Georgia-Pacific Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 29, 1975

220 N.L.R.B. 885 (N.L.R.B. 1975)

GEORGIA-PACIFIC CORPORATION 885
Georgia-Pacific Corporation (California Western
Railroad) and Local Union No. 3-469 International
Woodworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner.
Case 20-RC-12660
September 29, 1975
DECISION AND ORDER
By MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND PENELLO
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer Charles H.
Pernal , Jr. Following the hearing, and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations , Series 8 , as amended,
this case was transferred to the National Labor Rela-
tions Board for decision . Thereafter, the Employer
and the Petitioner filed briefs.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free
from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case , the Board
finds:
California Western Railroad, herein called CWR,
is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Georgia-Pacific
Corporation, which operates a redwood mill in the
Fort Bragg, California, area . CWR transports lum-
ber, freight, mail, and passengers between Fort Bragg
and Willets, California. The parties stipulated that
during the year prior to the hearing CWR had gross
revenues in excess of $500,000 and provided services
in excess of $50,000 to each of its customers which in
turn meet the Board's jurisdictional standards.
CWR's trainmen and the engineers and firemen
are respectively represented by the United Transpor-
tation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers . The Petitioner, which already represents a
unit of logging and lumber production employees of
the Georgia-Pacific Corporation,' seeks to add there-
to CWR's maintenance of equipment and mainte-
nance of ways and structures employees who are un-
represented by any labor organization.
The Petitioner contends that CWR as a subsidiary
of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation comes within the
jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act.
The Georgia-Pacific Corporation contends, however,
that CWR's operations and employees are covered
by the provisions of the Railway Labor Act.
Because of the nature of the issue presented, we
requested, as we have in other cases, the National
Mediation Board, the agency primarily vested with
jurisdiction over railroads under the Railway Labor
Act, to study the record in this case and determine
the applicability of the Railway Labor Act to CWR.
We are administratively advised by the National
Mediation Board, under date of August 22, 1975,
that:
This agency [the National Mediation Board]
... assert[ed] jurisdiction over California West-
ern Railroad on July 2, 1973.
Subsequently, on October 4, 1973.. . the Inter-
state Commerce Commission approved the con-
trol of California Western Railroad by Georgia
Pacific Corporation.
Georgia Pacific is not assuming the identity of
California Western. California Western remains
a Class II common carrier by railroad subject to
Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act.
Inasmuch as California Western Railroad con-
tinues to be a . . . carrier by railroad, subject to
the Interstate Commerce Act . . . it is the opin-
ion of the National Mediation Board that it is a
carrier within the meaning of Section 1, First, of
the Railway Labor Act. Accordingly, the Na-
tional Mediation Board would at this time assert
jurisdiction over the California Western Rail-
road.
In view of the foregoing, we shall dismiss the peti-
tion.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition in Case
20-RC-12660 be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
1 The Petitioner was certified for this unit by the National Labor Rela-
tions Board on April 30, 1971, when this facility was owned by the predeces-
sor of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation
220 NLRB No. 151