Shaw Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 31, 1940

28 N.L.R.B. 818 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of SHAW LUMBER COMPANY and LUMBER & SAWMILL
WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 2544, CHARTERED BY THE UNITED BROTHER-
HOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH
THE A. F. OF L.
Case No. B-2156.-Decided December 31, 1940
Jurisdiction : lumber manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: dis-
pute as to appropriate unit ; eligibility determined by current pay roll in-
cluding laid-off employees who were employed during period of peak
employment 3 months earlier ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance
employees at one of Company's plants, including sawmill, box factory, ma-
chine shop, yard, planing mill, and green chain employees, and watchmen
and warehousemen, but excluding all employees engaged in logging operations,
clerical, store, sales, and supervisory employees, cook house employees,
and employees of the Lawrence Warehouse Company.
Mr. R. C. Groesbeck, of Klamath Falls, Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. L. Presley Gill, of Seattle, Wash., for Local 2544.
Mr. Howard Dyer and Mr. Edward Borden of Klamath Falls,
Oreg., for the I. W. A.
Miss Mary E. Perkins, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On September 26, 1940, Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local
2544, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
of America, affiliated, with the A. F. of L.,1 herein called Local 2544,
filed with the Regional Director for the Twentieth Region (San
3 The name of the petitioning union appeared on the petition, the order directing an
investigation, and the order designating the Trial Examiner, as Lumber and Sawmill Work-
ers, AFL #2544; and on the notice of hearing as Lumber and Sawmill Workers Local
Union 2544, A F. L The Trial Examiner at the hearing granted a motion by Local 2544
to amend the title and all the papers in the case so that the name of the petitioning union
would appear as it is printed in the text
28 N. L. R. B., No. 127.
S18
SHAW- LUMBER COMPANY, 819 ^ -
Francisco, California) a petition alleging that a, question. affecting
commerce had arisen concerning employees of Shaw Lumber Com-
pany, Tionesta, California,2 herein called the Company, and request-
ing 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 October 26, 1940, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, or-
dered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On November 7, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, Local
2544, and International Woodworkers of America, Local 6-12, herein
called the I. W. A., a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to the notice
a hearing was held on November 18, 1940, at Klamath Falls, Oregon,
before- Jonathan H. Rowell, the Trial Examiner duly - designated
by the "Board. At the hearing the I. W. A. moved to intervene,
and this motion was granted by the Trial Examiner. The Com-
pany and Local 2544 were represented by counsel and the I. W. A.
by its representatives; all participated in the hearing. Full op-
portunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties.
During the course of the hearing the Trail Examiner made several
rulings on motions and on objections to 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. After the close of the hearing the Company and Local
2544 filed briefs which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Shaw Lumber Company is a corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the State of Oregon, having its principal place of
business at Tionesta, Modoc County, California. The Company cuts
lumber on its own land near Tionesta and from it manufactures lum-
ber and lumber products at its plant at Tionesta. During the 8
months' period from January, 1, 1940 to August 31, 1940, lumber
and lumber products manufactured at the Tionesta plant and shipped
2 The main office of the Company is in Klamath Falls, Oregon, but the operations here
under consideration are located at Tionesta.
413597-42-vol, 28-53
820 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
therefrom amounted to approximately 21,000,000 board feet, valued
at approximately $588,000. Of this approximately 10,500,000 board
feet valued at approximately $300,000, were sold and shipped by the
Company to points 'outside the State of California. These figures
represent the normal and usual business of the Company. The Com-
pany employs -about 300 persons at the Tionesta plant and about
75 persons in its woods during the peak of its operating season.
The Company stipulated that it is engaged in commerce, within
°the,meaning of the Act. -
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2544, chartered by the
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor ,organization ad-
mitting to membership production and' maintenance workers in and
about the Company's plant. ,
International Woodworkers of America, Local 6-12, is a labor or-
ganization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership all production and maintenance employees
of the Company and of other employers similarly engaged in the
region, whether they are employed in mill or in logging operations.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In March 1940 Local 2544 initiated a campaign to organize the
Company's employees. In the following month, having obtained a
substantial 'number of applications for membership, Local 2544 re-
quested the Company to recognize it 'as the exclusive bargaining
representative of all the Company's employees, including those en-
gaged in logging operations. Upon refusal of the Company so to rec-
ognize it without certification by the Board, Local 2544 on April 17
filed with the Regional Director for the Twentieth Region a petition
for investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the Act. Representatives of the Regional Office there-
after secured an agreement between the Company, Local 2544, and
the I. W. A., to a consent election, to be held among all employees
of the Company, including the loggers. -Before the election could
be held the I. W. A. withdrew. A second agreement was entered
into by the Company and Local 2544 pursuant to which on June 4,
1940, such an election was held. The election resulted in a,vote of
120 in favor of Local 2544 and 175 against Local 2544.
Following the election Local 2544 instituted a new campaign among
the plant employees of the Company, and on August 21, 1940, it
requested the Company to recognize it as exclusive bargaining repre-
sentative of the Company's employees at the plant, alone. At a
SHAW LUMBER- COMPANY 821
subsequent meeting between representatives of Local 2544 and of the
Company, the latter refused-the request of Local 2544 for recognition,
contending than a unit composed of the plant employees alone was
inappropriate; whereupon the present petition was filed.
From a statement introduced in evidence by the Trial Examiner
it appears that a substantial number of the employees in the unit
alleged by Local 2544 to be appropriate have designated Local 2544
.as their bargaining representative.3
We" find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
the 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 Company's operations at its Tionest plant, comprising, a
sawmill, dry yard, box factory, planing mill, store, cook house, ma-
chine shop, and supply depot, employ a minimum of about 200
persons in December and a maximum of about 300 during the peak
of activity in July and August. The Company's logging operations,
carried on in its woods at a distance of 13 to 14 miles from Tionesta,
normally employ about 75 persons.
The principal dispute regarding the scope of the appropriate bar-
gaining unit involves the status of the employees, including truck
drivers, who are engaged in the Company's logging operations. Local
2544 requests their exclusion from the unit; the I. W. A. and the
Company desire their inclusion.
It appears that the Company mills little timber except that cut
in its own woods and seldom sells its own timber before it is milled.
Substantially all the Company's employees live at Tionesta,-the
woodsmen daily leaving by truck for the woods and returning at
night. In the last 3 years the number of permanent transfers as be-
tween employment at the plant and employment in the woods has
8 The Trial Examiner ' s statement indicates that 118 of the 246 persons in such unit dur-
ing October have signed authorization cards designating Local 2544 , and that 24 such
persons have signed cards designating the I. W A. He reported further than 17 of the 72
persons then engaged in logging operations , all of whom Local 2544 would exclude from
the unit, have similarly designated the I. W. A. -
822 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL' LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
been negligible. There is evidence that the scale of wages paid for
logging operations is slightly higher than that paid for plant opera-
tions, particularly as regards employment in the box factory.
The history of self-organization among the Company's employees,
as reflected in the result of the consent election held in June and in
the showing made by the respective labor organizations in support
of the claim that a substantial number of employees in an appropriate
unit had designated them as bargaining agent, requires the conclusion
that such self-organization has not extended beyond the limits of
the plant unit proposed by Local 2455 and that the employees engaged
in logging operations are substantially unorganized. Under these
circumstances we shall exclude such employees, including the truck
drivers,' from the unit, as requested by Local 2544.
Local 2544 urges that the appropriate unit comprises all produc-
tion and maintenance employees of the Company at the Tionesta
plant, including sawmill, box factory, machine shop, yard, planing
mill, and green chain employees, and watchmen and warehousemen,
but excluding clerical, store, sales, and supervisory employees, cook
house employees, and employees of the Lawrence Warehouse
Company.
As to these categories of proposed exclusions dispute arose with
regard only to the cook house employees and the employees of the
Lawrence Warehouse Company. Local 2544 contends that the cook
house employees should be excluded because of the difference in their
work, and the I. W. A. advanced no cogent reason for their inclusion.
.We shall exclude them from the unit. As regards employees of the
Lawrence Warehouse Company, all that appears is that that organi-
zation is a separate enterprise which issues warehouse receipts on the
Company's lumber and for that purpose carries certain watchmen
and bonded agents on its pay roll. The location of the Lawrence
Warehouse Company, the number of persons employed by it in con-
nection with the Company's lumber, the nature of the work and
supervision of these employees, and their precise relationship to the
Company do not appear. At the request of Local 2544 we shall
exclude them from the unit.
There was disagreement also as to the nature of the employment
of Carl Wimmer, saw filer in the Company's sawmill. Local 2544
contended that Wimmer should be excluded as a supervisory em-
ployee ; the Company and the I. W. A. contend that he is a produc-
tion employee and should be included. Wimmer.is a highly skilled
4The tiuck drivers haul lumber under the supervision of the woods supeuntendent
Local 2544, desiring their exclusion along with the other woods employees, stated that the
truck drivers are eligible to membership in and will ultimately be organized by another
affiliate of the Amei jean Federation of Labor. The I. W A. and the Company advanced
no argument for inclusion of the truck drivers as distinguished from other woods
employees.
SHAW LUMBER ' COMPANY" 823,
worker and has the power to hire and-discharge his' own hel-per. :We
shall exclude him as a supervisory employee.
- We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its Tionesta plant, including sawmill, box factory, ma-
chine shop, yard, planing mill, and green chain employees, and
watchmen and warehousemen, but.excluding all employees engaged in
logging operations, clerical, store, sales, and supervisory employees,5
cook house employees, and employees of the Lawrence Warehouse
Company, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining, and that such unit will insure to the employees of
the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and
to collective bargaining and otherwise to effectuate the policies of
the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by an
election by secret ballot. The Company suggests that no election be
held until the up-turn of employment begins in the spring of 1941.
The I. W. A. suggests that either an election be held at once, eligi-
bility to be determined by a current pay roll, or that the election be
postponed until the spring of 1941. Local 2544, however, contends
that an election should be held at once, eligibility to be determined
on the basis of the September pay roll, since the number of em-
ployees of the Company began to fall rapidly during the month of
October and has continued to fall since then. The president of the
Company testified that the Company expects to rehire next spring,
if they are available, employees laid off because of the regular winter
slump in operations. It was also testified that a substantial number
of such laid, off employees continue to live at Tionesta during the
winter and will be available to vote in an election if held shortly.
We shall direct that an election beheld at this time, and that those
eligible to vote shall be employees in the appropriate unit who were
employed during the pay,-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who, although not
employed during that period, were in the employ of the Company
during September 1940, and any employees who did not work during
either of said pay-roll periods because they were ill or on vacation,
but excluding those employees who have since September 1 quit
or been discharged for cause.
5 We accept for the purpose of this decision the definition of supervisory employees offered
by Local 2544, as employees who have the power to hire and discharge or to recommend
hire or discharge Carl Wimmer falls within this category. -
824 DECISIONS OF. NATIONAL: _LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The, I. W. A. declined to state at the hearing whether or not it
desired to be placed on the ballot if an election should be held. We
shall direct that an election be held to determine whether employees
in the appropriate unit who are eligible to vote desire to be repre-
sented by Local 2544, by the I. W. A., or by neither. We shall, how-
ever, grant permission to the I. W. A. to have its name withdrawn
from the ballot if so desired, if it so notifies the Regional Director
for the Twentieth Region within ten (10) days from the date of
this Direction of Election.
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-
sentation of employees of Shaw Lumber Company, Tionesta, Califor-
nia, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and
(7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company at
its plant at Tionesta, California, including sawmill, machine shop,
box factory, yard, planing mill, and green chain employees, watch-
men and warehousemen, but excluding all employees engaged in log-
ging operations, clerical, store, sales, cook house and supervisory
employees, and employees of The Lawrence Warehouse Company,
constitute 'a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, 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 the National
Labor Relations 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 bargain-
ing with Shaw Lumber Company, Tionesta, California, 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 Twentieth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9 of
said Rules and Regulations among all production and maintenance
employees of Shaw Lumber Company at its plant at Tionesta, Califor-
SHAW LUMBER COMPANY 825
nia, including sawmill, box factory, machine shop, yard, "planing
mill, and green chain employees, and watchmen and warehousemen,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately pre-
ceding the date of this Direction of Election, and further including
any such employees who, although not employed during that period,
were in the employ of the Company during September 1940, and any
employees who did not work during either of said pay-roll periods
because they were ill, on vacation, but excluding all employees en-
gaged in logging operations (including truck drivers), clerical, store,
sales, cook house, and supervisory employees, employees of The
Lawrence Warehouse Company, and any employees who have since
September 1, 1940, quit or been discharged for cause, to determine
whether they desire to be represented by Lumber &'Sawmill Workers
Union, Local 2544, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Car-
penters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the A. F. of L., or
by International Woodworkers of America, Local 6-12, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HARRY A. MILLIS took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Direction of Election.