Lewis Lumber Co.

In the Matter of LEWIS LUMBER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL WooD- WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION No. 257 , AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Case No. R-2-1j16.-Decided May 9. 1941 Jurisdiction : lumber industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal to accord union recognition until it is 'certified by the Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : determination of whether em- ployees of' planing mill of lumber manufacturing plant located 17 miles from sawmill and logging camp constitute separate unit or are part of company-wide unit including sawmill and logging camp held dependent, on desires of employees. Mr. Thomas P. Graham, Jr., for the Board. Mr. E. R. Bryson;, of Eugene, Oreg., for the Company., Mr. Hale G. Thompson, of Eugene, Oreg., for the I. W. A. Mr. C. P. Richards, of Goshen, Oreg., for the L. & S. W. Mr. William T. Little, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE On January 4, 1911, International Woodworkers of America, Local Union 257, affiliated with the C. I. 0.,1 herein called the I. W. A., filed with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Lewis Lumber Company, Dexter, Oregon, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur- suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On March 15, 1941, 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 '1 The petition was originally filed in the name of W C . Funk, international organizer At the hearing the petition was amended , without objection, to designate the petitioner as it appears above. 31 N. L. R. B., No. 113. 688 LEWIS LUMBER COMPAA'Y ' 689 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. On March 17, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the I. W. A., and Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2574, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the L. & S. W., a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation.2 Pursuant to notice,, a hearing was held on March 24, 1941, at Eugene, Oregon, before.Edward Grandison Smith, the Trial Exam- iner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Board, the Company, and the I." W. A. were represented by counsel, and the L. & S. W. by a representative, and all participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine wit- nesses, 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 Ex- aminer and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Lewis Lumber Company, an Oregon corporation having its princi- pal office and place of business at Dexter, Oregon, is engaged in logging operations near Dexter and operates lumber manufacturing plants at Dexter and Pengra, Oregon. During 1939 the Company produced approximately 17,500,000 board feet of logs, lumber, and lumber products at its plants. Between 90 and 95 per cent of these products were shipped from the Company's plants to points outside the State of Oregon. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. HE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Woodworkers of America, Local Union 257, is It -labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organi- zations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. . 2 A copy of the notice of hearing was also sent to a labor organization known as Indus- trial Employees Union, Inc. That labor organization , howeN er, did not appear at the hearing or seek to intervene in this proceeding. 690 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2574, is a labor organization chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. & Joiners of America, and affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On December 31, 1940, the I. W. A., requested exclusive recogni- tion for the employees of the Company. The Company advised the I. W. A. that it was bargaining with certain locals of the Industrial Employees Union, Inc.,3 and that it would not recognize the I. W. A. until it was certified by the Board. A statement prepared by a field examiner of the Board and intro- duced in evidence at the hearing shows that the I. W. A. and the L. & S. W. represent a substantial number of employees in the units claimed to be appropriate.4 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 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. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Company's business comprises a logging camp, a sawmill, and a planing mill. The I. W. A. and the Company propose a unit consisting of the employees of all three divisions of the Company. The L. & S. W. claims that two units are appropriate : one con- sisting of employees of the logging camp and sawmill and the other consisting of employees of the planing mill. All parties agreed upon the exclusion of supervisory and office employees, officers, and stockholders. 3'The Board has since ordered these locals of the Industrial Employees Union, Inc. dis- established Matter of Lewis Lumber Company, et al. and Williamette Valley District Council of Lumber and Sawmill Workers , United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the A F. of L, 29 N . L R B 1090 ' The field examiner's report shows that 64 employees of the Company had signed appli- cation cards for the I. W. A., and 14 for the L. & S. W. There are approximately 115 employees in the unit proposed by the I W.A., and 43 in one unit ( planing mill) proposed by the L. & S. 'V and 82 in the other ( logging operation and sawmill) LEWIS LUMBER . COMPANY 691 Timber is felled at the logging camp and transported about 9 miles to the sawmill at Dexter. At the sawmill the timber is cut into rough lumber and sent by flume to the planing mill at Pengra, about 17 miles from the sawmill. At the planing mill the rough lumber is processed into,the finished product. While the distance between the planing mill and the sawmill and logging camp would warrant considering the planing mill as a separate unit, as claimed by the L. & S. W., the integrated nature of the Company's opera- tions would also warrant considering it as part of the larger company- ,wide unit claimed by the I. W. A. It thus appears that the planing-mill employees might be included in the same unit as the employees of the logging camp and sawmill, or might constitute a separate unit. Accordingly, we shall direct that separate elections be held among (1) the employees of the saw- mill and logging camp, excluding supervisory and office employees, officers, and stockholders, to determine whether they desire to be represented by the I. W. A., by the L. & S. W., or by neither ; and (2) among the employees of the planing mill, excluding supervisory and office employees,, officers, and stockholders, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by the I. W. A.5 Upon the results of the elections will depend, in part, our determination of the appropriate unit or units. If a majority of the employees of the sawmill and logging camp and those of the planing mill designate the I. W. A. as their collective bargaining representative, then the employees of the sawmill, logging camp, and planing mill shall con- stitute a single appropriate unit. Otherwise they shall constitute two separate units. The parties agree that certain supervisory and office employees, officers, and stockholders should be excluded from the unit or units they claim to be appropriates We see no reason to depart from the "desires of the parties. In addition the I. W. A. would 'exclude from, and the Company include in the unit claimed to be appropriate the following employees, whom the I. W. A. claims have the power to discharge : Allyn Markham, George Brewer, Frank Smith, Ed- ward Zoulek, Jesse Phelps, Guy Lewis, Henry Williams, and George Keable. The L. & S. W. takes no position as to the exclusion of these individual employees. Allyn Markham is listed on the sawmill pay roll as a flume boss, in which capacity he supervises the work of five men, is in charge of 6 The L. & S. W. representative at the hearing testified that it maintained only one local because its organization had not yet extended to the planing mill . It is therefore apparent that the.L & S W. has no membership among•.the employees of the planing mill. We shall accordingly exclude it from the ballot in the planing-mill election. 6 John Huntington , William Wilkins, Ray ' Grube, John Cushing, W. G. Younger, James 11linton,'R. Hayden, and T. A. Reed. 441843-42-vol 31-43 692 DECISIONS OF--NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD flume maintenance, and sect that the lumber gets down the flume to the planing mill. George Brewer is listed on the planing mill pay roll as a green chain foreman , in which capacity he supervises the work of 15 men. Frank Smith is listed on the planing mill pay roll' as a car-loading tally-man, in which capacity he supervises the loading of cars and the work of four to six men under him. Edward Zoulek is listed on the planing mill pay roll as a planer foreman , in which capacity he supervises the work of three men . E. A. Lewis, the Company president, testified that Zoulek had more authority than Markham, Brewer, and Keable. Jesse Phelps is listed on the logging pay roll as a bull buck and as such supervises the work of 16 buckers and fellers. Although Markham, Brewer, Smith , Zoulek, and Phelps all perform manual labor, it is clear from the-above that they exercise substantial supervisory functions . They are accordingly supervisory employees and shall not be entitled to vote in the elections. George Keable; who is listed on the planing mill pay roll , as a yard foreman, has no supervisory powers, , but merely keeps the superin- tendent informed as to whether material is ready for shipment. Guy Lewis, who is listed on the logging pay roll as a hook tender, has no supervisory duties or authority to hire, discharge , or recom- mend such action . Henry Williams, who is listed on the, logging pay roll as a road foreman, devotes a considerable portion of his time to working as a handy man or utility man and has no supervisory func- tion in connection with road construction . In view of the fact that Keable, Lewis, and Williams do not perform supervisory functions, they shall not be excluded but shall be entitled to participate in the, elections. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We,have hereinabove found that the question , concerning repre- sentation which has arisen can best be resolved by means of elections by secret ballot. We shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible 'to vote in the election shall be those employees who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the-date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSION OF LAW A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the represen- tation of employees of Lewis Lumber Company , Dexter, Oregon, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and '(7) of the National Labor Relations Act. LEWIS LUMBER COMPANY 693 DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 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 Reguations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Lewis Lumber Company, Dexter, Oregon, elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision 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 those employees of Lewis Lumber Company who fall within the groups described below who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction including employees who did not work during such pay- roll 'period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active mili- tary service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause; (1) All employees of the logging camp and sawmill operations of the Company, excluding supervisory and office employees, officers, and stockholders, the flume boss, and the bull buck, to determine whether they desire to be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by International Woodworkers of America, Local Union 257, affiliated with the C. I. 0., or by Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2574, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Car- penters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the • American Federation of Labor, or by neither. (2) Among all employees of the planing-mill operation of the Company, -excluding supervisory and office employees , officers. and stockholders, the green-chain foremen, the planer foremen, and Frank Smith to determine whether or not they desire to be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by International Woodworkers of America, Local Union 257, affiliated with the C. I. O. MR. EDWIN S . SMITH, dissenting : For the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in the Allis- Chalmers 7 and subsequent cases, and in Matter of Buckley Hemlock Mills, et al. and International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 52,8 I would not permit the employees of the planing mill to separate themselves from the, logging and sawmill employees. T Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company and International Union,. United Automobile Workers of America, Local 248, 4 N. L. R. B. 159. 8 15 N L R B. 498.