Polson Logging Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 24, 1941

31 N.L.R.B. 328 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter Of POLSON LOGGING COMPANY AND OZETTE RAILWAY
COMPANY and BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD, TRAINMEN
In the Matter Of POLAON LOGGING COMPANY AND OZETTE RAILWAY
COMPANY and BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ' FIREMEN AND
ENGINEMEN
Cases Nos . R-2217 and R4218.-Decided April 24i 1941
Jurisdiction : lumber industry.
Practice and Procedure : petitions dismissed where no appropriate units within
the scope of the petitions.
Mr. L. B. Donley, of Aberdeen, Wash., and Mr. R. W. Maxwell,
of Seattle, Wash., for the Company.
Mr. C. W. Stevens, of Portland, Oreg., and Mr. S. C. Phillips, of
Oakland, Calif., for the Trainmen and the Firemen.
Mr. James J. Molthan, of Seattle , Wash., for the I. W. A.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On July 8, 1940, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, herein called
the Trainmen, and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engine-
men, herein called the Firemen, filed with the Regional Director for
the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington) separate petitions al-
leging that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Polson Logging Company and Ozette
Railway Company, Hoquiam, Washington, herein collectively called
the Company,' and requesting investigations and certifications of
representatives-pursuant to Section 9 (c) of'the National Labor Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On November 20,
1940, the National.Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,
acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, See-
' Ozette Railway Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Poison Logging Company.
Ozette Railway Company is in process of liquidation.
31 N. L. R. B., No. 52.
328
POLSON LOGGING COMPANY 329
tion 3, of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 2, as amended, ordered investigations in each of the
cases 2 and authorized the Regional Director to conduct them and
to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, and, acting
pursuant,to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regu-
lations, ordered that the two cases be consolidated.
On November 29, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing on the consolidated cases, copies of which were duly served
upon the Company, the Firemen, the Trainmen, and International
Woodworkers of America, Local No. 3-2, herein called the I. W. A.,
a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected
by the investigation. Pursuant' to notice, a hearing was held on
December 16 and 17, 1941, at Hoquiam, Washington, before Patrick
H. Walker, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The
Company, the Firemen, the Trainmen, and the I. W. A. were repre-
sented 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 I. W. A. filed a motion to dismiss the peti-
tions herein on the ground that the Trainmen and the Firemen had
'failed to show that the units urged by them are appropriate. The
Trial Examiner reserved ruling thereon. The motion is hereby
granted for the reasons stated in Section III below. 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 Examiner and finds that no
prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
On January 18, 1941, the Firemen and the Trainmen filed a joint
brief and on January 21, 1941, the Company filed a brief, both of
which have been considered by the Board.
Pursuant to notice duly served upon all the parties, a hearing for
the purpose of oral argument was held before the Board on January
28, 1941, in Washington, D. C. The Company, the Firemen, and the
Trainmen were represented by counsel and participated in the
argument.
.Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Polson Logging Company and Ozette Railway Company are Wash-
ngton- corporations with their principal' places of , business at
2 Case No. R-2217 , initiated by the petition filed by the Trainmen , and Case No. R-2218,
initiated by the petition filed by the Firemen.
330 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Hoquiam, Washington. They are engaged in the business of logging
and in addition, the Poison Logging Company operates a sawmill.
During 1939 the Company produced approximately 98,000,000 feet
of lumber, about 64,000,000 feet of which were used in its own mill
and the balance sold to sawmills within the State of Washington.
Of-the lumber produced by the Company's sawmill, approximately
90 percent is sold and moved in interstate commerce.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen is a labor
organization admitting to membership all engineers and firemen of
the Company. - I '
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen is a labor organization admit-
±ing to membership all trainmen employed by the Company.
International Woodworkers of America, Local No. 3-2, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
It admits to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Trainmen alleges that all trainmen employed by the Company,
about 16 in number, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The
Firemen alleges that all engineers and firemen of the Company,
totaling about 17 employees, constitutes an appropriate bargaining
unit. The I. W. A. and the Company assert that all the employees
of the Company, including trainmen, firemen, and engineers, con-
stitute an appropriate unit and urge the dismissal of the petitions
herein.
The Company is engaged in logging and sawmill operations at
Hoquiam, Washington. In connection with and as a part of its
logging operations, the Company operates a railroad system for the
transportation of the logs from the woods to tidewater. The trains
run over approximately 45 miles of railroad. The Company employs
approximately 500 employees in its logging operations, approxi-
mately 33 of whom are engaged in the operation of the Company's
railroad system. Many of the present railroad employees of the
Company are employees who had been engaged in other work for the
Company. The record discloses that it has been the continued prac-
tice of the Company to transfer employees from its railroad system
ft o other logging operations and vice versa. In the course of their
duties, the employees in the units urged by the Trainmen and by, the
Firemen to be appropriate assist in the loading and unloading of
logs. The work of the railroad employees is essential to the con-
tinuance of the other logging operations of the Company, the entire
POLSON LOGGING COMPANY 331
enterprise being highly integrated. The entire logging operation
of the Company, including the railroad, is conducted under a single
centralized management. The same general wage scales, hours of
work, conditions of employment, and a company-wide seniority pol-
icy are-applicable 'to all.employees.3
The history of organization and collective bargaining in the Com-
pany's logging operation, so far as the record discloses, dates from
1935. In that year a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor was formed. It admitted' to membership em-
ployees throughout the Company's woods operation, including the
railroad employees. In 1935 the Company concluded a, collective
bargaining agreement with this organization, recognizing it as the
collective bargaining agency for its members in the Company's em-
ploy and fixing wages, hours, and working conditions. Pursuant to
this agreement, committees met and dealt with the Company. The
trainmen, engineers, and firemen served on such committees. A rep-
resentative of the Company testified that under this 1935 agreement
the Company recognized and treated this labor organization as the
exclusive collective bargaining agent for its woods employees, including
the railroad employees. In 1937 employees in this labor organization
changed their affiliation to the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
and the I. W. A. succeeded as the collective bargaining representa-
tive under the agreement. Thereafter, the Company dealt with the
1. W. A. as the sole bargaining agent for its woods employees. The
trainmen, engineers, and firemen participated in the change of
affiliation and served. on I. W. A. committees in the matter of nego-
tiations and settlement of grievances thereafter. The evidence
shows that a majority of the employees in the units urged by the
Trainmen- and, by the Firemen--to, be- appropriate were,- in 1939,
members of the I. W. A.
In the early part of 1940 the Trainmen and the Firemen, after an
organizational campaign, attempted to bargain with the Company
on behalf of the employees in the units which they now claim to be
appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. The Company,
refused, their requests, to bargain stating that it was recognizing the
I. W. A. as the exclusive bargaining agent for all its logging em-
ployees, including the employees whom the Trainmen and the Fire-
men sought to represent. -
while all the employees in the logging operation work a basic 40-hour week, the non-
railroad employees customarily work 8 hours a day , 5 days a week, whereas the railroad
employees often put in their 40 hours during the 3 or 4 days Under the various collective
bargaining agreements which have governed the.conditions of employment of the employees
of the logging operation since 1935, the non-railroad employees receive a rate of time and
one-half for all time worked in excess of 8 hours a day whereas the railroad employees only
receive this overtime rate for work in excess of 40 hours per week.
332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The record indicates, and our experience persuades us, that bar-
gaining in the logging industry has generally had an industrial
character; 4 in the vast majority of representation cases arising in,
the industry which have come before us, locals both of the Lumber and
Sawmill Workers',- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
and the International Woodworkers of America, have been in agree-
ment' upon the appropriateness of an industrial unit. ,
In view, therefore, of the history of collective bargaining at the
Company's logging operation and in the industry, and of the nature
and organization of the work performed at the Company's logging
operation, we find that the units sought to be established by the
Trainmen and by the Firemen in the present cases are inappropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining.5
IV. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since, as pointed out in Section III above, the bargaining-units
sought to be established by the parties are inappropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Company, we find that no
question has been raised concerning the representation of employees
m an appropriate bargaining unit.
Upon' the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire,
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSION OF LAW
No question concerning the representation of employees of Polson
Logging Company and Ozette Railway Company , Hogiliam, Wash-
ington, in a unit which is appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining has arisen , within' the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations. Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and conclusion of
law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the peti-
tions for investigation and certification of representatives filed by
the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and by the Brotherhood- of
Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen be, and they hereby are,
dismissed.
* See Matter of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company , Longview Branch and International
Woodworkers of America, Local No. 36, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, et al, 29 N. L. R. B. 571 ; Matter o f Lonq-Bell Lumber Company and Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union \#B77, affiliated with the American,
Federation of Labor, at at., 29 N. L R B 586
6 Cf. Matter of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and International Association of Machin-
ists, Lodge No. 1473, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, et at, 30 N. L. R. B.
872
V
POLSON LOGGING COMPANY 333
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON, dissenting : -
In accordance with the decisions of the Board in the Sloss She f -
field Steel d iron Company case ° and other cases,7 I would order
elections. among the, engineers and firemen and among the trainmen
to permit these 'employees to determine for themselves whether they
desire separate bargaining units." -
E Matter of Sloss Sheffield Steel & Iron Company and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen,
Matter of Sloss Sheffield Steel it Iron Company and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
and Engineers , 14 N. L R B 186.
7Matter of S. Karpen it Bros . and United Furniture Workers of America, Local 576,
C. 1 0., 14 N. L. R . B. 465; Matter of Western Pipe and Steel Company of California and
Steel Workers Organizing Committee, 14 N. L. It. B 473; Matter of L. B. Lockwood Com-
pany and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers Local Union # 52, 16 N L
R B. 65 See also Matter of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and International Wood-
u orkers of America, Local 107, Boommen and Rafters , 16 N L It. B. 902 ; Matter of Chi-
cago Malleable Castings Company and International Union of Operating Engineers, Local
No. 399 and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers , Local No . 7, 16 N. L. R B 15
8Cf Long -Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood Branch and Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen & Engineers, 31 N. L . It. B, No. 51 ( R-2231, R-2232).