Weyerhauser Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 11, 1961

132 N.L.R.B. 84 (N.L.R.B. 1961)

84 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Weyerhauser Company 1 and International Brotherhood of Pulp,
Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers , AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case
No. 11-RC 1450. July 11, 1961
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Jerry B. Stone, hearing offi-
cer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has
delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Chairman McCulloch and Members Rodgers and Leedom].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of production and main-
tenance employees at the Employer's Turner Avenue and Hovis Road
plants in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Employer contends that
separate units at each of the plants is appropriate. The Intervenor,
United Papermakers & Paperworkers, AFL-CIO, agrees with the
Petitioner's position.
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture and sale of paper
boxes. It employs approximately 120 employees in its folding carton
division and approximately 170 in its shipping container division.
Prior to February 1961, the Employer had one plant which housed
both divisions. Since then, it has almost completely relocated the
shipping container division in a new plant 3 miles away, but the ship-
ping container plant manager and 20 percent of the employees in that
division are still working in the old plant.
There are factors which tend to support the appropriateness of sepa-
rate plant units urged by the Employer. Thus, the divisions attempt
to operate as separate units. Each plant keeps its own bookkeeping
records and does its own hiring of employees. In addition, each di-
vision has its own supervisors.
On the other hand, both plants utilize production and maintenance
employees of the same job classifications at similar wages and with
equal fringe benefits. The plants are presently near one another and
' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
132 NLRB No. 5.
WEYERHAUSER COMPANY 85
the Employer has informed folding carton division employees that
they will be moved to a new plant on the same site as the shipping con-
tainer division within 18 months. Whenever necessary, folding carton
division employees have been temporarily transferred to the shipping
container division. In view of the common interest shared by employ-
ees in both plants, and the fact that no' labor organization seeks to
represent employees of the two divisions separately, we find that a
single unit is appropriate 2
Although the parties are agreed upon the general appropriateness
of a production and maintenance unit, the unit placement of certain
categories is in dispute. The Petitioner and the Intervenor would ex-
clude the following categories of employees, whereas the Employer
would either include them or leave their, disposition to the Board.
In the folding carton division : expediter, estimators, production
clerk, timekeepers, mailman, draftsman, samplemaker, shipping clerk,
watchman, and foremen.
In the shipping container division : timekeeper, payroll clerk, fac-
tory order clerk, factory order clerk trainee, expediter, cost clerk,
statistical clerk, sales service clerk, production planning clerk, truck
schedule and receiving clerk, samplemaker, quality control inspectors,
assistant to the director of quality control, and foremen.
Expediters follow the progress of the paper products through the
production line. They spend 40 to 60 percent of their time in the
plant and keep the sales department informed as to the status of
customer orders.'
The production clerk and the timekeepers work in the plant office.
The former picks up the production data from plant machines; the
latter timecards and other related data 4 The mailman picks up mail
and packages around the plant. His mailroom is located in the plant
and he is supervised by the maintenance foreman. He also runs
errands in emergencies.5
The factory order clerk and the factory order clerk trainee work
in the plant office. They transcribe incoming sales, orders to forms to
facilitate production. They report to the plant manager but spend
little time in the plant area.
The truck schedule and receiving clerk schedules the movement of
trucks in both plants and receives incoming material which he often
handles himself. He has a small office in the receiving dock but spends
less than 50 percent of his time there. He has no supervisory status.
We find that the employees in the above job classifications are plant
clerical employees. Accordingly, we shall include them in the unit.
2 McAllister's Dairy Farms, Inc, 118 NLRB 1117.
8 Westinghouse Air Brake Company, 119 NLRB 1391, 1394.
* Wm. R Whittaker Co, Ltd., 117 NLRB 339, 344.
5 Brighton MiZ18, Inc ., 97 NLRB 774
86 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The estimator, and his counterpart in the shipping container di-
vision, the sales service clerk, work in the general office under the
supervision of the office manager. They calculate labor and material
costs to determine a selling price for the manufactured products of
each division.6
The payroll clerk works in the plant office and spends some time in
the plant area picking up data. However, he is on the general office
payroll and reports to the office manager.' The cost clerk and sta-
tistical clerk both work under the direction of the office manager
although the cost clerk has his office in the plant. The former uses
production statistics to establish cost standards which are used in
arriving at efficiency ratings; the latter gathers information on pro-
duction and outgoing shipments .8
The production planning clerk works in and around the plant but
reports to the office manager. He helps plan the rate of production
and goods to be produced, and submits reports to the plant managers
We find that the employees in the above job classifications are office
clerical employees. We shall exclude them from the unit.
The draftsman works in the general office under the supervision
of the sales service manager. He takes approved drawings and makes
drafts of great intricacy. We find that he is a technical employee.
We shall exclude him.ls
Samplemakers are supervised in part by the plant manager and in
part by the sales service manager. They make samples of production
items for submission to the Employer's customers. The record does
not indicate that they have any technical education or background.
We find that the samplemakers 11 are not technical employees. We
shall include them.
Quality control inspectors spend most of their time in the laboratory,
performing standard tests of an elementary nature to determine the
physical strength and quality of the raw materials. At other times
they inspect in the plant. A high school education is sufficient back-
ground for their work. They exercise no supervisory duties. The
assistant to the director of quality control travels in his work and has
duties in two other plants in addition to the Charlotte plants. He does
some on-the-spot inspecting and some testing in the laboratory. He
exercises no authority over any of the employees. We find that neither
the quality control inspectors 12 nor the assistant to the director of
quality control are technical employees or supervisors within the mean-
ing of the Act. 'However, because the latter's presence in the Charlotte
plants is intermittent, we find that his interests are not the same as
E Wm. R . Whittaker Co., Ltd., supra, p 342.
7Wonderknst Corporation , 123 NLRB 53
9 Barnhardt Mannfactuting Company , 103 NLRB 261.
6 Northrop Aircraft, Inc , 110 NLRB 1349
11 Litton Industries of Maryland, Incorporated , 125 NLRB 722.
11 Mead-Atlanta Paper Company, 123 NLRB 306.
12 United States Gypsum Company, 117 NLRB 1077, 1680.
AMPRUF PAINT COMPANY, INC. - 87
those of the other employees. Accordingly, we shall include only the,
quality control inspectors in the unit.
The foremen in the printing, cutting, dyeing, glueing, and mainte-
nance departments in the folding carton division, and the foremen in
the printing, finishing, shipping, and maintenance departments in the
shipping container division all have the same degree of authority.
They assign men to work, change them from one job to another and
reprimand employees for unsafe work or violation of company rules.
They attend the regular meetings of supervisors. They possess no
authority to hire or discharge employees, but their various recom-
mendations concerning the status of subordinates are given much
weight by the Employer. Their production work is usually confined.
to setting up the machines which the other employees will use. We:
find that the foremen are supervisors within the meaning of the Act."
We shall exclude them. As the record is inadequate to determine the
supervisory status of the shipping clerk, we shall permit him to vote
subject to challenge.
The watchman keeps unauthorized persons out of the plant. He
wears a uniform, carries a gun, and protects the Employer's property
from theft. We find that he is a guard. We shall exclude him."
We find that the following employees of the Employer constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's
Turner Avenue and Hovis Road plants in Charlotte, North Carolina,
including expediters, timekeepers, production clerks, mailmen, sam-
plemakers, truck schedule and receiving clerks, quality control in-
spectors, factory order clerks and factory order clerk trainees, but
excluding estimators, sales service clerks, draftsmen, payroll clerks,
cost clerks, statistical clerks, production planning clerks, the assistant
to the director of quality control, office clerical employees, salesmen,
professional employees, watchmen, guards, foremen, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
18 Beneke Corporation , 109 NLRB 1191.
u Ertel Manufacturing Corp., 118 NLRB 1338.
Ampruf Paint Company, Inc. and Steel , Paperhouse & Chemical
Drivers & Helpers, Local No . 578, and Paint Makers Local
1232, AFL-CIO. Case No. 21-CA-4099. July 12, 1961
DECISION AND ORDER
On February 28, 1961, Trial Examiner David F. Doyle issued his
Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the
132 NLRB No. 6.