Pelican Bay Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 7, 1940

23 N.L.R.B. 650 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of PELICAN BAY LUMBER COMPANY, A CORPORATION and
INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION No. 6-12,
AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Case No. R-17'34.-Decided May 7, 1940
Lumber Industry-Investigation of Representatives: controversy concerning
representation of its employees : rival organizations ; refusal of employer to
recognize either organization as exclusive representative until determination by'
Board-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining- all production and main-
tenance employees at logging camp exclusive of watchmen, clerical and super-
visory employees; request of employer for unit consisting of both logging-camp
and lumber-mill employees denied-Election Ordered: request of employer that
rival labor organization be placed on ballot rejected because that organization
stated at hearing it did not desire to participate ; eligibility to vote to be deter-
mined by pay roll next preceding Direction of Election ; earlier pay roll sug-
gested by parties rejected as too remote.
Mr. Patrick H. Walker, for the Board.
Mr. R. C. Groesbeck, of Klamath Falls, Oreg., and Mr. Clarence
Coonan, of San Francisco, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. J. C. O'Neill, of Klamath Falls, Oreg., for the I. W. A.
Mr. N. Barr Miller, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 21, 1939, International Woodworkers of America,
Local Union No. 6-12, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Or-
ganizations, herein called the I. W. A., filed with the Regional Direc-
tor for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington) a petition alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Pelican Bay Lumber Company,
Pelican City, Oregon, herein called the Company, and requesting an
investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein
called the Act. On January 22, 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
23 N. L. R. B., No. 55.
650
PELICAN BAY LUMBER COMPANY 651
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, ordered an investigation
and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On January 25, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were served upon the Company, upon the
I. W. A., and upon Lumber and Sawmill Workers Local 2520, United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, A. F. of L., herein called the
Brotherhood. On February 6, 1940, the Regional Director issued an
order changing the place of hearing, copies of which were served
upon the above-named parties. The Company filed an answer to
the petition, which answer was dated February 3, 1940.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on February 8, 1940,
at Klamath Falls, Oregon, before Patrick H. McNally, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Board. At the hearing the Com-
pany and the I. W. A. were represented by counsel. The Brother-
hood did not enter an appearance. Full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing upon the issues was afforded all the parties.
During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made rulings
on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The
Board has reviewed all the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
The Company filed a brief which has been given due consideration
by the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes
the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 1
Pelican Bay Lumber Company is a corporation organized and
operating under the laws of the State. of Oregon, having its princi-
pal place of business at Klamath Falls, Oregon.
At Klamath Falls 2 the Company operates a sawmill, and planing
mill and box factory for the manufacture of box-shook, lumber, and
lumber byproducts, which it sells and distributes. It manufactures
annually products having an approximate value of $1,500,000, 95
per cent of which products are sold and shipped outside the State of
Oregon. The Company purchases annually in the course of its op-
erations raw products-stumpage, oil, and gasoline-of the approxi-
mate value of $270,000. Of the total materials purchased by the
The . facts stated herein are derived in part from a stipulation entered = into by' all the
parties.
4 The manufacturing plant is located approximately a mile and a half from Klamath
Falls , in an area which the petition designates as Pelican Bay, Oregon
,652 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company 11 per cent are purchased, shipped, and transported from
and through States other than the State of Oregon.
The Company operates a logging camp in Klamath County, on the
Klamath Indian Reservation, Oregon, approximately 60 to 70 miles
from its plant at Klamath Falls. From this camp are obtained be-
tween 90 and 95 per cent of the logs used by the Company in its
manufacturing operations. The remaining logs used in the manu-
facture of its products are cut by independent contractors from
timberland owned by the Company.3
At the time of the hearing 265 employees were working at the
Company's manufacturing plant at Klamath Falls, and 73 employees
at the camp. In November 1939, a month during which the plant and
the logging camp were operating at the normal production level,
there were 420 employees on the plant pay roll and 169 on the camp
pay roll.
The Board and the Company stipulated that the Company is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) of the Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Woodworkers of America, Local Union No. 6-12,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor
organization admitting to membership all persons engaged in the
woodworking and lumber byproducts industries. Employees of the
,Company, both at the logging camp and at the manufacturing plant,
are eligible for membership.
III. THE QUESTION' CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Three representatives of the I. W. A. called upon the president of
the Company on November 16 or 17, 1939, and stated that the I. W. A.
represented a majority of the employees in the Company's logging
camp. Afterward, sometime in December 1939, two Brotherhood rep-
resentatives called upon officials of the Company, and during the
conference , stated that they represented- a substantial-number-,of the
employees at the camp, and also discussed the representation of the
employees working at the manufacturing plant. On December 11,
1939, the I. W. A. by letter requested that officials of the Company
meet with a committee of the I. W. A. on the following Saturday.
The Company by letter on December 14, 1939, refused the request on
the ground that the procedure of the Act had already been invoked
by the I. W. A. and that the matter should be determined by that
8 These independent contractors supply their own men and equipment, and are paid a
per-1,000 rate for the logs cut The contracts under which they work are known in the
'logging industry as "gypo" contracts.
PELICAN BAY LUMBER COMPANY 653
proceeding. The President of the Company testified that neither the
I. W. A. nor the Brotherhood had made a direct demand for recog-
nition as the exclusive bargaining agent of the employees, but that he
inferred from the circumstances that each organization was demanding
recognition.
The company stated at the hearing that it did not know which
organization represented a majority of the employees in any of its
departments and would not recognize either of them without an
election.
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
In its petition the I. W. A. requests a separate bargaining unit
composed of all production and maintenance employees at the Com-
pany's logging camp, exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees.
The Company contends that a separate bargaining unit among em-
ployees of the logging camp is not appropriate and that a proper
unit for collective bargaining purposes should be composed of all
production and maintenance employees of the Company both at the
camp and the manufacturing plant.
The record discloses that the camp and the plant are 60 to 70 miles
apart. Travel and communication between the two places are diffi-
cult, especially because the camp is some 40 miles from the nearest
main traveled highway. The hiring of camp employees is done at
the camp and the camp superintendent handles camp grievances.
It is also established by the record that the camp and the manufac-
turing plant are operated under a unified system of business manage-
ment and that their operations are to a large degree interdependent.
Employees of the logging camp and the manufacturing plant are
both eligible to membership in the I. W. A., and the local involved
in this proceeding has members among both groups of the Company's
employees. However, the constitution of the I. W. A. provides for
the establishment of sublocals in any locality if desired by a majority
654 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the members in the locality. Its representatives stated at the hear-
ing that the I. W. A. would set up such a sublocal at the Company's
logging camp if the Board should find that the camp employees con-
stitute an appropriate unit. The testimony of I. W. A. representa-
tives also reveals that in the woodworking and lumber industry in
the same area there are instances in which the I. W. A. bargains
separately on behalf of logging-camp employees and manufacturing-
plant employees of the same employer. The Company involved in
this proceeding has never had contracts with any labor organization
and so far as the record indicates there has been no history of
collective bargaining between the Company and its employees.
In Matter of Buckley Hemlock Mills, Inc., Buckley Logging Com-
pany and International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 52,4
where one of two rival unions claimed jurisdiction over employees
of the mill only and a majority of the mill workers and a majority
of the logging-camp employees appeared to have chosen rival labor
organizations as their representatives for collective bargaining pur-
poses, we established separate units at mill and camp.5 In the case
now before us, since there is no history of collective bargaining to
the contrary and since other factors are equally persuasive of a
separate camp unit or an employer-wide unit, the desires of the
single labor organization appearing in this proceeding will be given
effect. We find that a separate unit of logging camp employees is
appropriate."
During the hearing the Company and the I. W. A. stipulated that
if the Board should establish a unit limited to the logging camp
such unit should be composed of all production and maintenance
employees exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees, watchmen,
and one commissary employee, J. C. Leonard.
Supervisory Employees: The I. W. A. and the Company agree
that John H. Johnston, camp superintendent, M. D. Hutchens, time-
keeper and clerical employee, and G. E. Campbell, chief cook in
charge of cook house and kitchen help, should be excluded from the
unit because they are supervisory employees. As noted above, they
also stipulated that J. C. Leonard, a commissary employee, should
be excluded.
4 15 N L. R. B 498.
"Cf. Matter of Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mills and Columbia Valley Lumber Company
and International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 46, 8 N L. It. B 230; Matter of
Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company and International Woodworkers of America , Local No.
106, 10 N. L R B 398; Matter of Donovan Lumber Company and International Wood-
workers of America, Local No. 2, 10 N L. R B. 634
6 See Matter of The Connor Lumber & Land Co. and International Woodworkers of
America, Local 125 (C. I. 0 ), 11 N. L. It. B 776.
PELICAN BAY LUMBER COMPANY 655
The 'two parties disagree with respect to the classification of P. C.
Hunter and A. A. Shadley. Hunter is a "bull buck" in charge of
a crew of "fillers"; Shadley has charge of the swamping crew. The
two are described as working foremen who receive and carry out
the instructions of Johnston, the camp superintendent. The testi-
mony, however, indicates that they do little or none of the work
Of falling and swamping, that they have the right to discharge men
in their crews, and that they advise Superintendent Johnston in
regard to the hiring of men. Upon the basis of these facts, we are
of the opinion that Hunter and Shadley are supervisory employees,
and as such they will be excluded. from the appropriate .unit.
The I. W. A. and the Company also disagree as to the classifica-
tion of Charlie H. Johnston, who is a brother of the camp superin-
tendent. Charlie H. Johnston is a shovelman, working "as more or
less of a foreman over the shovel." At various times he has taken
the place of foremen in the camp and admittedly acts as an adviser
to his brother, the camp superintendent. Under these circumstances
we find Charlie H. Johnston is a supervisory employee, and as such
he will be excluded from the appropriate unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the
Company's logging camp, exclusive of watchmen, clerical employees,
and supervisory employees including John H. Johnston, M. D.
Hutchens, G. E. Campbell, J. C. Leonard, P. C. Hunter, A. A. Shad-
ley, and Charlie H. Johnston, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to
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 Company stated at the hearing that it desired an election to
determine the representatives of the majority. The I. W. A. asked
either for certification on the record or an election. In support of
its claim the I. W. A. introduced, without further authentication,
a membership list of 86 persons, alleged to have been employees at
the logging camp in November 1939. Under these circumstances.
we find that the question concerning representation which has arisen
can ,best' be determined by an election by secret ballot, and we shall
so direct.
The Company has requested that the ballot provide for a choice
between the I. W. A. or the Brotherhood, or neither. The Brother-
hood was served with notice of the proceedings, but did not enter
a general appearance and its representative stated at the hearing
that it did not desire to participate in the hearing or in an election.
656 DECISIONS • OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
In view of these circumstances the request of the Company that the
Brotherhood be placed on the ballot is denied.?
The pay roll of the logging camp for November `1939 was intro-
duced in evidence as the pay roll of a month during which opera-
tions at the camp were approximately normal. At the time of the
hearing in February operations at the camp were considerably below
normal. Company officials stated that it was expected that normal
production would be resumed in April and would be increased there-
after as the season advances. The Company makes a practice of
hiring the same employees from season to season and approximately
65 per cent of its employees are permanent residents of the locality;
the remainder are transient workers. We are of the opinion that
because of the lapse of time the November 1939 pay roll should not
be used for purposes of the election and that a current pay roll
for a month during which operations are at a normal level should be
adopted to determine the eligibility of employees to vote. The I.
W. A. asserted that the most desirable time for an election is the
latter part of May or the first part of June. The Company desires
that the election be held in April, since it is expected that the opera-
tions of the logging camp will be approximately normal at that time.
It is not disputed that April is usually a normal production month
at the camp; nor is it denied that the pay roll for the month of April
is usually a representative one.
Under all the circumstances, we shall direct that the election be
conducted by the Regional Director as early as possible but not later
than thirty (30) days from the date of the Direction of Election and
that the eligibility of employees to vote shall be determined by the
pay roll of the Company for the month of April 1940.
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. International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 6-12, affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organi-
zation within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act.
2. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Pelican Bay. Lumber Company, Klamath
Falls, Oregon, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3'. All production and maintenance employees at the Company's
logging camp, exclusive of watchmen, clerical employees, and super-
ICf Matter of Atolia Mining Co and Federal Labor Union, Local 21,1164, A. F. of L,
7 N. L R B ()80; M'ctter of Coos Bali lumber Company and Lumber and Sawmill Work-
ers Union Local No P573,16 N. L. R. B. 476.
PELICAN BAY LUMBER COMPANY 657
visory employees including John H. Johnston, M. D. Hutchens, G.
E. Campbell, J. C. Leonard, P. C. Hunter, A. A. Shadley, and Charlie
H. Johnston, constitute a unit appropriate -for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, within the meaning 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
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant -to Article III, Section 8,
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with Peli-
can Bay Lumber. Company, 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 of Election, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region,
acting in this matter as the agent of the National Labor Relations
Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regu-
lations, among all production and maintenance employees at the Com-
pany's logging camp, whose names appear upon the pay roll of the
Company for the month of April 1940, including the employees whose
names do not_ appear on such pay roll .because they were ill or on
vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding watchmen, clerical
employees, and supervisory employees including John H. Johnston,
M. D. Hutchens, G. E. Campbell, J. C. Leonard, P. C. Hunter, A. A.
Shadley, and Charlie H. Johnston, and excluding also all employees
who between such pay-roll date and the date of the election have
quit or been discharged for cause , to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented by International Woodworkers of America,
Local Union No. 6-12, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.