Old Dominion Box Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 23, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of OLD DOMINION Box Co., INC., EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PULP, SULPHITE AND PAPER MILL
WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 5-R-2488.Decided September 23, 1946
Mr. W. S. Blakney, of Charlotte, N. C., for the Employer.
Mr. Ames S. Killen, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. Donald W. Hunt,
of Richmond, Va., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Melvin J. Welles, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Charlotte,
North Carolina, on August 6, 1946, before Charles B. Slaughter, hear-
ing 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
The Employer, a Virginia corporation, owns and operates a number
of plants in Virginia and North Carolina. Only its Charlotte, North
Carolina, plant is involved in the present proceeding.
During the past year, the Employer purchased for its Charlotte
plant raw materials valued in excess of $100,000, of which approxi-
mately 20 percent was shipped to the plant from points outside the
State of North Carolina. During the same period, the Employer
manufactured at its Charlotte plant finished products valued in excess
of $150,000, of which approximately 25 percent was shipped from this
plant to points outside the State of North Carolina.
The Employer does not deny, and we find, that it is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
71 N. L. R. B., No. 1.
1
2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, 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 employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner 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 meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner and the Employer agree that a unit of all production
and maintenance workers, excluding office and clerical employees, and
supervisory employees, is appropriate. They disagree, however, with
respect to the following :
Floating gang: The Petitioner contends that those employees classi-
fied as the "floating gang" should be included in the twit, the Employer
opposing this contention. These employees move raw materials which
have been delivered to the plant from trucks and railroad cars to
storage locations or to a department for processing, and move finished
products from the shipping department to trucks and railroad cars
for shipment outside the plant. In addition, they clean inside and
outside the plant, cut the grass, and tend the flowers. Inasmuch as
these employees constitute an integral part of the production processes
of the plant, and perform maintenance work in the plant, we are of
the opinion that their interests lie with those of the other production
and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, include the floating
gang in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
The floating gang, consisting of about 24 employees, is under the
supervision of a working foreman. Although the working foreman
also performs manual work, he is paid $18 more weekly than the
employees in the floating gang. Furthermore, he recommends dis-
charge for inefficiency or insubordination, and his recommendations
are usually followed, despite the fact that they are subject to an
independent investigation by the general superintendent. We are of
the opinion that the working foreman of the floating gang is a super-
visory employee within the meaning of our customary definition. We
shall, therefore, exclude him.
Cost-clerk in the set-up department: The Petitioner, contrary to
the Employer, would exclude this employee from the unit. She is
engaged in computing the time spent on each job from job tickets
OLD DOMINION BOX CO., INC. 3
which are routed to her. She compiles a master record, which is used
to determine production speed in all of the Employer's plants, from
these job tickets. All of her time is spent in this manner, doing
clerical work only. Although she is under the supervision of the
superintendent of the set-up department with respect to her hours of
work and conduct on the job, the actual work which she performs is
supervised by a man who is in charge of the installation of a. cost
system in all plants of the Employer. Thus, her duties are not con-
trolled by production supervisors. Nor does she engage in any pro-
duction work, her duties being solely clerical in nature. Under
these circumstances, we shall exclude the cost clerk in the set-up
department from the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
Janitor in the set-up department: The Petitioner seeks the inclusion
of this employee, whereas the Employer seeks his exclusion. The
janitor, who is supervised by the superintendent of the set-up depart-
ment, cleans the department, performing the usual janitorial services,
and mixes glue, which is used to fasten paper wraps on rough paper-
board boxes. He devotes about one half of his time to glue mixing.
We are of the opinion that his interests lie with those of the other
production and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, include
the janitor in the set-up department in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.
Elevator operator: The Petitioner would include this employee,
the Employer taking a contrary position. His sole duty is to operate
a freight elevator, which moves unfinished products from one depart-
ment to another during the production process. Since this is an
essential part of the production process, we shall include the elevator
operator in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
Stoclchanadlers in the carton department: The Petitioner, contrary
to the Employer, would i,iclude these employees. Their duties in the
carton department are similar to those of the floating gang employees,
whom we have included in the unit, except that the stockhandlers
work only in one department. We shall, therefore, include the stock-
handlers in the carton department in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Em-
ployer's Charlotte plant, including the floating gang, the janitor in
the set-up department, the elevator operator, the stockhandlers in the
carton department, and the technicians in the technical department,'
but excluding the cost clerk in the set-up department, office and clerical
employees, the working foreman of the floating gang, and all other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis-
cipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or ef-
' The parties agreed to include these employees, who are engaged in checking incoming
material for quantity and quality , which work constitutes part of the production process.
4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
fectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the
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 Old Dominion Box Co., Inc.,.
Charlotte, North Carolina, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Fifth 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 unit 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 election, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill
Workers, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining.