Snow Peak Logging Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 2, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 1141 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of WILLAMETTE VALLEY LUMBER COMPANY ,1 D/B/A
SNOW PEAK LOGGING COMPANY , EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA , LOCAL 5-251, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 19-R-1659.-Decided August 0, 1946
Messrs. King and Wood, by Mr. Grant T. Anderson, and Mr. Wil-
liam Swindells, all of Portland, Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. Harvey R. Nelson, of Portland, Oreg., and Mr. Arne Nord-
strand, of Lebanon, Oreg., for the Petitioner.
Messrs. W. O. Kelsay and C. P. Richards, both of Eugene, Oreg.,
for the A. F. L.
Mr. Martin 7'. Cam,ach.o, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Albany,
Oregon, on June 6, 1946, before Erwin A. Peterson, Trial Examiner.
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from
predudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the
A. F. L.2 made a motion to dismiss the petition. For reasons stated,
infra, the motion is hereby denied. The Petitioner and the A. F. L.
filed briefs which have been considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Willamette Valley Lumber Company is an Oregon corporation
d/b/a Snow Peak Logging Company in Linn County, Oregon.
The Employer is engaged in the lumber business and operates logging
camps at Black Rock, and at Snow Peak, Lacomb, Oregon, and a
lumber mill at Dallas, Oregon. In this proceeding , we are only con-
' The pleadings were amended at the hearing to correctly name the Employer as shown
above.
' The A. F. L. was permitted to intervene at the hearing by written motion.
69 N. L. R. B., No. 138.
1141
1142 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cerned with the Snow Peak logging operations of the Employer. At
its Snow Peak operations the Employer normally logs approximately
4,000,000 board feet of timber per month though at present it is
logging only about 1,000,000 board feet per month. These logs are
shipped to the Employer's sawmill operations at Dallas, Oregon, for
manufacture, and 90 percent of the finished products is shipped out-
side the State of Oregon.
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
The Willamette Valley District Council, Lumber & Sawmill Work-
ers, Local 2702, herein called A. F. L., is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The A. F. L. argued at the hearing, and further argues in its brief,
that its current contract with the Employer is a bar to the present pro-
ceeding and that the Board should dismiss the petition. The contract
was entered into between the A. F. L. and the Employer on March
31, 1943. It was to continue in effect until December 1, 1943, and from
year to year thereafter unless either party notified the other in writ-
ing not less than thirty (30) days prior to December 1 of any year
of its desire to modify, alter or terminate. The contract continued
in effect until December 1, 1943, and from year to year thereafter
pursuant to its terms. -
On October 31, 1945, the Petitioner filed with the Regional Office its
petition in this case, for investigation and certification of representa-
tives. Inasmuch as the petition herein was timely filed more than
-thirty (30) days prior to the anniversary date of the contract, the
contract does not constitute a bar to a present determination of
representatives.3
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
3 Matter of Portland Lumber M4118, 56 N. L. R. B. 1336.
WILLAMETTE VALLEY LUMBER COMPANY
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
1143
The parties agree that the appropriate unit should consist of all the
employees of the Employer at its Snow Peak operations, i. e., its small
side or logging operation and its log pond located near Lacomb,
Oregon, excluding office employees, the logging superintendent and
the pond foreman.4 The parties, however, are in disagreement as
to the inclusion or exclusion of the hooktender, grade foreman, and
shop or log truck foreman.
The Petitioner, relying on the majority decision in Matter of Coos
Bay Lumber Company,5 would include in the bargaining unit the
hooktender, the shop foreman, and the grade foreman. The Employer
would exclude all three; the A. F. L. acquiesced in the inclusion of
the hooktender but would exclude the shop foreman and the grade
foreman.
The hooktender supervises the side and is responsible for the pro-
duction and arrangement of the equipment and has full authority to
hire and discharge. He is hourly paid but receives about $100 more
a month than the employees under his supervision.
The grade foreman supervises all the construction at the logging
operation and has full authority to hire and discharge. It is not clear
as to whether he is on a salary basis or is hourly paid, but he does
receive about $50 more a month than the highest paid employee under
his supervision. This employee's position appears to correspond to
those of the chief engineer and the construction foreman who were
involved in the Coos Bay cases
The shop or log truck foreman on the logging operation supervises
all of the mechanics in the shop and all of the truck drivers and he has
full authority to hire and discharge. He has charge of the ordering
of parts, "the adjustment of claims and tires" and various other func-
tions. He is paid on a monthly basis and receives approximately $500
or $600 more a year than the employees under his supervision. This
employee's job corresponds to that of the log truck foreman involved
in the Coos Bay case.T
From the foregoing facts, it is apparent that the hooktender, the
grade foreman, and the shop or log truck foreman are supervisory
employees who, by reason of the industrial custom prevailing in small
logging operations in the Northwest, may properly be included in the
4 This unit is substantially identical with that covered by the contract between the
A. P. L. and the Employer.
5 62 N. L. R. B. 93.
6 Supra, footnote 5. t
7 Supra, footnote 5.
1144 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
rank and file bargaining unit.' However, inasmuch as these em-
ployees were not included in the unit established by the A. F. L.'s
contract,' and in view of the disagreement among the parties, we shall
conduct a separate election among the three employees to determine
their desires with respect to the matter of representation 1e
We shall also conduct an election among all the other employees of
the Employer at its logging operation and at its log pond located near
Lacomb, Oregon, excluding office employees, the logging superintend-
ent and the pond foreman. We shall make no final unit determination
at this time but will be guided by the desires of the employees involved,
as expressed in the elections hereinafter directed.'
We shall direct that separate elections be held among employees in
the voting groups described below who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
1. All the employees of the Employer at its logging operation and
its log pond located near Lacomb, Oregon, excluding office employees,
the logging superintendent, and the pond foreman.
2. The hooktender, the grade foreman, and the shop or log truck
foreman.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Willamette Valley Lumber
Company, d/b/a Snow Peak Logging Company, Linn County, Oregon,
separate elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possi-
ble, 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 National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11,
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3,
8 Matter of Coos Bay Lumber Company, 62 N. L. R. B. 93 ; Matter of Cobbs and Mitchell
Company, 65 N. L . R. B. 488.
9 Matter of Petersen and Lytle , 60 N. L . R. B. 1070.
19 Matter of Pittsburgh Equitable Meter Company , 61 N. L . R. B. 880.
" The A. F . L. contends that no present determination of representatives should be made
because the Employer ' s Snow Peak operations are temporarily curtailed, and to conduct an
election now would disfranchise many regular Snow Peak employees . The record shows
that the logging operation at Snow Peak is expected to be discontinued in 3 or 4 months
and then to be suspended for approximately 2 years . The pond operation , however, will
continue indefinitely . Many of the Employer 's employees who formerly worked at Snow
Peak are now employed at the Employer 's Black Rock operation . The employees at that
operation are represented by a sister local of the A. F. L. in a separate collective bargaining
unit, pursuant to a certification issued by the Board in 1943 , in Matter of Willamette Valley
Lumber Company , 51 N. L. R. B. 973 . In view of these circumstances we find no merit in
the contention that no determination of representatives should be made at this time. We
likewise reject the implied contention of the A. F. L . that the employees formerly working
at Snow Peak who are now employed at Black Rock are only "temporarily " laid off or trans-
ferred from the Snow Peak operation.
WILLAMETTE VALLEY LUMBER COMPANY 1145
as amended, among the employees in each of the voting groups de-
scribed in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately 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 they desire to
be represented by International Woodworkers of America, Local
5-251, C. I. 0., or by Willamette Valley District Council, Lumber &
Sawmill Workers, Local 2702, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY, dissenting :
For the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in Matter of Coos
Bay Lumber Company," I disagree with the provision for inclusion
of supervisory employees within the unit of rank and file employees.
'2 62 N. L. R. B. 93.