilers. In that respect the Company indicated the pay roll was "unrepre- sentative," thereby casting some doubt on the eligibility of these melt to vote. Ordinarily they are rehired from year to year if available. When the brush, piling „work is completed ,'they are laid ;off, unless there are vacancies in the woods which they can fill; in such case they are given preference with respect to available jobs. We are of the opinion that the brush pilers on the pay roll for November 1, 1940, should be eligible to vote. We shall direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election herein, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, or absent because called, for military service, and em- ployees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off," but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause. In a previous decision the Board found the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc., to be employer dominated and, because of the interde- pendence of that organization and its locals, also found "each of its component parts . . . employer dominated." 10 The present record does not adequately disclose the relationship between the I. E. U. and its parent organization. The I. W. A. has not objected to participa- tion by the I. E. U. in the hearing or the election. It does not appear that the I. E. U. had sufficient notice that it might not be placed upon the ballot because of its connection with the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc. For the foregoing reasons we shall direct that its name appear on the ballot. 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 Medford Corporation, Butte Falls, Oregon, Brush pilers on the pay roll for November 1, 1940, who were not woiking during the pay-roll period preceding the date of the Direction of Election, are to be considered em- plo.Nees temporarily laid off Furthermore, the Company usually curtails its crew at the logging camp in February or March, depending upon the weather, and ordinarily does not resume normal operations until April The Company makes it a practice to recall em- ployees laid off ; the turn-over from year to year is slight Should the logging operations be so curtailed during the pay-roll peilod preceding the date of our Direction of Election here n, employees not then working are also to be considered employees temporarily laid off 10 Matter of McGoldrick Lumber Company, et at and Lumber and Sawmill TVorAer8 Union, etc, 19 N L R B 887 MEDFORD CORPORATION 263 within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company, including main line railroad employees, but excluding the timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the logging foreman, the master me- chanic foreman, the steel gang foreman, the spur maintenance fore- man, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman , the main line section crew foremen, the bridge crew foreman, and the roundhouse foreman, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain- ing, within thesmeaning of Section 9 (b) of the 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 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 DmEcTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Medford Corporation, Butte Falls, Oregon, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction of Election , under the supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region, act- ing in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and maintenance employees employed by the Company at its logging operations in the vicinity of Butte Falls, Oregon, during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date .of this Direction of Election , including main line railroad employees, employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation , or absent because called for military service, and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding the timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the logging foreman, the master mechanic foreman, the steel gang fore- man, the spur maintenance foreman , the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman, the main line section crew foremen , the bridge crew foreman, and the roundhouse foreman, and those who have since quit or been discharged for cause , to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Woodworkers of America, Local Union No. 6-224 -affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza- tions, or by Industrial Employees' Union, Local Union #8-11, or by neither.