L. J. Williams Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 13, 1949

87 N.L.R.B. 610 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of L. J. WILLIAMS, D/B/A L. J. WILLIAMS LUMBER COM-
PANY AND ADA W. WILLIAMS D/B/A VARNVILLE WOOD PRODUCTS
COMPANY,' EMPLOYER and PLYWOOD AND VENEER WORKERS LOCAL
UNIONS Nos. 3130 AND 3135, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS
AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-673.-Decided December 13, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Gilbert Cohen,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed .2
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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
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 involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees 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 :
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit consisting of all production
and maintenance employees of the Williams Lumber Company, herein
called Williams, and the Varnville Wood Products Company, herein
called Varnville. The Employer, while agreeing to the various cate-
gories to be included in the unit, contends that separate units should
be established for the production and maintenance employees of the
two concerns.
' The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing.
2 The Employer requested permission for oral argument before the Board. As the record
sufficiently covers the issues involved , this request is hereby denied.
87 NLRB No. M.
610
L. J. WILLIAMS LUMBER COMPANY 611
L. J. Williams is the owner and manager of Williams, and is the
general manager of Varnville, which is owned by Ada W. Williams,
his wife. Williams manufactures pine lumber; Varnville manufac-
tures hardwood squares, a product used by furniture manufacturers.
Williams' plant consists of three buildings, and Varnville's plant con-
sists of five. All are located on a single tract of land, and, together
with their machinery and equipment, are owned by Ada Williams.
For his use of the buildings and machinery, L. J. Williams pays his
wife rent in the form of fuel, consisting of waste lumber from his
plant,' for the steam boilers required by both companies. Otherwise,
there are no sales or exchanges of materials between the companies.
The two companies share a single office building, as well as a single
heat and steam plant. They jointly employ one head bookkeeper and
each pay one-half of his salary. The assistant bookkeeper is employed
by Williams but spends about 10 percent of his time working for Varn-
ville. The wages of the firemen who fire the boilers and those of the
watchmen and saw filer are paid by the two companies in equal
shares.
Each company, although under the general supervision of L. J. Wil-
liams, is separately directed by a superintendent who has complete
charge of all the various operations of that company, including the
hire and discharge of its employees. Each superintendent pays the
employees under his direction with funds drawn upon a joint account
carried by the two companies. The checks, of different colors for each
company, are signed by the superintendent and countersigned by the
head bookkeeper. Although there is no interchange of employees
between the two companies, the rates of pay and other conditions of
employment in the two concerns are the same.
In view of the close proximity and single ownership of plants and
equipment, and the common over-all management.of both businesses,
together with the joint employment of some employees within the unit,
we find that the employees of the two companies may appropriately
be joined in a single unit for purposes of collective bargaining.'
Accordingly, we find that all production, maintenance, and yard
employees of Williams Lumber Company and Varnville Wood Prod-
ucts Company employed in their operations at Varnville, South Caro-
lina, and vicinity, including firemen, but excluding office clerical and
professional employees, watchmen, guards, woods foremen,5 and all
3 L. J. Williams testified that one reason for establishing his pine lumber operation on
his wife's property was to supply fuel for the hardwood plant.
'Ilome Furniture Company, 77 NLRB 1437: Salter Mills Company, 76 NLRB 930
Gurney Manufacturing Company, et at ., 72 NLRB 311. See also , Illin t Coach Company,
et at., 80 NLRB 273.
The woods foreman is in charge of the log cutting operations and has the power to hire
and discharge h1s hubordinates.
877359-50-vol. 87-40
'612 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
other supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 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 National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees 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 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 excluding employees on strike
who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
Plywood and Veneer Workers Local Unions Nos. 3130 and 3135,
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL.