Barrett Logging Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 10, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 638 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of BARRETT LOGGING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and LOCAL
12-15, INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETI-
TIONER
Case No. 18-RC-494.-Decided February 10, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before John P. von
Rohr, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer manufactures and sells lumber at Newberry,
Michigan , where it maintains its sole plant and place of business.
During the 12-month period from June 1948 to June 1949, it purchased
raw materials valued at approximately $133,000, all from concerns
within the State of Michigan, and machinery, repair parts, and equip-
ment valued at about $40,000, 5 percent of which came from outside the
State. Its sales for the same period amounted to a little over $350,000.
About 80 percent of the Employer's output is sold to Barrett Log-
ging Sales Corporation, a Michigan concern engaged in the manu-
facture and sale of finished lumber and millwork and the sale of
building supplies. The remaining 20 percent is sold to Paul Bunyan
Corporation, also a Michigan corporation, a manufacturer of pre-
fabricated houses.
Between October 30, 1948, and September 30, 1949, Barrett Logging
Sales Corporation sold about $600,000 worth of merchandise, of which
$50,000 worth was lumber shipped out of the State; $130,000 worth
were sales to Paul Bunyan Corporation; and the rest were sales to
other customers all within the State of Michigan. Purchases of mer-
chandise by Barrett Logging Sales Corporation during the same
88 NLRB No. 130.
638
BARRETT LOGGING COMPANY 639
period were valued at $400,000, 10 percent of which came from out
of the State. Purchases of equipment and repair parts amounted
to some $15,000, all made locally.
Paul Bunyan Corporation, during the past year, sold products
valued at $400,000, of which $100,000 worth were shipped out of the.
State. Its purchases for this period were all made within the State
of Michigan.
. The Employer, Barrett Logging Sales Corporation, and Paul Bun-
yan Corporation are closely interrelated family corporations. The
president of the Employer, Jesse L. Barrett, is also president of
Barrett Logging Sales Corporation and a director of Paul Bunyan
Corporation. His son, John A. Barrett, is vice president of the Em-
ployer and a director of Paul Bunyan Corporation. Another son,
Fern W. Barrett, is vice president of Barrett Logging Sales Corpora-
tion and of Paul Bunyan Corporation. Jesse L. Barrett is a major
stockholder in all three corporations; John A. and Fern W. Barrett
are major stockholders in the corporations in which they hold office.
The Employer neither admits nor denies that it is engaged in com-
merce. We find that its operations affect commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act?
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. It is stipulated by the parties that the appropriate unit should
consist of all of the Employer's production and maintenance employ-
ees, excluding clerical employees, guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act. The Petitioner would exclude from the unit the lumber
inspector (dry) as a supervisor, the log scaler as a clerical employee,
and the night man as a guard. The Employer contends that all of
these should be included in the unit.
The lumber inspector (dry), Carl E. Johnson, works in the Em-
ployer's lumber yard, inspecting lumber as it is being piled or removed
from piles, and assembling the desired grades and quantities in ac-
cordance with copies of customers' orders which are given him for
the purpose. The physical work of assembling the lumber to fill the
orders is done by a crew of two to five men under Johnson's direction
and with some help from him. Johnson has no authority to take or
recommend any action affecting the status of employees, and such
I See Atlanta Brick and Tile Company, 83 NLRB 1154; Ernest Spickelmier, et al., 83
NLRB 452.
640 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
directions as he gives to his crew or any other employees in the yard
are of a purely routine character.
We find, on the basis of the record, that the lumber inspector (dry)
is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act, and we shall there-
fore include him in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
The log scaler, Arnold Oosting, spends most of his time measuring
the logs in incoming shipments and entering the information, together
with identifying data, in a notebook. From the notebook, he tran-
scribes the information on to a "log scale report," which is made in
duplicate so that a copy may be sent to the shipper of the logs. The
measurements and the original notes are taken in the yard, and the
log scale reports are prepared in the office. The office work, however,
takes up only a small proportion of Oosting's time.
Oosting also acts as the Employer's timekeeper. Because of the
small number of employees involved,2 all that this activity requires
is to observe and note who is present or absent, and to note extra hours
worked on the basis of reports made by the men. Like the office work
in connection with log scaling, timekeeping takes up very little of
Oosting's time; no special place or time of day is assigned to it.
In addition, the log scaler assists with the so-called pond job; a
physical job consisting of directing logs with a pole from the water
on to the slide leading into the planing mill. Oosting spends about
half an hour a day on the pond in winter, when incoming shipments
of logs are heaviest, and more in summer when the relatively light
volume of incoming shipments of logs to be scaled leaves him more
time for the pond work.
Although the log scaler's job includes some clerical tasks, we find
that his interests and duties are primarily allied with those of the
production and maintenance employees. We shall accordingly in-
clude him in the unit .3
The night man, James Gallagher, is employed principally to keep
the boilers warm at night, a duty which occupies at least 30 minutes
of each hour.4 When he is not actively engaged in tending the boilers,
Gallagher cleans up around the mill; he also helps with the unloading
of shipments of logs when they come in after hours. He spends about
10 minutes of each hour making rounds of six watch clock stations.
He is not armed, deputized, or uniformed.
Between 30 and 40 men at the time of the hearing.
See Northern Redwood Lumber Company, 88 LRB 272.
' The record indicates that at times when the boilers have not been kept in operation at
night, Gallagher has been laid off. He is not expected to protect the property except for
making the hourly rounds referred to above.
BARRETT LOGGING COMPANY 641
We find, contrary to the Petitioner's contention, that the night man
is not a guard within the meaning of the Act, and we shall therefore
include him in the unit.5
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at its 'Newberry, Michigan, plant, including the lumber in-
spector (dry), the log scaler, and the night man, but excluding clerical
employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Acts constitute
a unit appropriate for collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Local 12-15, International Woodworkers of America,
CIO.
5 See Northern Redwood Lumber Company, supra , footnote 3; Sampsel Time Control,
Inc., 80 NLRB 1250.
6The parties stipulated at the hearing that except for the lumber inspector ( dry), whose
status was in dispute , Jesse L. Barrett is the only supervisor.
0