Oregon Plywood Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 7, 1941

33 N.L.R.B. 1234 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of OREGON PLYWOOD COMPANY and PLYWOOD Box SHOOK
AND DOOR COUNCIL # 9, INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERIOA,
AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Case No. R-27!S.-Decided August 7, 1941
Jurisdiction : lumber products manufacturing industry'
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fu'a1 to accord union recognition ; contract which expired before the issuance
of Decision, no bar to; school boys employed during the suinnier months held
ineligible to vote; election necessary
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees excluding supervisory and office employees.
Mr. F. A. Cornell, of Sweet Home, Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. William, J. Baker, of Olympia, Wash., for the I. W. A.
Mr. J. G. Wolf, of Portland, Oreg., for the council.
Mr. Louis Colcin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 12, 1941, Plywood Box Shook and Door Council #9,
International Woodworkers of America, herein called the I. W. A.,
filed with the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle,
Washington) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Oregon Ply-
wood Company, Sweet Home, Oregon, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act. On June 27, 1941, the National Labor
Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Sec-
tion 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.
On July 1, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the I. W. A.,
and Willamette Valley District Council, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, herein called the Council,, a labor organization
33 N L. R B., No. 206
1234
OREGON PLYWOOD COMPANY 1235
claiming to represent employees' directly affected by the investigation.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on July 17, 1941, at Albany,
Oregon, before Charles M. Brooks, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the I. W. A., and
the Council were represented by counsel and participated in the hear-
ing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded
all parties. At the close of the hearing, the Council filed a motion
to dismiss the petition on the ground that it is a party to an existing
contract with the Company. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling
thereon. The motion is hereby denied for the reason stated in Section
III, below. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner
made several rulings on other motions and on objections to the admis-
sion of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial
Examiner 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
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Oregon Plywood Company is an Oregon corporation with its prin-
cipal office in Buffalo, New York, and its principal place of business
in Sweet Home, Oregon, where it is engaged in the manufacture and
sale of plywood and lumber products. During 1940, the Company
produced and manufactured products valued at about $400,000, ap-
proximately 90 per cent of which were shipped by it, to points outside
the State of Oregon. All the logs used by the Company in the manu-
facture of its products come from points within the State of Oregon.
The Company employs about 170 employees at its Sweet Home mill.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Plywood Box Shook and Door Council #9, International Wood-
workers of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership em-
ployees at the Sweet Home mill of the Company.
Willamette Valley District Council is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership
employees at the Sweet Home mill of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On February 6, 1941, the Company and the Council entered into an
exclusive bargaining contract covering the production and mainte-
450122-42-vol 33-79
1236 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nance employees at the Sweet Home mill, and providing for a closed
shop. Subsequent thereto, the,I. W. A. requested the Company to
bargain with it as the exclusive representative of such employees. The
Company denied this request because of its existing contract with the
Council. The Council contends that its contract constitutes a bar to
a present determination of representatives and urges that the petition
herein be dismissed.
The contract between the Council and the Company is titled "Tem-
porary Working Agreement" and states that it "shall remain in full
force and effect until modified, terminated, or replaced by a permanent
agreement" and further provides that "it is agreed that the tempo-
rary agreement shall not be terminated in less than six months from
the date of its execution." At the time of the hearing no negotiations
had been instituted between the Company and the Council looking
toward a permanent contract. At the time the contract was entered
into, the Company employed a total of 75 employees and at the time
of the hearing, the Company had in its employ about 175 employees.
It is apparent that the contract is not a bar to a present determination
of representatives inasmuch as it is terminable by either party thereto
after August 6, 1941.1
A statement of a Field Examiner introduced in evidence shows that
the I. W. A. presented to him 41 designation cards, 35 of which bear
the names of persons who appear on the Company's pay roll of June
13, 1941, and a list of ten persons, all of whose names appear on the
June 13, 1941, pay roll of the Company, who were members of other
locals of the I. W. A. He further reported that the Council presented
a list showing that 157 persons are paid-up members, that 14 are
members but are not paying dues, and that 9 persons hold working
permits from it. Of these 179 persons, 164 appear on the June 13,
1941, pay roll of the Company. There are 199 employees on this pay
roll. We find that the I. W. A. has made a sufficient showing of
membership to warrant a determination of representatives in this
case in view of the fact that the Council and the Company are parties
to an existing closed-shop contract.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
1 See Matter of Atlantic Footwear Company, Inc. and United Shoe Workers of America of
the C. I. 0, 5 N. L. R. B. 252.
l Matter of Certain-Teed Products Corporation and International Longshoremen's and
Warehousemen's Union Local 1-6, 28 N . L. R. B. 915.
.OREGON PLYWOOD COMPANY 1237
described in Section I, above, has a close,, intimate, and substantial
relation 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
The Company, the, I. W. A., and the Council agreed at the hearing
that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, ex-
cluding supervisory and office employees, constitute an appropriate
unit. However, the parties are in dispute as to the status of four
named individuals. The I. W. A. desires that these four employees be
excluded from the unit on the ground that they are supervisory em-
ployees, and the Council that they be included in the unit. The
Company takes no position with respect to these employees.
John Harder. The superintendent of the Company testified that
Harder is carried on the Company's pay roll as a production employee
and that he has no power to hire or discharge. He is, however, con-
sidered a keyman by the Company and spends about 25 per cent of his
time instructing new employees. Under the circumstances, we find
that he should be included in the unit.
Alvin Fields and Foulke. These employees appear on the Com-
pany's pay roll as sanderman and production employee, respectively.
It appears that these employees spend all their time performing actual
manual duties and that they have no supervisory authority. We find
that Fields and Foulke should be included in the unit.
Melvin Lund. This employee, who is the son of the' superintend-
ent, is classified by the Company as a stock receiver. However, in the
absence of the night foreman he is in complete charge of the night
crew. We find that Lund is a supervisory employee and should be
excluded from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, excluding supervisory and office employees, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that said
unit will insure to 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.s
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation can best be
resolved by an election by secret ballot. Some dispute arose during
,the hearing as to the status of part-time employees. It appears that
the Company has in the past employed school boys during the summer
a This is the same unit as is covered by the contract between the Company and the
Council.
1238 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
months. The I. W. A. stated that in the event the Company employs
such persons, they should be deemed ineligible to vote. The Council
contends that such employees should be eligible to vote. The Company
took no position with respect to this type of employee. We find that
any such persons employed by the Company shall not be eligible to
vote in the election.
We shall direct that the employees of the' Company eligible to vote
in the election shall be those in the appropriate unit who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direc-
tion of Election herein, subject to such limitations and additions as
are set forth in-the Direction hereinafter.
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 Oregon Plywood Company, Sweet Home,
Oregon, 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 at the Sweet Home
mill of the Company, excluding supervisory and office employees, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
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 Relations
Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
it is hereby,
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Oregon Plywood Company, Sweet Home, Oregon, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted 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 Nineteenth Region,
acting 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 at the Sweet Home
mill of the Company who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the
OREGON PLYWOOD COMPANY 1239
United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding supervisory and
office employees and employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Ply-
wood Box Shook and Door Council #9, International Woodworkers
of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
or by Willamette Valley District Council, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.