Madison Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 21, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 663 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter Of MADISON LUMBER COMPANY and UNITED RETAIL,
WHOLESALE & DEPT. STORE EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH
THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Case No. 15-R-1065.-Decided March 21, 1944
Messrs. Deutch, Kerrigan c Stiles and Mr. James H. Morrison, of
New Orleans, La., for the Company.
Mr. Warren Woods, of New Orleans, La., for the CIO.
Mr. Bently G. Byrnes, of New Orleans, La., for the Council and the
Millmen.
Mr. Leo Carter, of New Orleans, La., for the Teamsters.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Retail, Wholesale & Dept. Store
Employees of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Madison Lumber Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice before Lawrence H. Whitlow, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at New Orleans, Louisiana, on
February 3, 1944. The Company, the CIO, and New Orleans Building
& Constlauction Trades Council, herein called the Council, and Millmen
& Millwrights Local 1321, herein called the Millmen, appeared and
participated.' All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues.2 The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
i International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers of
America, Local 270, A. F. of L appeared and made an oral motion for intervention but
withdrew its motion before it had been ruled upon by the Trial Examiner . The teamsters
did not participate in the hearing.
2 By stipulation of the parties , certain inaccuracies in the printed record were corrected.
It is hereby ordered that said corrections be physically incorporated into the printed record.
55 N. L . R. B., No. 117.
663
664 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Madison Lumber Company is owned and operated by Denninger,
'Inc., a Louisiana corporation. It operates a factory and mill in New
Orleans, Louisiana, where it manufactures and distributes mill-work
and building materials. Materials shipped to the plant from States
other than Louisiana amounted in value to between $300,000 and
$400,000 during the year 1943. The value of material shipped by the
Company out of the State of Louisiana amounted during that year
to approximately $90,000.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Retail, Wholesale & Dept. Store Employees of America, affil-
iated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor or-
ganization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
New Orleans Building Trades Council and Millmen and Mill-
wrights Local 1312, both affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, are labor organizations admitting to membership skilled em-
ployees of the Company's sash department.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the CIO as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the CIO has
been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of employ-
ees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The CIO requests a unit of all maintenance and production em-
ployees in the Company's plant, including the laborers in the sash
8 The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 62 authorization cards 40 of which
bore the names of persons listed on the Company ' s pay roll of December 23, 1943, which
contained the names of 87 employees in the appropriate unit ; and that the cards were
dated October , November , and December 1943
Neither AFL organization claimed an interest other than in the sash department em-
ployees, which interest was established by their contract with the Company covering em-
ployees in that department.
MADISON LUMBER COMPANY 665
department, but excluding all office, clerical and supervisory employ-
ees, and all employees in the sash department represented by the Mill-
men. The Millmen and the Council agree that the unit requested is
appropriate except insofar as it would include sash department em-
ployees. The Company takes no position in the matter.
The Millmen has a contract with the Company concerning employ-
ees of its sash department. The coverage of the contract is as follows:
This contract shall cover all millwork employees of the under-
signed employer engaged in production, including workers at
machines or at benches and glazers, but shall not include helpers,
off-bearers, packers, drivers, maintenance men, office and shipping
employees, and all other employees not strictly engaged in the
production of millwork.
The Millmen admits that the laborers in the sash department are
denied membership in its organization and are not covered by its
contract because of their lack of skill. The Council contends, how-
ever, that the laborers are free to enter another of its affiliate organi-
zations and that they are represented by the Council in the same unit
as the Millmen. Since the Millmen is the only constituent organiza-
tion of the Council which represents employees of the Company, and
since the Millmen's contract clearly excludes the laborers in the sash
department we find no merit in the Council's contention. Moreover,
the unit represented by the Millmen is based not upon departmental
but upon craft considerations and the unit requested by the CIO is,
in effect, a residual unit covering all maintenance and production
employees other than those in the single craft group presently repre-
sented. We believe, therefore, that the laborers in the sash depart-
ment may more properly be represented in the unit requested by the
CIO than in the unit represented by the Millmen.
We find that all maintenance and production employees in the
Company's plant, including the laborers in the sash department but
excluding all office and clerical employees, all supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend
such action, and all employees in the sash department other than
laborers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
666 DECTSIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.4
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 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain repre-
sentatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Madison
Lumber Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, an election 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 Fifteenth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section
IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi-
ately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who
did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on
vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the
armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person
at the,polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to
the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by United Retail, Wholesale & Dept. Store Employees of
America affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
+ Neither the Milimen nor the Council has indicated that it has an interest in the unit
herein found appropriate . Neither requests a place on the ballot.