Pacific Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 17, 1943

51 N.L.R.B. 407 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of PACIFIC LUMBER COMPANY and LUMBER & SAWMILL
WORKERS, LOCAL 3053, U. B. of C. & J. oF'A., A. F. L.
Case No. R-5576.Decided July 17,1943
Mr. H. L. Ricks, of Eureka, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. Martin Balke, of Eureka , Calif., for the Union.
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Lumber & Sawmill Workers, Local 3053,
U. B. of C. & J. of A., A. F. L., herein called the Union, alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Pacific Lumber Company, Field's Landing, California,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Gerald P.
Leicht, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Eureka, California,
on June 22, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared, partici-
pated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were
afforded the opportunity of filing briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS" OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Pacific Lumber Company, a Maine corporation, has its principal
offices at San Francisco, California, and its principal plants and yards
at Scotia, California, where it is engaged in the business of logging,
milling, and selling lumber and lumber products. In addition to the
mill and yards at Scotia, the Company also operates a branch yard
and dock terminal located at Field's Landing, California.
51 N. L. R. B., No. 81.
407
408 DECISIONS OF NAT'IO\AL LABOR REfLATIONS BOARD
During the calendar year 1941, the Company purchased for use at
its Scotia plant, raw materials valued at approximately $860,000, of
which approximately 80 percent was obtained from points outside the
State of California. During the same period, the Company manufac-
tured at its Scotia plant finished products of a value in excess of
$1,000,000, of which approximately 60 percent was shipped to points
outside the State of California. The Company admits that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOL\ ED
Lumber & Sawmill Workers, Local 3053, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, is a labor organization affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On May 30, 1943, the Union requested that the Company recognize
it as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the Com-
pany's employees at Field's Landing. The Company declined the
request upon the ground that the unit claimed by the Union was
inappropriate.
A statement by the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a subtsantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate
We find' that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union contends that all employees of the Company at-its
Field's Landing, California, dock and yard, exclusive of supervisors
and bosses, constitute an appropriate unit. While the Company does
'not object to the exclusions requested by the Union, it does contest
the scope of the proposed unit and claims that the unit should em-
brace not only the employees at Field's Landing but also those at
the Scotia mills and yards.
The Company's yard and dock known as Field's Landing has been
in existence since 1908 or 1909, and in 1912 provided employment for
about 125 employees, at which time it was the sole distribution point
'The Regional Director reported that the Union had submitted 13 signed application-
for-membership cards , all dated in May 1943, of which 12 bore the apparently genuine
signatures of persons whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll of June 11, 1943.
containing the names of 13 persons within the claimed appropriate unit.
PACIFIC LUMBER COMPA\I 409
by water for all the production from the Company mills located at
Scotia, a distance of approximately 20 miles from Field's Landing.
At the present time, however, due to a change in transportation facili-
ties, the clock and yard at Field's Landing handles but a very small
part of the Company's shipments and is maintained by approximately
13 employees, exclusive of supervisors. On the other hand, notwith-
standing the possible elimination of Field's Landing from future
operations of the Company, there is nothing in the record to'indicate
when, if ever, such event is likely to occur.
From the point of view of Company organization, the yard and
dock at Field's Landing, though constituting a department of the
main operations aid under the general supervision of the superintend-
ent of distribution, are nevertheless under the immediate supervision
of a separate foreman or supervisor who has the right not,only to
discharge employees working under him, but may also select pros-
pective employees subject to the approval of the central employment
office and the passing of a physical examination on the part of the
person selected for employment. Employees at Field's Landing
are, moreover, generally considered as permanently assigned to this
location, there having been virtually no interchange of employees
between Scotia, and Field's Landing in recent times. In addition, em-
ployees at the latter yard have generally considered themselves as
apart from the Scotia operations and have always discussed with the
local foreman matters relating to wages, hours, and other conditions
of employment.
While employees at both Scotia and Field's Landing perform simi-
lar work, are paid the same wage scale, and enjoy generally the same
working conditions, the employees at each location live for the most
part in the vicinity of their respective places of employment, have
little if any opportunity for mutual relations, and at the present time
are either organized or in the process of being organized by separate
locals of the A. F. of L. Of these the local at Scotia has made but,
slow progress ii its organizing campaign due to the restraining in-
fluence of recent unfair labor practices on the part of the Company?
On the other hand, the Field's Landing local, the charter of which
limits its membership to employees at Field's Landing, has effectively
organized the Company's employees, which organization has been
entirely confined to the employees at Field's Landing.
Because of the distance between Scotia and Field's Landing, the
semi-autonomous character of the Field's Landing operation as evi-
'OnMay 27 . 1943 , the Board issued its Decision and Order directing the Company to
cease and desist from certain unfair labor practices. See Matter of Pact/c Lumber Corn-
pang, 49 N.' L. R. B. 1145. . The fact that unfair labor practices may have contributed
to the limited extent of union organization has been considered by the Board as an element
in the finding of a unit based on the extent of organization See Matter of Pacific pas
d Electric Co., 40 N L. R B. 591.
410 DECISIONS OF NMPIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
dented by its position under a separate foreman with substantial in-
dependent authority, the absence of any appreciable intercharge of
employees between Scotia and Field's Landing, the local interests of
Field's Landing employees, and the fact that practically all such em-
ployees have signified their desire for collective bargaining by becom-
ing members of the petitioning local, together with the fact that ef-
fective union organization is at present limited to the employees at
Field's Landing, we are of the opinion that the employees at Field's
Landing constitute a homogeneous group suitable for the purposes
of collective bargaining.'
We find that all employees of the Company employed at its Field's
Landing dock and yard, excluding all supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Di-
rection.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National La-
bor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article 111, Section 9, of National Labor Re-
lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pacific Lumber
Company Field's Landing, California, an election by secret bal-
lot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and su-
pervision of the Regional Director for the Twentieth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and
subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preced-
a See Matter of, Meadow Valley Lumber Co., 32 N. L. R. B. 115; Matter of Max Pollack,
Inc., 38 N. L. R. B. 966; Matter of Pacafio Gas & Electrzc Co, 40 N. L. R. B. 591; Matter
of Abraham Brothers Packing Company, 47 N. L. R. B. 1338; Matter of Woodside Cotton
Malls Co., 48 N. L. R B. 518.
PACIFIC LUMBER COMPANY 411
ing the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation 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 employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause,
to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Lumber
& Sawmill Workers, Local 3053, U. B. of C. & J. of A., A. F. L., for the
purposes of collective bargaining.