A. K. Wilson Timber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 12, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 90 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

,1 1
In 'the Matter of A. K . WILSON TIMBER ' CoiIIPANY and LUMBER ANf
SAWMILL WORKERS, AFL
f • ,Case No. 19-R-1570.-Decided October :12, 1945' • • , .
.Mr. W. J. Hutch,,• of.•Roseburg , Oreg., for the .Company..
Messrs. Do jile Pearson and C.'P. Richards , both ,of Eubeiie* ,', Oreg.,
for the AFL.
Messrs. Ray Lea, Fred Taylor , and W. H. Baker, all of Roseburg,
Oreg., for the CIO.
Mr. Glenn L. Moller , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION -
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TILE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union,
chartered by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of Amer-
ica, affiliated with the A. F. of L., herein called the AFL, alleging that
a question, affecting commerce had arisen concerning the represen-
tation of employees of A. K. Wilson Timber Company, Oakland,
Oregon, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Erwin •A. Peterson, Trial Examiner. The hearingiwas held at Rose-
burg, Oregon, ,on July 2, 1945. The Company, the AFL, and Local .
Union 7-307, International Woodworkers of America, CIO, herein
called the CIO, appeared and participated. All parties were afforded
full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses;
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Exam-
iner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an opportunity to
file'briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the-Board makes the following:
FINDI-NGS OF FACT
1. THE, BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
A'. K. Wilson Timber Company , a partnership *licensed to do busi-
ness in the State of Oregon, maintains its principal office and place
64 N L R. B , No. 19.
90
A.' K. WILSON TIMBER COMPANY •'
of business in Portland,, Oregon. The Company operates a sawmill
and veneer plant at Oakland, Oregon, and also conducts logging oper-
ations near Roseburg, Oregon. The Company 'began operations' at
Oakland only a short tithe ago, the sawmill producing approximately"
30,000 board feet of lumber per day wild the veneer plant producing,
approximately 15;000 feet of veneer per day.' The daily output of
the sawmill and veneer plant has-'an aggregate value in excess of
$2,000., Virtually the entire output of these operations ' is shipped
to points outside the State of Oregon.
The' Company admits that it is engaged in' commerce within 'the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
'II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, chartered by .the United
Brotherhood of ,Carpenters and, Joiners of America, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting,
to membership employees of the Company.
Local Union 7-307, International Woodworkers of America, affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations is a labor organ-,
ization admitting to membership employees of,the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the AFL as the
exclusive bargaining, representative of its sawmill and veneer+ plant
employees until the AFL has been certified by the Board in an appro-
priate unit.' I
The CIO, which currently "represents the employees at the Com-
-pa.ny's logging operations at Roseburg, Oregon, contends that the
appropriate unit should include the•employees• of the logging,oper=
ations as well, but does not assert its contract covering those employees'
as a bar to this proceeding.
: A Statement of a Board agent,'introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, and a statement of the Trial Examiner at the hearing indicate-
that each Union represents substantial numbers of employees in the
unit alleged by it to be appropriate., •
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation ,of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
' The Field Examiner reported that the AFL submitted 34 authorization cards , all dated
April 194.5
At the hearing the AFL submitted to the Trial Examiner 34 authorization cards, 9 of
which were dated in April and 25 in June -1945, and the CIO submitted 28 application-for-
membership cards, dated as follows : 2 in September 1944, 11 in October 1944 , 7 in April,'
and 8 in June 1945 -
There are approximately 65 emplgyees in the unit alleged by the AFL to be appropriate
and approximately 80 employees in the unit claimed by the CIO.
92 DECISIONS OF .NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The AFL alleges that-the appropriate unit should consist of the
Company's employees at the sawmill and veneer . plant. The CIO seeks
a single unit covering the sawmill, veneer plant, and logging opera-
tions and would waive its contract as a bar if the Board should direct
an election in this unit. The Company prefers that these operations
be separated into three separate units . The parties agree that clerical
and supervisory employees should be excluded from the'unit or units.
The CIO has represented the Company's logging employees for sev-
eral years and currently holds a contract covering these employees,
which-was executed in 1944 and automatically renewed in 1945 until
April 1, 1946. On March 12, 1945, the-Company acquired a sawmill
near Oakland, Oregon, and has operated the mill since that time.
Shortly after acquiring the sawmill, the Company undertook the con-
struction of a veneer plant adjacent to the sawmill, which plant is now
in operation, although it 'is not yet completed.
Altliough there is little interchange of employees between the saw-
mill and the veneer plant, the employees at both operations have
approximately the same working conditions, their earnings are about
the same, and they possess about the same degrees of skills. In view
of these facts and the proximity of the plants, we are of the opinion
that the employees at the two operations may properly be represented
within a single bargaining unit.
.,There is less similarity between the hours, interests, and working-
conditions of the employees at the logging operations alid the em-
ployees at the sawmill and veneer plant. At the time of the hearing,,
the logging operations were about 45- mile's from the sawmill and
veneer plant, although it was testified that within about a month the
logging operations would be moved to a new location about 12 miles
from the mill, , The logging employees, as previously pointed out,
have been organized for several years and are presently covered by
a collective bargaining agreement. There,is no history of collective
bargaining for the sawmill and veneer plant employees. It has been
quite . common in the lumber industry for logging and sawmill em-
ployees to be included in the same bargaining unit, but such employees
are also frequently represented in separate units . Since there is no
question concerning the representation of the logging camp employees,
we find that a unit confined to the sawmill and veneer plant employees
is presently appropriate. In the event that the CIO, in the election
hereinafter directed , is selected as the statutory representative of
the employees in that unit and the Company is unwilling-to agree
that the employees in the sawmill unit be incorporated into the exist-
ing logging unit, we will entertain an appropriate motion to consoli-
i
A. K. WILSON TIMBER COMPANY 93
date the two units and to certify, the! CIO as the majority representa-
tive of the employees in the consolidated unit.'
Doubt was expressed by the Company as to the propriety, of includ-
ing the pondmen, who work just outside' the sawmill and veneer
plant, in the' same unit with the sawmill and veneer plant, employees.
'The Company urged that the duties and functions of pondmen• make
their interests more-closely akin to, those of the logging ^ employees
than . to, the sawmill employees.. The, evidence reveals,' however,-;that
the. pondmen work, more closely *ith the sawmill employees than
with the, employees at the logging operations. We shall include the
.ponclnleli in the voting group -of sawmill and veneer. plant,empl'oyees.
. We find tliat;all;employees at-the sawmill and veneer plant; inchiding
pondmen and wittchmen,' but excluding office and clerical employees,
the saA mill foreman, the veneer :plant'superintendent, the shift fore-
man in the verneer_plant,' and any aind all other'supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend
such action constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election among the employees in the
appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein , sub-
ject to-the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
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 9, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended,
it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with A. "K. Wilson
Timber Company, Oakland, Oregon, 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, 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
2 Dfatter of Chrysler Corporation, 42 N. L. R. B 1145
3 The watchmen are unarmed , are not uniformed , militarized or deputized. Their duties
consist primarily of cleaning the premises.
X94 DECISIONS' OF• NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
-to Article III, Sections 10 'and 11,: of said Rules- 'and , Regulations,
among the employees in the' unit' found appropriate in 'Section IV,
above, who *ere employed during the pay-roll period -immediately
preceding: the date of. this Direction,. including employees who-did
.not'work during the pay-roll 'period, because they were ill or on vaca-
tion, 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 any who have since quit or been discharged for
: cause and; have not -been,rehiied or' reinstated, prior to the date of
,,,the election; to- determine • whether they desire to be represented by
Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union; chartered by the United Broth-
-erhood of Carpenters and' Joiners of:•America,,.iafl'iliated with the
American Federation of Labor, or by Local Union 7-307, International
Woodworkers of America, affiliated with .the Congress-,of Industrial
Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining; or by neither.