Frost Lumber Industries Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 9, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 1332 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of FROST LUMBER INDUSTRIES INC., EMPLOYER and IN-
TERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (C. I. 0.), PETITIONER
Case No. 16 R-.2436.-Decided April 9, 1948
Mr. R. F. Caldwell, of Shreveport, La., for the Employer.
Mr. W. E. Keeter, of Dallas, Tex., and Mr. P. C. White, of Marshall,
Tex., for the Petitioner.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at
Nacogdoches, Texas, on January 6, 1948, before Evert P. Rhea, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing 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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Frost Lumber Industries is a Texas corporation engaged in the
manufacture of lumber. It operates two sawmills in Texas, one at
Nacogdoches and one at Waskom. Only the former is involved in
this proceeding.
The Employer does an annual business of more than $50,000, the
major portion of which represents sales outside of Texas.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
1 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 -man panel consisting
of Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock.
76 N. L. R. B., No. 185. _
1332
FROST LUMBER INDUSTRIES INC. 1333
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (i) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Employer and Petitioner agree that the appropriate unit con-
sists of all production and maintenance employees of the Employer,2
excluding all foremen,3 the office crew, store employees, and watch-
men.4 A question is raised as to only one employee, Vernon Hill. He
is in charge of a carpenter repair crew, and is himself a skilled work-
man. His regular duties consist of the performance of skilled labor
as well as the supervision and direction of those men working with.
him. He admittedly has the power to hire and discharge employees.
He differs from the foremen of other crews in that he works on an
hourly basis whereas they work on a monthly basis, and he gets no,
paid vacation while other foremen work under a vacation plan. We,
find, in view of the character of Hill's authority, that he is a super-
visor within the meaning of the Act and we shall, therefore, exclude
him from the appropriate unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at the Nacogdoches sawmill, excluding the office and store-
employees, watchmen, and all foremen and supervisors, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of 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 pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Frost Lumber Industries Inc., of
Nacogdoches, Texas, 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
2 This does not include the section crew working for the Nacogdoches and Southeastern,
Railway Company , an independent railway servicing the Employer's Nacogdoches mill.
In certain instances the employees are interchanged, but only on a temporary basis, and due
recompense is made for services rendered.
8 The foremen who the parties agree should be excluded from the appropriate unit are
enumerated as follows : manager ; superintendent ; woods and sections superintendent ;
sawmill foreman ; planing mill foreman ; shipping clerk ; assistant shipping clerk ; yards
and kilns foreman ; shop foreman ; roadmaster ; and main-line section crew foreman.
* This exclusion does not apply to the janitorial employees working at night,
1334 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Director for the Sixteenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and
203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 5, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period im-
mediately 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, 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, and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to de-
termine whether or not they desire to be represented by International
Woodworkers of America (C. I. 0.), for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
MEMBER REYNOLDS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.