Silver Falls Timber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 30, 1941

35 N.L.R.B. 1092 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of SILVER FALLS TIMBER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 5-104, AFFILIATED WITH THE
C.I.O.
Case No. R-2410.-Decided September 30, 1941
Jurisdiction : lumber and lumber products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: con-
flicting claims of rival representatives; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees, exclusive of clerical employees, executives, non-working foremen, and
working foremen who spend 50 per cent or more of their time in supervisory
work.
Mr. Thomas P. Graham, Jr., for the Board.
Hart, Spencer, McCulloch de Rockwood, by.Vr. Philip Chipman, of
Portland, Oreg. for the Company.
Mr. A. F. Hartung and Green & Land ye by Mr. James Land ye, of
Portland, Oreg. for the I. W. A.
Mr. J. G. Wolf, of Portland, Oreg. for the A. F. of L,,
Mr. David H. Karasick, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On January 23, 1941, International Woodworkers of America, Local
5-104, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the I. W. A., filed
with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Wash-
ington) a -petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Silver Falls
Timber Company, Silverton, 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 March 5, 1941, 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
an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
35 N. L. R B., No. 200.
1092
SILVER FALLS TIMBER CO. 1093
On March 8, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were served upon the Company and the I. W. A.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on March 20, 1941, at Salem,
Oregon, before Tilford Dudley, the Trial Examiner duly designated by
the Chief Trial Examiner. The Board, the Company, and the I. W. A.
were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. On
July 31, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of further hearing,'
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the I. W. A.,
and upon United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly
affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held
at Salem, Oregon, on August 5, 1941 before Charles M. Brooks, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The
Company, the I. W. A. , and Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union,
Local 2725, A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. of L., were represented
by counsel and all 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 both hear-
ings. During the course of the hearings, the Trial Examiners made
several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evi-
dence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiners
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
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Silver Falls Timber Company, an Oregon corporation, maintains.
its principal office and lumber mill at Silverton, Oregon, where it is
engaged in the manufacture and sale of lumber and lumber products.
' Notice of the original hearing had been served upon International Employees Union,
Inc., Local 50, District 2, herein called Local 50, as a labor organization claiming to
represent employees directly affected by the investigation . But at the first hearing, the
Trial Examiner, upon motion of the I . W. A. and relying upon Matter of McGoldrick
Lumber Co ., at al. and Lumber it Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2552, 19 N. L. R B.
887, excluded Local 50 from the hearing . Following the close of the first hearing, the
Board, on May 29, 1941, issued an order reopening the record and directing a further
hearing inter alia for the purpose of receiving evidence on the issue whether Local 50
was a successor of International Employees Union, Inc ., Local 28, which the Board had
duly ordered disestablished , pursuant to stipulation , in Matter of Silver Falls Timber
Company and Willamette Valley Lumber Operators Association and International Wood-
workers of America, Local 5-104, affiliated with the C. I. O , 29 N. L. R B 639.
Notice of the second hearing was duly served on International Employees Union, Inc. It
did not appear , however , and the record of the second hearing disclosed that Local 50 had
been dissolved on or about May 27 , 1941 Cf. Matter of Medford Corporation and Inter-
national Woodworkers of America , etc, 33 N . L. R B. 162, wherein the Board stated
the following : "On June 10, 1941, Industrial Employees Union, Inc., notified the Regional
Director in substance that it and its locals have ceased to represent employees for col-
lective bargaining purposes ." Since Local 50 has been dissolved , we shall not treat it
hereinafter as an Interested party.
1094 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Ninety (90) per cent of its wholesale sales involve shipments to
customers in other States. During the year 1940, the Company's
wholesale sales amounted to $1,390,612.67.2
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Woodworkers of America, Local 5-104, affiliated with
the C. I. 0., is a labor organization admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2725, A. F. of L., is
a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letters, dated January 15 and 22, 1941, the I. W. A. requested
the Company to engage in bargaining conferences with its represen-
tatives. The Company has not accorded recognition to the I. W. A.
or the A. F. of L.
There were introduced into evidence statements by the Regional
Director and by a Field Examiner of the Board showing that the
I. W. A. and A. F. of L. each represent a substantial number of
employees of the Company.3 .
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
All parties agree that production and maintenance employees be-
long within, and that clerical employees, executives, and foremen
2 Cf. Matter of Silver Falls Timber Company and Willamette Valley Lumber Operators
Association and International Woodworkers of America , Local 5-104, affiliated with the
C. I. 0., 29 N. L R B. 639
3 The Regional Director 's statement shows that the I W. A submitted 7 authorization
cards, all dated recently and a list of 99 employees who would allegedly vote for repre-
sentation by the I. W. A, as well as the membership roster and dues record of the I. W. A,
containing 95 names, 12 of whom joined in 1937, 16 in 1938 , 8 in 1939 , 35 in 1940, and
24 in 1941 . Eighty -seven of the 102 names appearing on the cards and roster, and 91
of the 99 employees on the voting list appealed on the Company's pay roll of February
17, 1941, which included about 358 employees The Field Examiner 's statement shows
that of the 231 membership application cards submitted by the A. F. of L, the names of
the signers of 225 appeared on the Company ' s pay-roll of July 1 , 1941 , which contained
the names of 366 employees.
-SILVER FALLS TIMBER GO. 1095
who have the right to hire and discharge should be excluded from
the appropriate unit. Some controversy exists, however, as to a
number of supervisory employees 4 whom the Company wishes to
exclude from and the I. W. A. to include in the appropriate unit.
The A. F. of L. took no position with respect to these employees and
reserved the right to challenge those who might be included in the
appropriate unit.
Each of the employees in dispute has the right to recommend to
the superintendent the hire or discharge of employees in his depart-
ment. The men in question, with one exception, are apparently di-
rectly responsible to the superintendent.' The I. W. A. normally
admits to membership employees occupying positions similar to those
in question. The record indicates that 4 of the employees in dispute
are working foremen, and that 7 are so-called non-working foremen
who spend substantially all of their time in supervisory work. Upon
the entire record we find that all non-working foreman and those
working foremen who spend 50 per cent or more of their time in
supervisory work, should be excluded from the appropriate unit,
while the other working foremen should be included therein.
We find that all the production and maintenance employees in the
Silverton, Oregon, plant of the Company, exclusive of clerical em-
ployees, executives, non-working foremen, and working foremen who
spent 50 per cent or more of their time in supervisory work, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
and that such unit will insure to the employees of the Company the
full benefit of their right to self-organization and otherwise effectu-
ate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation can best be
resolved by an election by secret ballot .e We shall direct that persons
eligible to vote shall be the employees in the appropriate unit whose
names appear on the Company's pay-roll immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election, subject to such limitations and
additions as are hereinafter set forth in the Direction.
4 The employees in question are as follows : John Guerin , machine-shop foreman ; J. E.
Rice, head millwright ; Harvey Hallett, hog fuel foreman ; Sebastian Oster, jitney-shop
foreman ; Martin Hanan, green chain foreman ; Axel Olson , rough-dock foreman ; Martin
Johnson, kiln foreman ; Clarence Rosheim, yard foreman ; Henry Oveross, piling foreman ;
E. B. Johnson , shipping foreman ; and Ray Larson , dry chain foreman I
Larson's immediate superior is the planing-mill foreman who in turn is responsible
to the superintendent.
6 Objections of the I. W. A. to the conduct of an election on the asserted ground that
the Company had failed to abide by the order of the Board entered upon , stipulation in a
prior case (Matter of Silver Falls Timber Company and Willamette Valley Lumber Opera-
tors Association and International Woodworkers of America, Local 5-104 , affiliated with
the 0. I. 0., 29 N. L. R B. 639 ), were subsequently withdrawn.
1096 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 the Silver Falls Timber Company, Silver-
ton, Oregon, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the Act.
2. All the production and maintenance employees in the Silverton,
Oregon, plant of the Company, exclusive of clerical employees, exec-
utives, non-working foremen, and working foremen who spend 50
per cent or more of their time in supervisory work, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective 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 Rela-
tions Act, 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 part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with the Silver Falls Timber Company, Silverton, Oregon, an elec-
tion 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 of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules, and
Regulations, 'among all production and maintenance employees of
the Silver Falls Timber Company, Silverton, Oregon, whose names
appear on the Company's pay roll immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including any employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or in the active military service or training of the United
States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding clerical employees,
executives, non-working foremen, and working foremen who spend
50 per cent or more of their time in supervisory work, and employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented for,purposes of collec-
tive bargaining by International Woodworkers of America, Local
5-104, affiliated with the C. I. 0., or Lumber & Sawmill Workers
Union, Local No. 2725, affiliated with the A. F. of L., or by neither.