Henry Lumber Co.

In the Matter of HENRY LUMBER COMPANY and-LUMBER AND SAWMILL WORgERs UNIONS A. F. L.• In the -Matter of HENRY LUMBER COMPANY 'and -INTERNATIONAL WOOD- woin ERs • oP AMERICA; LOCAL No. 6-12, C. I. O, Cases Nos. R-3096 and R-3097. -Decided-October .28,'1941 Jurisdiction : lumber industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: stip- ulated ; eligibility and appearances on ballot stipulated ; 'election' necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : sawmill, 9ard, logging, and planing- mill operations with specified inclusions and exclusions ; stipulation as to. Mr. John B; Ebinger, of-Ashland, Oreg., for the Company. Mr. George Brown, of Klamath Falls, Oreg., for the I. W. A. Mr. J. G. Wolf, of Portland, Oreg., for the A. F. L:, Mr. Harry Cooper, of counsel to the Board. DECISION - AND - DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On August 2, 1941, Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, A. F. L., herein called the A. F. L., 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 Henry Lumber Company, Ashland, Oregon, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, 49 Stat...449, herein called the Act. On August 18, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, •actingg pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Section 3, of Na- tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Di- rector to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. - On September 17 and September 24, 1941, the Regional Di- 36 N. L. R. B., No. 89. 452 -.,HENRY,-LUMBE t,';COMPANY: ... .. 453 rector issued a. notice. of hearing, and a notice of postponement of hear-_ ing, 'respectively, :copies of both: of which were duly served upon the Company,.the A. F.:L., and upon International Woodworkers of Amer- ica, Local No. 642, C. I. 0., herein called the I. W. A., a labor organ- ization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. On September 27, 1941, the I. W. A. filed with the Re- gional Director a petition for investigation and certification of repre- sentatives.. On the same date the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III,. Section 3,' of said Rules and Regula- tions, ordered an investigation in the case arising upon the petition filed by the I. W. A.,, authorized the. Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, and, acting pursuant-to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2) of said Rules and Regula- tions, ordered that.,the cases be. consolidated. On September 29, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing in the case arising upon the petition filed by the I. W. A.1 Copies of the notice of hearing were duly served upon the Company, the A. F. L. and the I. W. A. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on October 1, 1911, at Klamath Falls, Oregon, before William A. Babcock, Jr., the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the A. F. L., and the I. W. A. were represented by counsel or duly desig- nated representatives, and participated in the hearing. Full 'oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. Dur- ing the course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made rulings on the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner 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 Henry Lumber Company is a corporation engaged in the, manufac- ture of lumber. It operates a sawmill and logging operation at Lin- coln, Oregon, and a planing mill . at Mistletoe,2 'Oregon, which is approximately 18 miles from Lincoln. In the year 1940, the Company produced at its sawmill about five and one-half million feet of lumber. 1This notice also notified the parties that the . two cases had been consolidated for the purposes of hearing. 2 Mistletoe is about 6 miles from Ashland, Oregon, which is the post office address of the Company. 454 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Approximately 50 per cent of the lumber manufactured' at the sawmill is processed. at the planing mill.. The. remaining 50 per cent is sold "in the rough" to box factories. " More that ' 90 -per- cent-''of -the lumber processed at the planing mill is sold to customers located outside the State of Oregon. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, A. F. L., and International' Woodworkers of America, Local 6-12, are labor organizations affili- ated with the American Federation of. Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, respectively. They admit to membership, employees of the Company. M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION At the hearing it was stipulated by the parties that a question con- cerning representation of the Company_'s:'.'employees -:.had=.: arisen in that on or about July 30, 1941, the Company had advised the A. F. L. that it desired certification of the A. -F. L. by the Board prior to recognizing it as exclusive bargaining representative. It was also, stipulated at the hearing that the A. F. L. and the I. W. A. each repre- sent a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. 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 commerce. and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The parties stipulated at the hearing, and we find, that all of the- employees of the Company in its sawmill, yard, and logging, operations. at Lincoln; Oregon, and at its planing-mill operation at Mistletoe, Oregon, excluding office and supervisory employees; and excluding at Lincoln, mill superintendent, yard foreman, and woods foreman and. contractor; and excluding at Mistletoe, foreman and grader, and office- HENRY - LUMBER COMPANY 455 employee ; constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.3 , . VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The evidence discloses that the Company's operations at Lincoln are seasonal in character and are normally shut down because of weather- conditions from approximately the middle of October to the early part of May .4 It has been the Company's practice when resuming opera- tions in the spring of the year to reemploy available former employees. It was stipulated at the hearing that the Board might direct an elec- tion,' to*, be held after the resumption of normal operations in the, spring of 1942 and that the persons eligible to vote should be those who are in the employ of the Company on the first pay day following- the resumption of normal operations, subject to such limitations and additions as are usually set forth in a Direction of Election. It was further stipulated that such election should be held within 30 days after such first pay day. The stipulation also indicates that the labor- organizations here involved desire to appear on the ballot as follows Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2898, A. F. L., and International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 6-12, C. I. O. We shall give effect to the foregoing stipulation 5 and the desires of the. unions with respect to their designation 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- sentatioir of employees of Henry Lumber Company, Ashland, Oregon,, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees of the Company at its sawmill, yard, and logging operations at Lincoln, Oregon, and at its planing-mill operation at Mistletoe, Oregon, excluding office and supervisory employees; and excluding at Lincoln, mill superintendent, yard foreman, and woods, foreman and contractor; and excluding at Mistletoe, foreman and 8 It was further stipulated, and we find, that the Company has in the past conducted its logging operations under contract with one William Cox ; that the employees of said: contractor should be included in the unit and that said contractor should be excluded from the unit ; and that in the event that the logging operations in the future are con- ducted directly by the Company , the woods superintendent or foreman should be excluded from the unit. On the basis of the foregoing stipulation we find that the persons working under Cox are, for the purpose of this proceeding , employees of the Company. * The planing mill operates intermittently during the winter season. 5 The Regional Director shall determin : in his discretion the time of the Company's. resumption of normal operations. 456 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD grader, and office employee; constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective 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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-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 Henry Lumber Company, Ashland, Oregon, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted within thirty (30) days after the resumption of normal operations by the Company in the spring of 1942, 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 Regula- tions, among all employees of the Company at its sawmill, yard, and logging operations at Lincoln, Oregon," and at its planing-mill oper- ation at Mistletoe, Oregon, who were employed during the first pay- roll period following the resumption of normal operations in 1942, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding office and supervisory employees, and excluding at Lincoln, mill super- intendent, yard foreman, and woods foreman and contractor, and ex- cluding at Mistletoe, foreman and grader, and office employee, and excluding all employees of the Company who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be repre- sented for the purposes of collective bargaining by Lumber and Saw- mill Workers Union, Local No. 2898, A. F. L., International Wood- workers of America, Local No. 6-12, C. I. 0., or by neither. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election. 6 See footnote 3, supra.