Green Brothers Lumber Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 7, 1966

158 N.L.R.B. 1642 (N.L.R.B. 1966)

1642 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
3. By interrogating employees concerning their union activities and the union
activities of fellow employees Respondent has engaged in unfair labor practices
defined in Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
4. The aforesaid unfair labor practices affect commerce within the meaning of
Section 2 ( 6) and (7) of the Act.
5. Except as found above Respondent has not engaged in the unfair labor prac-
tices alleged in the complaint.
[Recommended Order omitted from publication.]
Green Brothers Lumber Corp . and Truckdrivers Local Union No.
649, International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America , Petitioner. Case No.
3-RC-3830. June 7, 1966
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing
Officer Hymen Dishner . The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National
Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Members
Jenkins and Zagoria].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the 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 certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sec-
tions 9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. Petitioner seeks to represent a unit consisting of all yardmen
and truckdrivers, including tow motor operators, at the Employer's
Blockville, New York, establishment, excluding office clericals, saw-
mill employees, part-time employees, employees at the Employer's
Jamestown, New York, location, the millwright, the scaler and his
helpers, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined
in the Act. The Employer contends that the only appropriate unit
is one consisting of all of its truckdrivers, yardmen, warehousemen,
tow motor operators, sawmill and part-time employees at both its
Blockville and Jamestown, New York, operation. The Employer has
had no recent bargaining history.
The Employer operates a sawmill and retail lumberyard at Block-
Ville, New York. The sawmill is engaged primarily in the process-
158 NLRB No. 152.
GREEN BROTHERS LUMBER CORP. 1643
ing into lumber of hardwood logs, some of which are cut on the
Employer 's own property and some purchased from other sources.
The mill also processes a considerable amount of softwood lumber,
which is sold principally through the Employer 's retail yard. Some
of the hardwood lumber is also sold through the retail yard, but the
greater part is sold at wholesale . The retail yard is engaged in the
sale not only of lumber but also of some hardware to local builders
and other purchasers at retail.
The Employer also operates a business at Jamestown , New York,
10 miles distant from the Blockville location . It consists of a hard-
ware store with a warehouse and small lumberyard behind it where
building materials and supplies are stored . The Jamestown store
acts primarily as a retail outlet handling small orders of customers
visiting it. Large orders are handled by the Blockville yard where
most of the lumber is stored. The record discloses , however, that the
Jamestown store retails a large variety of hardware supplies whereas
the Blockville yard carries only a limited number of such items.
As indicated above, the Petitioner asserts that a unit consisting of
only the truckdrivers and yard employees of the Blockville location
constitute an appropriate unit. The Employer contends that the only
appropriate unit is one encompassing the truckdrivers and yard
employees of both the Blockville and Jamestown location. The
record shows that one inventory is kept for both yards , that employ-
ees from the Blockville yard make deliveries for the Jamestown store
and that the employees at both locations enjoy the same benefits.
The record also shows , however , that the hours worked by the
employees at the two locations are not the same, that there are few
transfers of employees between the two. establishments and that they
are under separate supervision . We therefore find, in the light of
the entire record, that the Employer 's employees at its Blockville
establishment may constitute an appropriate unit apart from the
employees at its Jamestown , location. .
The Petitioner would exclude the sawmill employees from the unit,
the Employer would include them. The sawmill is essentially a
manufacturing operation , the lumberyard a retail operation. The
employees in the sawmill are under separate supervision from those
employed in the lumberyard. Although some of the lumber produced
by the sawmill is sold through the retail yard, the bulk of the lum-
ber is sold at wholesale. We find, on these facts, that the Employer
is engaged in two separate and distinct undertakings at its Blockville,
New York, establishment and that a unit confined to the employees in
the retail lumberyard may be an appropriate unit.'
1 The West Side Lumber Co , 144 NLRB 81.
1644 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We turn now to the unit placement of employees whose status is in
dispute. The millwright spends at least 50 percent of his time repair-
ing and maintaining the machinery in the mill, and this is regarded
as his primary responsibility. The scaler and his two helpers spend
most of their working day scaling lumber coming from the sawmill
and loading it on trucks. And there are two truckdrivers who are
primarily engaged in driving trucks loaded with lumber from the
sawmill to wholesale customers. All of these employees are under the
same supervision as are the sawmill employees. We find that they are
therefore properly to be considered employees of the sawmill and
shall exclude them from the unit.
The Blockville yard has two part-time employees. These employ-
ees work full-time for the Employer during the busy season from
April to November and on Saturdays during the remainder of the
year. We find them to be regular part-time employees and will
include them in the unit.2
The parties are also in dispute over the supervisory status of Loren
Barr and Charles Lord. The record reveals that Barr has the author-
ity to effectively recommend the hire and discharge of, employees and
responsibility directs the activities of the employees in the yard and
those driving trucks. We therefore find him to be a supervisor and
exclude him from the unit. Charles Lord, who is described as a
working foreman who spends most of his time assisting in the loading
of trucks, exercises supervisory authority only in the absence of Barr
because of vacation or illness. Such sporadic exercise of authority is
insufficient to constitute Lord a supervisor, and we shall therefore
include him in the unit.3
Accordingly, we find that the following employees 'of the Employer
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All yardmen and truckdrivers, including tow motor operators and
regular part-time employees, at the Employer's retail lumberyard at
Blockville, New York, but excluding office clerical employees, saw-
mill employees, truckdrivers primarily engaged in hauling lumber at
the sawmill, employees at the Employer's Jamestown, New York,
retail establishment, professional employees, guards, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]4
2 Giordano Lumber Co, Inc., 133 NLRB 205, 207.
United States Gypsum Company, 116 NLRB 1771, 1773.
4 An election eligibility list , containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters,
must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 3 within 7 days after
the date of this Decision and Direction of Election. The Regional Director shall make the
list available to all parties to the election No extension of time to file this list shall
be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to
comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever
proper objections are filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.