Korn Industries, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 8, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 459 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of KORN INDUSTRIES, INC., EMPLOYER and UNITED
FURNITURE `YORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER 1
Case No. 10-R-2357.-Decided Jidy 8,1947
Mr. Shepard K. Nash, of Sumter, S. C., for the Employer.
Mr. Charles H. Coburn, Jr., of High Point, N. C., and Mr. Roy 0.
Gaither, of Sumter, S. C., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Irving D. Rosenman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Sumter,
South Carolina, on April 14, 1947, before M. A. Prowell, hearing
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
Korn Industries, Inc., a South Carolina corporation, operates a
lumber yard, sawmill, and furniture plants in the city of Sumter,
South Carolina, and conducts logging operations approximately 18
miles outside Sumter. During a 12-month period the Employer pur-
chases an undisclosed amount of materials and supplies for its opera-
tions from points outside the State of South Carolina. During a
similar period, it produces at its facilities lumber and furniture ex-
ceeding $250,000 in value, of which more than 50 percent represents
shipments to points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
1 The name of the Petitioner appears herein as amended at the hearing.
74 N. L R. B., No. 83.
459
460 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED 2
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, 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 certain of its employees until the Peti-
tioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.3
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised generally of all production
and maintenance workers of the Employer engaged in the manufac-
ture of furniture, furniture parts, and in the operation of its lumber
yard and sawmill, but excluding office and clerical workers, employees
engaged at its logging operations and all supervisory employees.4
The Employer contends that two separate bargaining emits are appro-
priate; viz, one consisting of all its employees engaged in the manu-
facture of furniture and furniture parts, and the other comprising all
its employees engaged in the lumber yard, sawmill, and logging
operations.
There has been no previou's bargaining history at this operation.
The Employer's business is set up under three separate divisions 5
designated as Sumter Hardwood, Sumter Wood Products, and Sum-
ter Cabinet. Sumter Hardwood embraces'the logging operations, the
sawmill, and the lumber yard; Sumter Wood Products consists of the
furniture parts fabricating plant; and Sumter Cabinet consists of the
plant engaged in assembling, finishing, and shipping furniture. Each
division maintains a separate pay roll. However, despite this three-
division set up, the business of the Employer is carried oa as four
separate operations, consisting of the logging operations, the sawmill,
the lumber yard, and the two furniture plants., Each operation is
2 Upholsterers' International Union. A. F. L., was notified of the filing of the petition
herein, but did not reply No appearance was entered in its behalf at the healing
3 The Petitioner has waived its rights to object to any election held in the instant
proceeding on the basis of any of the acts alleged as unfair labor practices in Case No.
10-C-2194
4 In response to a request by the Employer to have the petition made definite and cer-
tain, the Petitioner stated its unit position as indicated above
5 These divisions are at tines also referred to in the record as departments or companies
6 The parts plant and the assembling , finishing , and shipping plant
KORN INDUSTRIES, INC. 461
under the supervision of a production manager or superintendent.
The logging operations, as noted above, are located approximately 18
miles outside the city of Sumter, South Carolina, while the remaining
three operations are carried on w'ithm the city limits and are adjacent
to each other. At the logging operations the trees are felled and cut
into logs. The logs are then transported to the sawmill where they
are cut into lumber. From there the lumber is sent to the lumber yard
for further handling and storing. The lumber that is suitable for
furniture manufacturing is then used by the Employer in its furniture
plants while the remainder is sold., In all these operations only those
employees engaged in the sawmill and lumber yard are, at times, inter-
changed. The record indicates also that furniture plant employees
are skilled employees, and work four 9-hour days and one 8-hour day
each week, whereas employees in the logging, sawmill and lumber yard
operations are in general unskilled, work five 10-hour days each week,
and are paid a lower hourly wage rate.
As indicated above, both the Petitioner and the Employer agree
that collective bargaining at this plant may be conducted on less
than an employer-wide basis. They disagree, however, as to how
the employees should be grouped for collective bargaining purposes.
The Petitioner seeks to group all production and maintenance workers
except those in the logging operations in one unit. It would thus
commingle employees engaged in widely different operations; viz,
lumber and sawmill workers on the one hand and furniture workers
on the other hand. These employees do not interchange their func-
tions, inasmuch as the former are, in the main, unskilled workers
while the latter are skilled. They also have different supervision,
different hours of work and enjoy different rates of pay. It is con-
sequently clear that such a grouping would be arbitrary and there-
fore inappropriate for collective bargaining.
Nor are we in complete accord with the Employer's position on the
unit issue. The Employer would group in one unit the employees in
the two furniture plants and would encompass in another unit the
employees in the lumber yard, sawnnill, and logging operations. In
our opinion it is-clear that the employees in the furniture plants con-
stitute a homogeneous, identifiable and well integrated group com-
posed largely of skilled workers with identical supervision, hours, and
working conditions who may function together. We shall therefore
establish such a unit. However, we are unable to agree with the
Employer's other unit request. The Board has frequently separated
woods or logging employees from sawmill and lumber yard employees
7 The percentage of lumber sold is not disclosed The Employer also purchases addi-
tional lumber for its furniture manufacturing operations.
462 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
where, as here, they perform different work, are geographically sep-
arated, have separate supervision, and do not interchange functions,
and where the only union involved does not seek to represent both
groups." In the light of the foregoing and inasmuch as the sawmill
and lumber yard are adjacent to each other, and the employees therein
are, at times, interchanged and are engaged in the integrated task of
manufacturing and storing lumber, we shall modify this particular
unit request of the Employer and hold that a unit of lumber and
sawmill employees, excluding therefrom the employees at the logging
operations would here be appropriate.
We, therefore, find the following units at the Sumter, South Caro-
lina operations of the Employer to be appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act: (1) All production and maintenance employees of the fabri-
cating parts plant and assembling, finishing, and shipping furniture
plant, excluding office and clerical employees and all supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommend such action; and (2) all production and maintenance em-
ployees at the sawmill and lumber yard, excluding office and clerical
employees, employees engaged in logging operations," and all super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci.
pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or
effectively recommend such action.
V. THE DETER31TNATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot, subject to the limi-
tations and additions set forth in the Direction.
On February 5, 1947, a fire destroyed a part of the furniture manu-
facturing facilities and resulted in the separation of about 100 of the
approximately 200 furniture employees. As of the time of the hearing
some of these separated employees were back at work, and the total
complement engaged in furniture manufacturing was about 125.
A question was raised at the hearing concerning the right of those
employees, who are still separated, to vote in any election directed by
the Board. It is, however, clear that the employees so separated were
laid off permanently and are no longer employees of the Employer.
8 Matter of Caspar Lumber Company, 55 N. L. R. B. 819; Matter of Union Lumber Co.,
53 N. L R B. 567, Matter of Dierks Lumber & Coal Company, 52 N. L. R. B. 531 ; Matter
of R C. Owen Company, 53 N. L. R. B. 61.
9 The Petitioner and the Employer stipulated that truck drivers and train crewmen are
employed in the logging operations, and they are, therefore, also excluded from the unit.
KORN INDUSTRIES; INC. 463
Under these circumstances we find them ineligible to participate in the
elections hereinafter directed.10
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Korn Industries, Inc., Sumter,
South Carolina, elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (30) clays from the date of this Di-
rection, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4,
among the employees in the units 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 vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been dis-
charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the
date of the elections, to determine whether or not they desire to be rep-
resented by United Furniture Workers of America, CIO, for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.
Mn. JAMES J. REYNOLDS, JR., took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Elections.
10f1attei of Jenkins Coal Hinny Company, 70 N . L R. B 894 ; flatter of Bahan Textile
Machine] y Company, Inc, 70 \ L it B 839
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