Medford Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 12, 1941

30 N.L.R.B. 256 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

I
In the Matter Of MEDFORD CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL WOOD-
WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION No. 6-221, AND INDUSTRIAL EM-
PLOYEES' LOCAL UNION #8-11
In the Matter Of MEDFORD CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL WOOD-
WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION No. 6-221, AFFILIATED WITH THE
CONGRESS, OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Cases Nos. RE-18 and R-2004.-Decided March 12, 1941
Jurisdiction : lumber industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fusal to accord petitioner recognition ; conflicting claims of rival representa-
tives; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance
employees of the Company at its logging operations including main line railroad
employees, but excluding the timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the log-
ging foreman, the master mechanic foreman, the steel gang foreman, the spur
maintenance foreman, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman, the main line
section crew foremen, the bridge crew foreman, and the roundhouse foreman.
Mr. William A. Babcock, Jr., for the Board.
Mr. R. W. Maxwell, of Seattle, Wash., for the Company.
Mr. L. H. Fenton, of Butte Falls, Oreg., for the I. W. A.
Mr. J. G. Wolf, of Portland, Oreg., for the I. E. U.
Mr. Bertram Diamond, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On September 13, 1940, Medford Corporation, Medford, Oregon,
herein called the Company, and on November 25, 1940, International
Woodworkers of America, Local Union No. 6-221, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the I. W. A., re-
spectively, filed with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region
(Seattle, Washington), separate petitions, each alleging that a ques-,
Lion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company employed at its logging operations at Butte
Falls, Oregon, and requesting an investigation and -certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat., 449, herein called the Act. On November 26, 1940,
30 N. L. R. B., No. 38.
256
MEDFORD'. CORPORATION " 257
the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,' acting
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the 'Act 'and Article III, 'Section 3;''of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended, 'ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice, and, pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of
said Rules and Regulations, ordered that the two cases be consolidated
for the purposes of hearing.
On November 29, 1940, the Regional Director issued a consolidated
notice of hearing in the two cases, copies of which were duly served
upon the Company and the I. W. A., the, petitioners herein, and upon
Industrial Employees' Union, Local Union #8-11, chartered by the
Industrial Employees' Union, Inc., herein called the I. E. U., a labor
organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the
investigation. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held at Medford,
Oregon, on December 12, 1940, before Thomas S. Wilson, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Board. All parties were repre-
sented by counsel or by official representative and participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross -examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded
all. parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner
made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission
of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Exam-
iner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed.' 'The'rulings
are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Medford Corporation is a Delaware corporation engaged in the
business, of logging and of manufacturing lumber. Its logging oper-
ations are conducted in and about the vicinity of Butte Falls, Oregon,
and are the only operations of the. Company involved in 'this proceed-
ing. All the logs produced by the Company are cut' into, lumber at
the Company's mill at Medford, Oregon.
In 1939 the Company produced approximately 44,000,000 feet of
logs, log scale. Of this amount approximately 80 per cent was cut
into lumber shipped to purchasers outside the State of Oregon.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 6-221, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Industrial Employees' Union, Local -Union #8-11, is a labor organ-
ization chartered by•the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc.
258 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Both organizations admit to membership production and mainte-
nance employees of the Company at its logging operations.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On July 23 and August 31, 1940, in conferences with representatives
of the Company, the I. W. A. demanded recognition as exclusive bar-
gaining agent of the Company's employees. At these conferences the
Company declined to recognize the I. W. A. on the ground that it
had an agreement with the I. E. U.1 and that the I. E. U. claimed to
represent a majority of its employees.
There was introduced into evidence a statement by the Board's attor-
ney showing that each of the organizations involved represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit claimed by it to be
appropriate.2
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial rela-
tion to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends
to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and
the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
All the parties agreed upon the inclusion within the appropriate
unit of the bulk of the production and maintenance employees at the
'This agreement , as noted below , is terminable upon 30 days ' notice.
2 The Company 's pay roll for November 1, 1940, shows about 154 employees in the unit
claimed by the I. W. A to be appropriate and about 194 employees in the unit claimed
by the I . E U to be appropriate
According to this statement the I W. A. submitted 08 application -authorization cards
bearing what appeared to be genuine original signatures The cards were dated from
January to December 1940, inclusive The I W A also submitted a petition designating
it as sole collective bargaining agency and requesting the Company to cease deducting
dues for the I. E. U. from the pay of the signers. All the 77 signatures on'this petition,
dated August 20, 1940, appeared to be genuine original signatures The I. W A', further
submitted a similar petition dated December 12, 1940 , bearing what appeared to be 85 genu-
ine original signatures - Eliminating duplications , 97 of the persons whose names appear on
either the cards or the petitions are listed on the Coin pany's,pay roll of November 1, 1940.
The I E U. submitted 67 authorisation cards bearing what appeared to be genuine origi-
nal signatures These cards were dated from March to September 1940 inclusive. It
also submitted 7 authorization cards of another type, bearing what appeared to be genuine
original signatures These cards were dated in December 1940 It also submitted 5
application cards bearing what appeared .to be genuine original signatuies ' and dated in
December 19'0, and 3 application-authorization cards bearing what appeared to be genuine
omnginal signatures and dated in May 1937 The total number of persons whose names
appear on these cards and on the Company's pay roll for November 1. 1'140, is 78.
The names of 23 persons appear both on the proof submitted by the I E U. and by the
I W A
MEDFORD CORPORATION 259
Company's logging operations and upon the exclusion of the logging
superintendent, the logging foreman, and the timekeeper. There was
disagreement over the inclusion (a) of employees on the main line
railroad, and (b) of certain employees claimed to be supervisory. As
of November 1, 1940, there were about 154 employees within the
classifications included by stipulation.
(a) The I. W. A.,seeks to exclude from the unit main line section and
train crews. The Company and the I. E. U. contend for their inclu-
sion: On November 1, 1940, there were about 35 main line railroad
employees.3
The railroad runs from the Company's logging camp at Butte Falls
to its mill at Medford, a distance of approximately 35 miles. It is not
a common carrier but is used only to transport logs to the mill and
supplies to the camp.
At Butte Falls the main line railroad connects with the logging camp
railroad. The crews attached to' the camp railroad are engaged in
hauling logs to the main line and taking empty cars back from the
main line to the woods for loading; except as described below, camp
and main line railroad crews are separate and distinct.
The main line railroad employees are engaged. in maintaining the
road and its equipment and in operating the two main line locomotives,
called the one-spot and the three-spot locomotives.
There are three section crews, with about five employees in each.
The first of these maintains about 9 miles of track from the Medford
yards to the Butte Creek railroad bridge. The hands on this crew live
in Medford.. The second maintains about 13 miles of track from Butte
Creek bridge to Derby Station, and resides in and about Eagle Point,
which is apparently somewhere along this stretch. The third main-
tains about 11 miles of track from Derby Station to Camp 3 at Butte
Falls, and resides in and about Butte Falls. In the summer this crew
also maintains track at Camp 2, not on the main line. A bridge crew
of about five men maintains and replaces bridges along the main line.
Most of it's hands live on ranches along the highway from Medford
to Camp 3; some may live in Butte Falls.
The two train crews on the main line are made up of firemen,_con-
ductors, brakemen, and engineers. The three-spot crew makes a daily
trip from Medford to Butte Falls and back. At the'mill, where there
is apparently a connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad, the
three-spot crew also switches cars loaded with, or emptied of, finished
products. The crew normally consists of four men; at the time of
the hearing it had six men. These men live in Medford. The one-
spot crew makes its trip from Butte Falls to Medford and back; it
makes this trip, however, irregularly, on the order of the woods super-
3 This figure includes five persons whose inclusion within the unit is also objected to by
the I \V A. and the Company on the ground that they occupy supervisory positions
44O l i n-4 2 -Vol 30---13
260 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
intendent, the frequency depending upon the quantity of logs to be
hauled. The members of this crew number about four and reside in
and about Butte Falls.!- They-are sometimes assigned by the woods
superintendent to.assist the three woods locomotive crews. On such
days the one-spot engine lies idle. It is estimated that, on an annual
or semi-annual basis,,the one-spot crew spends between 10 and 20 per
cent of its time in the woods.4 Both crews operate under the dispatch-
ing of the assistant manager, who appears to be located at the mill.
Since August 1937 the Company has had with the I. E. U. an exclu-
sive recognition agreement covering the wages, hours, and working
conditions of the employees at its logging operations. About the same
time it entered into a similar agreement for the mill with another local
of the Industrial Employees' Union; Inc., not here a party. Although
after 6 months these contracts became terminable upon 30 days' notice,
they are still in force. The contracts, however, are ambiguous with
regard to whether, or the extent to which, main line employees are
covered by one contract or the other.
With respect to the bargaining practice under these contracts the
evidence is as follows. - Jurisdiction over main line employees lies
in the woods local. Asa matter of convenience,-however, one member
of the mill local's conference committee, set up under the mill contract,
represents main line employees who live near Medford; 6 a member, of
the corresponding committee of the woods local also represents main
line employees, presumably those residing in the vicinity of Butte
Falls.' The record contains only a few instances of actual bargaining
for such employees -apart from the negotiated contracts referred to
above. The woods local has dealt with the Company about the terms
and conditions of erizployment of a member of the one-spot crew and
members, of A he section crew' working between Camp 3 and Derby.
The mill local has also conferred with the Company about a caboose
which- was transferred from one train crew to another. Frequently
the committees of the woods and the mill locals have met jointly with
the management.
We are of the opinion that, by reason of their functions and of
their bargaining history, main line railroad employees are in general
closely associated with the woods operations.' We shall include in
the unit non-supervisory main line employees.
4 On the Company's list of main line employees as of November 1, 1940 , there also ap-
pear theee log car repairmen, a track patiolman, and a roundhouse foreman. The round-
house foreman and the repairmen seem to be located at the mill
5 He is , at present, an engineer on the three-spot locomotive.
According to E II Card, field representative of the Industrial Employees' Union, Inc ,
the committeeman represents the shop and 3-spot crew and the section crew- on the lower
end ." Membeis of the three -spot clew are the only persons in the afore-mentioned group
for whom the i ecord definitely establishes attendance at meetings of the mill local.
' The main line employees represented by this committeeman appear to be members of
the one-spot train crew and of the section clew working between Derby and Camp 3, who
attend meetings of the woods local.
MEDFORD' CORPORATION 261
(b) The Company and the I. W. A. seek to exclude certain 'em-
ployees from the unit on the ground that they occupy supervisory
positions; the I. E. U. opposes this contention.
About ten employees are involved," five of whom are engaged in
activity connected with the main line railroad., On the Company's
list of employees they appear as foremen; they are considered by the
Company to be "foremen or subforemen or strawbosses." They all
have the power to recommend hire and discharge and to give orders
to the employees under them, who range in number from 3 to 40;
the majority of them perform such supervisory functions either ex-
clusively or mainly, rather than participate in the work done by
those whom they direct. -
The I. E. U. excludes from membership only those supervisory
employees who have the power to hire and discharge, while the I.
W. A. also excludes those who have the power to recommend hire'or
discharge.
The I. E. U. contends that head fallers likewise have the power
to recommend the hire and discharge of their second fallers; but no
party is asking for their exclusion and it does not appear that a head
faller exercises the same kind of authority over the second faller
with whom he works that the afore-mentioned foremen do over the
employees under their supervision.
We are of the opinion that the employees claimed to be super-
visory by the I. W. A. and the Company should be excluded from
the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its logging operations in the vicinity of Butte Falls,
Oregon, including main line railroad employees, but excluding the
timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the logging foreman, the
master mechanic foreman, the steel gang foreman, the spur mainte-
nance foreman, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman, the main
line section crew foremen, the bridge crew foreman, and the round-
house foreman, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, and that such unit will insure to the employees
of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization
and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of
the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The question concerning representation which has arisen can best
be resolved by, and we shall, accordingly direct, an election by secret
ballot. '
8 They are . the master mechanic foreman , the steel gang foreman , the spur maintenance
foreman, the brush foreman , the bull buck foreman, the main line section crew foremen,
the bridge crew foreman , and the roundhouse foreman.
262 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Throughout most of the year the Company's working force is
stable, except for the fact that in the fall about 15 men are added to
the pay roll to do brush piling and burning for about 2 or 3 months.
The pay roll for November 1, 1940, shows about nine brush pilers.
In that respect the Company indicated the pay roll was "unrepre-
sentative," thereby casting some doubt on the eligibility of these melt
to vote. Ordinarily they are rehired from year to year if available.
When the brush, piling „work is completed ,'they are laid ;off, unless
there are vacancies in the woods which they can fill; in such case
they are given preference with respect to available jobs. We are of
the opinion that the brush pilers on the pay roll for November 1,
1940, should be eligible to vote.
We shall direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall be
the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the
Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of our Direction of Election herein, including employees who
did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation, or absent because called, for military service, and em-
ployees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off," but
excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause.
In a previous decision the Board found the Industrial Employees'
Union, Inc., to be employer dominated and, because of the interde-
pendence of that organization and its locals, also found "each of its
component parts . . . employer dominated." 10 The present record
does not adequately disclose the relationship between the I. E. U. and
its parent organization. The I. W. A. has not objected to participa-
tion by the I. E. U. in the hearing or the election. It does not
appear that the I. E. U. had sufficient notice that it might not be
placed upon the ballot because of its connection with the Industrial
Employees' Union, Inc. For the foregoing reasons we shall direct
that its name appear on the ballot.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Medford Corporation, Butte Falls, Oregon,
Brush pilers on the pay roll for November 1, 1940, who were not woiking during the
pay-roll period preceding the date of the Direction of Election, are to be considered em-
plo.Nees temporarily laid off Furthermore, the Company usually curtails its crew at the
logging camp in February or March, depending upon the weather, and ordinarily does not
resume normal operations until April The Company makes it a practice to recall em-
ployees laid off ; the turn-over from year to year is slight Should the logging operations
be so curtailed during the pay-roll peilod preceding the date of our Direction of Election
here n, employees not then working are also to be considered employees temporarily laid off
10 Matter of McGoldrick Lumber Company, et at and Lumber and Sawmill TVorAer8
Union, etc, 19 N L R B 887
MEDFORD CORPORATION 263
within the meaning of Section 9 ( c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company,
including main line railroad employees , but excluding the timekeeper,
the logging superintendent , the logging foreman, the master me-
chanic foreman, the steel gang foreman, the spur maintenance fore-
man, the brush foreman, the bull buck foreman , the main line section
crew foremen , the bridge crew foreman , and the roundhouse foreman,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, within thesmeaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the-power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board, by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act , and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DmEcTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Medford Corporation, Butte Falls, Oregon, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not later than sixty
(60) days from the date of this Direction of Election , under the
supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region, act-
ing in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board
and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations,
among all production and maintenance employees employed by the
Company at its logging operations in the vicinity of Butte Falls,
Oregon, during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
.of this Direction of Election , including main line railroad employees,
employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation , or absent because called for military service,
and employees who were then or have since been temporarily laid
off, but excluding the timekeeper, the logging superintendent, the
logging foreman, the master mechanic foreman, the steel gang fore-
man, the spur maintenance foreman , the brush foreman, the bull
buck foreman , the main line section crew foremen , the bridge crew
foreman, and the roundhouse foreman, and those who have since
quit or been discharged for cause , to determine whether they desire
to be represented by International Woodworkers of America, Local
Union No. 6-224 - affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, or by Industrial Employees ' Union, Local Union #8-11, or by
neither.