Fir-Tex Insulating Board Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 31, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 1086 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of FIR-TEx INSULATING BOARD Co., EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 19-R.-1767.-Decided July 31, 194
Messrs. W. L. Failing and W. W. Collis, both of St. Helens, Oreg.,
for the Employer.
Mr. Virgil Burtz, of Portland, Oreg., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Kenneth Davis, of Portland, Oreg., and Mr. E. Kiein, of St.
Helens, Oreg., for the A. F. of L.
Mr..S'eymour M. Alpert, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon an amended petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held
at St. Helens, Oregon, on May 5, 1946, before Daniel R. Dimick, Trial
Examiner. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the bearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF TILE EMPLOYER
Fir-Tex Insulating Board Co., an Oregon corporation, with its
principal office and place of business at St. Helens, Oregon, is en-
gaged in the manufacture of insulating and wall board. During the
1945 calendar year, the Employer purchased raw materials for use in
its business in the approximate amount of $574,000, about 70 percent
of which represented shipments to it from points located outside the
State of Oregon. During the same period, all the Employer's finished
products, valued at $1,415,000, were sold f. o. b. St. Helens to Dante
& Russel, Inc. The latter corporation, of which the Employer is a
partly owned subsidiary, acts as the Employer's selling agent.
Ultimately, about 80 percent of the Employer's finished products is
shipped to points outside the State.
89 N. L. R. B., No. 131.
1086
FIR-TEX INSULATING BOARD CO. 1087
The Employer admits, and we find, contrary to the A. F. of L.'s
contention, that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the,
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.,
It. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2752, herein called the
A. F. of L., is a labor organization affiliated with the American Fed-
eration of Labor claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of its employees in the alleged appropriate
unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.'
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all
production and maintenace employees of the Employer, including
working formen,3 but excluding office and clerical employees, plant
engineers, chemists, night and day watchmen, foremen, assistant su-
perintendents, superintendents, and all or any other supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
Iecommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.'
i See Matter of Trinidad Brick and Tile Company, 67 N. L. R. B. 1251; Matter of
McCarty Manufacturing Company, 59 N. L. R. B. 1244; N. L. R. B. v. Fainblatt, et at., 306
I?. S. 601.
' The A. F of L. stated on the record that it "doubted" the Petitioner's showing. How-
ever, as pointed out by us in O. D. Jennings & Company, 68 N. L. R. B. 516, the matter
of the Union's showing is an administrative expedient adopted by the Board to enable it to
determine further proceedings are warranted and is not subject to direct or collateral
attack at the hearing.
3 The parties agree and we find that this category Includes W. F. Woldiet, E. L. Klein,
C. A. Jensen and A. Friden.
4 This is the same unit as the' one covered by the existing agreement between the Em-
ployer and the A. F. of L. Inasmuch as that agreement is for a period of indefinite dura-
tion and has already been in effect for more than a year it cannot, under well-established
principles of the Board , operate as a bar to this proceeding.
1088 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Fir-Tex Insulating Board Co.,
St. Helens, 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 to Article III,
Sections 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 3, as amended, among the employees in the unit
found appropriate 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 in-
cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who
present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have
not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to de-
termine whether they desire to be represented by International Wood-
workers of America, CIO, or by Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union,
Local 2752, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining or
by neither.
MR. JOHN M. HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.