Johnson Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 19, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 1181 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of C. F. JOHNSON , J. BELLE ISLE AND E. M. JOHNSON, A
PARTNERSHIP , D/B/A JOHNSON LUMBER Co ., EMPLOYER and UNITED
BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL
UNION No. 2521 , PETITIONER
Case No. 36-RC-59.-Decided August 19,1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act."
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent employ-
ees 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. The appropriate unit :
a.. The contentions of the parties
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all production and maintenance em-
ployees of the Employer's sawmill at Blanchly, Oregon, excluding
office clerical employees and supervisors. The Employer would in-
clude in the unit all employees in its sawmill at Blanchly, Oregon, and
'Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock.
' The Employer's name has been amended by the Board , on its own motion, to reflect the
partnership, character of the Employer.
78 N. L R . B., No. 168.
1181
1182 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of its planing mill at Junction City, Oregon, but would exclude cleri-
cal employees , guards, professional employees 2 and supervisors.
b. The Employer's operations
The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of lumber, and main-
tains its office in Junction City, Oregon. It operates a leased sawmill
near Blanchly, Oregon, and a planing mill at Junction City, Oregon.
The distance between Blanchly and Junction City is approximately
22 miles. Logs are sawed into rough lumber at the sawmill, and then
transported to the planing mill by truck.3 All rough lumber produced
at the sawmill is sent to the planing mill, and the planing mill works
only on lumber received from the sawmill. Occasionally, the sawmill
may be shut down for a few weeks because of, snow. When this
happens, if the reserve of lumber at the planing mill is low, the plan-
ing mill may be forced to close for lack of work. Each of the two
plants is supervised by a separate foreman, but one of the partners
supervises both operations. In the main, the foreman at each plant
does the hiring for the operation of which he is in charge.
A number of the work classifications on the sawmill pay roll also
appear on the planing mill pay roll. The duties, skills, and pay rates
of those employees similarly classified at both mills are the same,
There have been numerous instances of interchange of employees be-
tween the two operations, both on a temporary and a permanent basis,
usually at the Employer's request.' In general, the hours of work
and working conditions at both plants are identical.'
c. Past bargaining history
In 1940, the Employer's predecessor entered into a collective bargain-
ing contract with the Petitioner, covering employees in the woods,"
the sawmill, and the planing mill. On March 10, 1941, the Petitioner
called a strike and picket lines were placed around both the sawmill
and the planing mill.
On July 24, 1944, Local 5-246 of the International Woodworkers
of America, herein called the IWA, was victorious in a consent elec-
tion conducted by the Board among the employees of the Employer's
predecessor in the over-all unit formerly represented by the Peti-
' The list of employees introduced into evidence does not contain any professional
classifications.
8 The trucking is handled by independent contractors
4 Transferred employees do not lose seniority or credit towards vacations.
' The Employer provides free housing for its employees at the sawmill but no such
facilities exist at the planing mill.
The Employer does not presently employ men in the woods.
JOHNSON LUMBER CO. 1183
tioner.7 Although negotiations were carried on until the spring of
1945, no contract was consummated between the IWA and the Em-
ployer's predecessor. The Employer took over the operations from its
predecessor in September 1946.
Late in 1947, employees in the sawmill approached representatives
of the Petitioner and requested aid in organizing. Representatives of
the Petitioner thereafter made one trip to the planing mill but made
no determined attempt to organize the planing mill employees.
d. Scope of the unit
The factors indicating the appropriateness of a single unit for the
sawmill and the planing mill are persuasive. They include similarity
of employee skills, pay, hours and working conditions; functional
interdependence; and past bargaining history. The Petitioner ad-
mitted that its only.objection to such an over-all unit was based upon
the lack of interest of the planing mill employees in joining the Peti-
tioner. Thus, it appears that the Petitioner would have us find appro-
priate a unit confined to sawmill employees on the sole ground of the
extent of employee organization. Even were we inclined to acquiesce,
we are prevented from doing so by the clear mandate of Section 9 (c)
(5) of the Act, as amended." Accordingly, we conclude that the unit
sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate. On the other hand, the
more extensive unit contended for by the Employer is appropriate.
The Petitioner having made a substantial showing of interest in an
appropriate unit, we shall direct an election among the employees
comprising that unit. If, however, the Petitioner does not desire to
participate in the election, we shall permit it to withdraw its petition
upon notice to the Regional Director within five (5) days after the
issuance of this Direction, and shall thereupon vacate the Direction of
Election.9
e. The watchmen
The Employer employs two watchmen at the sawmill and one at the
planing mill. It appears that they spend the majority of their time
in either clean-up or fire-prevention work Y0 They are not uniformed,
deputized, or armed, and do not make regular rounds of the plant.
They have no authority to discipline or report employees who smoke
in the plants. Under these circumstances, we are of the opinion that
' Case No. 19-R-1359
8 Matter of Delaware Knitting Company , Inc, 75 N L R B 205.
8 Matter of J. S. Abercrombie Company, 77 N. L. R B 712
10 Such as wetting down dangerous areas and looking for fire hazards.
1184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the watchmen are primarily employed as janitors, and we shall there-
fore include them in the unit, as maintenance employees 11
f. Conciosion
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer at its sawmill and planing mill, including watchmen, but ex-
cluding all clerical employees, guards, and supervisors, constitute a
unit appropriate for 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
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 the National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, among the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion 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 excluding em-
ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective
bargaining, by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America, Local Union No. 2521.
"Matter of Morowebb Cotton Mills Company, 75 N. L R. B. 987; Matter of Radio
Corporation of America ( R. C. A. Victor Division ), 76 N. L. R. B. 826 ; and Matter of Gen-
eral Electric Company ( Kentucky Glass Works ), 76 N. L R. B. 995 . See also Matter of
Steelweld Equipment Company, Inc, 76 N L R B 831.