Crown Zellerbach Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsAug 23, 1940

26 N.L.R.B. 1014 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

.In the Matter Of CROWN ZELLERBACH CORPORATION, CROWN WILLAM- ETTE PAPER COMPANY DIVISION and BOOMMEN AND RAFTERS LOCAL #68 In the Matter of. TIDEWATER TIMBER COMPANY and BOOMMEN AND RAFTERS LOCAL #68 Cases Nos. R-1814 and R-1815.-Decided August 23, 1940 Jurisdiction : lumber industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: refusal to accord recognition to union; elections necessary. Contract establishing organization as exclusive bargaining agent for all of Companies' employees in certain operations held, despite Companies' insist- ence to the contrary, no bar to a determination of representatives for small groups within the previous inclusive units, where the contracting organization does not oppose their separation into separate appropriate units, where the desires of the employees in the smaller units have.been known to the Companies for over one year, and where the contract has been orally renewed since their initial requests for separate recognition. Units Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : boommen and rafters of each of the Companies, respectively, including certain employees who supervise the work of the rest of the boominen but themselves engage in booming and rafting. AIr. Thomas P. Graham, Jr., for the Board. Griffith, Peck d Coke, by 11M1r. Clark B. Phillips, of Portland, Oreg., for Zellerbach. Mr. 0. F. Byerly, of Portland, Oreg., for Tidewater. Mr. James J. Molthan, of Seattle, Wash., for Local #68 and Local No. 5-4. Mr. W. C. Ruegnitz, of Portland, Oreg., for Columbia Basin Loggers. Mr. Bonnell Phillips and Mr. Richard A. Williams, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE On April 15, 1939, Boommen and Rafters Local #68, International Woodworkers of America, C. I. 0., herein called Local #68, filed with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washing- ton) two petitions alleging that questions affecting commerce had 26 N. L. R. B., No. 104 1014 CROWN ZELLERBACH CORPORATION 1015 arisen concerning the representation of employees, respectively, of Tidewater Timber Company, Olney, Oregon, herein called Tidewater, and of Crown Zellerbach Corporation, Crown Willamette Paper Company Division, Clatsop County, Oregon, herein called Zeller- bach, herein collectively called the Companies, and requesting investi- gations and the certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May 6, 1939, and on January 12, 1940, Local #68 filed amended petitions concerning the representation of employees of Zellerbach. On March 19, 1940, 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 investigations in the above matters and authorized the Regional Director to conduct them and to provide for appropriate hearings upon due notice. On April 8, 1940, the Board, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said. Rules and Regulations, further ordered that the aforesaid cases be consolidated. On April 8, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing in the consolidated cases, copies of which were duly served upon the Companies; Local #68; Northwest Council of Boommen and Rafters, International Woodworkers of America, C. I. 0.; and Lumber and Sawmill Workers, Local No. 5-4, International Woodworkers of America, C: I. 0., herein called Local No. 5-4. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on April 29, 1940, at Astoria, Oregon, before George Bokat, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. In the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner granted leave to Local No. 5-4 to intervene.' The Board, Tidewater, Zellerbach, Local No. 5-4, and Local #68 were represented by counsel 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. At the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted a motion by counsel for Local #68 to amend the petitions relating to Tidewater and Zellerbach so as to include certain additional employees in the respective units alleged to be appropriate.' During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made other rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Ex- I No . 5-4 is also referred to in the record as Local No. 4 and as the Seaside (Oregon ) Local. 2 An appearance was also entered by W. C . Ruegnitz , of Portland , Oregon, on behalf of Columbia Basin Loggers, an employer's association of which Tidewater and Zellerbach are members. No motion to inter- vene was made however on behalf of Columbia Basin Loggers , and its representative did not otherwise participate in the hearing. 3 The Trial Examiner also granted without objection a motion to amend the petition relating to Zeller- bach so as to exclude from the alleged appropriate unit certain employees engaged in Zellerbach 's former operations at Bear Creek , for the reason that such operations were no longer being conducted. 1016 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD aminer , and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. At the close of the hearing a motion for dismissal of the petition with respect to the employees of Zellerbach was referred by the Trial Examiner to the Board . For the reasons appearing below, the motion is hereby denied. On May 18, 1940 , Zellerbach filed a brief which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANIES Tidewater Timber Co ., a Michigan corporation with its principal place of business at Olney, Oregon, is engaged in " commercial logging." During the year 1939 Tidewater sold logs exceeding in value $500,000, of which over 50 per cent were sold to points outside the State of Oregon. Of the remainder , logs valued at $160,780 were sold by Tide- water to Western Cooperage Company, an Oregon corporation en- gaged in the manufacture of wood products . Over 50 per cent of the products manufactured by Western Cooperage Company from timber sold to it by Tidewater during this period were sold and shipped to points outside Oregon. In addition to its logging operations, Tide- water maintains, through a wholly owned subsidiary, the "Astoria Southern Railway," an Oregon railroad by which Tidewater feeds logs owned by it and by other logging concerns to its Clatsop County boom. . Crown Zellerbach Corporation , a Nevada corporation having its principal office in San Francisco , California, is engaged in the manu- facture of wood pulp and paper. Zellerbach conducts operations in several states, among them Oregon, California , Washington , and New York. Zellerbach's "Lewis and Clark" operation, with which this proceeding is concerned , is located in Clatsop County, Oregon, and is controlled by Zellerbach 's Crown Willamette Paper Company Division, an unincorporated subsidiary having its principal office in Portland, Oregon. During the 6-month period from October 1, 1939, to March 31, 1940, Zellerbach 's total sales of products originating . in Oregon amounted in value to $3,934 , 322, over 90 per cent of this income being derived from sales to points outside the . State of Oregon. Timber logged on Zellerbach 's "Lewis and Clark" properties is transported by rail to the Company's " Lewis and Clark Booms ," from which a large percentage is towed to company -owned processing plants located at Camas, Washington , and at Cathlamet , Washington. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Boominen and Rafters Local #68, chartered by the International Woodworkers of America, herein called the I. W. A., is a labor or- CROWN ZELLERBACH CORPORATION 1017 ganization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership boommen and rafters employed by Tide- water and Zellerbach. Local #68 is also affiliated with Northwest Council of Boommen and Rafters, an organization composed of various boommen's local unions which has heretofore conducted col- lective bargaining on behalf of its constituent locals with various logging concerns. Lumber and Sawmill Workers Local No. 5-4, and Lumber and Sawmill Workers Local No. 5-43, the latter herein called Local No. 5-43, are labor organizations chartered by the I. W. A. and affiliated with the C. I. O. Local No. 5-43 and Local No. 5-4 admit to member- ship employees of Tidewater and Zellerbach, respectively. Both Local No. 5-43 and Local No. 5-4 are members of Columbia River District Council of Lumber and Sawmill Workers, herein called Columbia River Council, an organization which has heretofore bar- gained collectively with various wood products and logging companies, including Tidewater and Zellerbach, on behalf of various local unions of lumber and sawmill worker's. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Local #68, the petitioner herein, has requested that the boommen and rafters employed by Tidewater and by Zellerbach in its "Lewis and Clark" operations be separated for the purposes of collective bargaining from the other employees of the Companies and that it be certified as their collective bargaining agent. Of the approximately 300 employees of Tidewater, 19 are boommen.4 Of Zellerbach's approximately 180 Lewis and Clark employees, 6 are boommen. It was stipulated that, at the time of the hearing, all but one of Tide- water's boommen were members of Local #68, and that 4 out of the 6 boommen employed by Zellerbach were likewise members of Local #68. The present request for the separate certification of boommen's representatives has been made following a substantial history of collective bargaining between the Companies and their employees here involved. On May 20, 1937, following a general strike in the lumber industry, Columbia Basin Loggers, an employer's association representing Tidewater and some 24 other timber companies, entered into an "arbitration award and working agreement" with the Columbia River District Council of Lumber and Sawmill Workers, an organization at that time affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. In so far as Tidewater was concerned, the arbitration award, commonly referred to as and herein called the Hope-Thompson Award, provided 4 It was testified at the hearing that there is little functional difference between boommen and rafters. The designation boommen, when used hereinafter , will include both boommen and rafters. 1018 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD inter alia for recognition of Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Local 2654 as the sole collective bargaining agent for all employees of Tidewater. Thereafter the Columbia River Council and many of its constituent local unions, including Local 2654, withdrew from the A. F. of L. and became affiliates of the International Woodworkers of America, C. I. O. Local 2654 was thereafter designated as Local No. 5-43. This change in affiliation did not affect the existing agreement between the Columbia District Council and Columbia Basin Loggers. The Hope-Thompson Award, by its terms binding until March 1, 1.938, was on that date renewed, and on March 1, 1939, was again renewed for the period of a year. While the parties have not formally executed a renewal of the Award since its expiration on March 1, 1940, there has been "a mutual agreement between the parties concerned to continue the agreement in effect during . . . negotiations which are now in progress." The employees of Zellerbach's Lewis and Clark operations were not included in the terms of the-original Hope-Thompson Award.,' Such employees have however been represented for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining by various labor organizations since 1935. On July 17 of that year Zellerbach entered into a signed "working agreement" with International Brotherhood of Pulp Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers covering all its Lewis and Clark employees. This agreement having expired, Zellerbach in March 1937, entered into a similar accord with Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2588. Upon the expiration of this agreement, Local No. 5-4, successor to Local 2588,8 entered into prolonged bargaining negotiations with Zellerbach and finally, on April 3, 1939, informed Zellerbach by letter that it wished "to come under the (Hope-Thompson) arbitration Award now in effect between the Columbia Basin Loggers and the Columbia River District Council . . . for collective bargaining purposes .with Crown Zellerbach Corporation's Clatsop County operations." Zellerbach thereafter signified its assent to this proposition and on May 1, 1939, made application for and received -membership in Columbia Basin Loggers. As has before been stated in substance, the Hope-Thompson Award provides in part that "during the life of this agreement the union shall be the sole collective bargaining agency for all the em- ployees in the operation of the employer." It is Zellerbach's con- tention that Local No. 5-4 represented all of its Lewis and Clark employees at the time of its request to come under the terms of the Hope-Thompson Award, and that consequently its Lewis and Clark boommen "should not be permitted to withdraw from that agreement b In signing the Hope-Thompson Award, Columbia Basin Loggers represented Zellerbach "as to its Cath- 1 amet (Washington ) operations only." 6 The numerical change in designation was made at the time Columbia River Council and its member ocals changed affiliation from A. F. of L. to C. I. 0. CROWN ZELLERBACH CORPORATION 1019 at this time ." Tidewater joins Zellerbach in urging that the continued existence of the Hope-Thompson Award as a working agreement constitutes a present bar to the separate certification of boommen's representatives. It may be noted , however, that the Hope-Thompson Award as originally executed contained a provision specifically exempting from its terms the boommen and rafters of two companies , for the reason that these employees were already organized into Boommen and Rafters Locals. Such boommen and rafters as were employed by the other 23 companies involved were not, as far as the record shows, similarly organized , and it therefore appears that the parties to the agreement recognized the propriety of granting to boommen separate recognition for the purposes of collective bargaining . Indeed, as far as the Columbia River District Council is concerned , there has been a continued understanding that the Lumber and Sawmill Unions which comprise its membership should bargain for boommen only until separate bargaining agencies in the form of Boommen 's Locals could be established. This position was clearly set forth in a letter sent by the Columbia River Council to the Columbia Basin Loggers on March 29, 1939, stating: This is to notify you that the Boommen and Rafters on the Columbia River have their own local autonomy , and are or- ganized under the Boommen and Rafters Local Unions, affiliated with the Boommen and Rafters District Council . . . designat- ing that Council as their bargaining agency. Hoping this will clear the way for peaceful negotiations between the Columbia Basin Loggers Association and the Boommen and Rafters District Council . . . The Columbia Basin Loggers in reply cited the terms of the Hope- Thompson Award , and stated that "We do not believe that there can be any change in this matter excepting that the National Labor Relations Board .should first certify some other Union ." Thereafter, on April 15, 1939, Local #68 filed its petitions for certification. It will be noted that at the time of the above-quoted correspondence Columbia Basin Loggers did not represent Zellerbach , which came under the terms of the Hope-Thompson Award on May 1, 1939. Local #68 had, however , made, demands ' upon Zellerbach for recogni- tion prior to this date , and Zellerbach came under the Award with knowledge that its Lewis and Clark boommen desired separate recognition as a bargaining unit. As before stated, the Hope-Thompson Award formally terminated on March 1, 1940, and has since been continued as a working agreement during negotiations which are now in progress . In such negotiations 1020 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the Columbia District Council is, according to the testimony of its secretary , making no attempt to bargain on behalf of boommen. In his testimony this official not only urged that Local #68 be accorded recognition as a bargaining agent for the Companies ' boommen, but also stated that any attempt upon the part of the Columbia District Council to exercise jurisdiction over such employees would be in violation of the constitution of the International Woodworkers of America, with which both Columbia District Council and Local #68 are affiliated. From the foregoing considerations we conclude that the Hope- Thompson Award constitutes no bar to a present determination of representatives . As above noted the Hope-Thompson Award expired on March 1, 1940. The inclusive units established under that Award have not been regarded as unchangeable by the Columbia District Council , and that organization now urges that the Companies' boom- men be permitted to divorce themselves from the former units in order that they may be represented by a craft organization , the Northwest Council of Boommen and Rafters , designed to represent. boommen throughout the lumber industry . The companies have been informed of the boommen 's desires for well over a year , and have continued to deny them recognition on the basis of the Hope-Thompson Award, despite the fact that it, having formally expired, is no longer terminable on a fixed date. We find that questions have arisen concerning the representation of employees of Tidewater and of Zellerbach. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the questions , concerning representation which have arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Companies described in Section I above, have close, intimate, and substantial relations to trade, traffic , and commerce among the several States, and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS Local #68 urges that the boommen and rafters employed by Tide- water constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining ; and makes the same contention with respect to the boom- men and rafters employed at Zellerbach 's Lewis & Clark operations. At the hearing Tidewater 's counsel stated that it was taking no position as to the appropriate unit. Zellerbach on the other hand contends that a unit composed solely of boommen and rafters is not appropriate and urges that such employees should not be segregated from the remainder of its workers at the Lewis & Clark operations. CROWN ZELLERBACH CORPORATION 1021 The record shows, however, that boommen and rafters have received recognition from other employers, and in their bargaining history have assumed the status of a well-defined craft. The boommen em- ployed by Zellerbach are accorded departmental seniority and work under the supervision of separate foremen. Their work is mostly performed on water at a distance of some 14 miles from the Lewis and Clark lumber camp, and requires a certain degree of skill and experi- ence not possessed by other employees of the Company. As has been pointed out in Section III above, the Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Unions do not wish to represent boommen and rafters, and their representatives have urged the adoption of the unit desired by Local #68. Although Zellerbach has stressed the fact that its Lewis and Clark operations, unlike the commercial booms operated by Tide- water, provide raw materials for its own production of wood pulp and paper, the work of the boommen engaged in both operations is sub- stantially the same.' In view of the desires of the employees involved, the functional differences existing between the work of boommen and other lumber employees, and the history of collective bargaining among boommen, we are of the opinion that the boommen and rafters employed by the Companies constitute appropriate bargaining units. At the hearing Local #68 moved to amend its petition relating to Zellerbach so as to include within the alleged appropriate unit H. L. Johnansen and Don McKinney. These employees supervise the work of the rest of the. boommen but themselves engage in booming and rafting. Zellerbach made no objection to this amendment and we shall include the above-named employees within the appropriate unit. Local #68 made a similar motion at the hearing to include Edward Haikura and William Lindgren, supervisory boommen employed by Tidewater. We shall likewise include these persons within the unit of Tidewater employees. We find (1) that the boommen and rafters employed by Tidewater, including Edward Haikura and William Lindgren, and (2) that the boommen and rafters employed in Zellerbach's Lewis & Clark oper- ations, including H. L. Johnansen and Don McKinney, constitute units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that such units insure to employees of the Companies 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 At the hearing both Companies were asked whether, in the event the Board found that the units urged by Local #68 were appropriate, 7 See Matter of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 107, Boommen and Rafters, et at., 16 N. L. R. B. 002. 1022 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the Companies would be willing to waive the holding of elections and to agree to a certification by the Board upon the basis of the record. Although both counsel signified their assent, they did so with certain reservations. Under the circumstances we shall order elections by secret ballot in order to resolve the questions concerning representation which have arisen. All parties desire and we shall direct that the em- ployees within the appropriate units whose names appear on the Com- panies' pay roll immediately preceding this Decision and Direction of Elections, including those who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, and those who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, shall be eligible to vote. 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. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Tidewater Timber Company, Olney, Oregon, and of Crown Zellerbach Corporation, Crown Willamette Paper Company Division, Clatsop County, Oregon, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. The boommen and rafters employed by Tidewater Timber Com- pany, including Edward Haikura and William Lindgren, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 3. The boommen and rafters employed by Crown Zellerbach Cor- poration, Crown Willamette Paper Company Division, at its Lewis and Clark operations, including H. L. Johnansen and Don McKinney, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. . 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 Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Re- lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigations authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with Tidewater Timber Company, Olney, Oregon, and with Crown Zellerbach Cor- poration, Crown Willamette Paper Company Division, Clatsop Coun- ty, 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 CROWN ZELLERBACH CORPORATION 1023 National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations among: (1) The boommen and rafters, including Edward Haikura and William Lindgren, employed by Tidewater Timber Company, Olney, Oregon, during the pay-roll period next preceding the issuance of this Direction, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation and those who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Boommen & Rafters Local #68, chartered by the International Woodworkers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining; (2) The boommen and rafters, including H. L. Johnansen and Don McKinney, employed by Crown Zellerbach Corporation, Crown Willamette Paper Company Division, Clatsop County, Oregon, at its Lewis and Clark operations during the pay-roll period next preceding the issuance of this Direction, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation and those who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but ex- eluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Boommen & Rafters Local #68, chartered by the International Woodworkers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.