Post Falls Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 19, 1958

122 N.L.R.B. 157 (N.L.R.B. 1958)

POST FALLS LUMBER COMPANY 157
All electricians and electrician leaders, excluding office clerical em-
ployees, all other employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for the Peti-
tioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute
a separate appropriate unit, and the Regional Director conducting the
election directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of repre-
sentatives to the Petitioner for such unit, which the Board, under the,
circumstances, finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bar-
gaining. In the event a majority do not vote for the Petitioner, these
employees shall remain a part of the existing unit and the Regional.
Director will issue a certification of results of election to such effect.
5. The Employer asserts, and the Petitioner denies, that 16 em-
ployees have been permanently laid off and thus are ineligible to vote.
The Intervenor takes no position. Between September 6, 1957, and
May 9, 1958, the Employer laid off 16 electricians. due to a permanent
change from volume production to research and development, and
prototype production. In addition, the Employer contemplates fur-
ther reduction in force. The collective-bargaining agreement between
the Employer and the Intervenor provides that laid-off employees
retain.their seniority for a period equal to the period of their employ-
ment. However, there appears to be no reasonable expectancy of
their recall in the near future. Accordingly, we find that the 16 laid-
off employees are not eligible to vote in the election?
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
7 Higgins, Inc., 111 NLRB 797.
H. C. Schumacher d/b/a Post Falls Lumber Company and North
Idaho and Eastern Washington District Council of Lumber
and Sawmill Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner and International
Woodworkers of America , AFL-CIO , Local 10-119. Case No.
19-RC-2196. November 19, 1958
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election,
executed by the parties on July 21, 1958, an election by secret ballot
was conducted on July 29, 1958, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region among the em-
ployees in the unit described in the stipulation. At the conclusion
of the election, the parties were furnished a tally of ballots which
showed that of approximately 33 names on the eligibility list, 17 were
122 NLRB No. 24.
158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shown as "temporary," and of 19 ballots cast, 1 ballot was void, 7
ballots were cast for the Petitioner, 9 ballots were cast for the
Intervenor, and 3 ballots were challenged by both unions.
On August 13, 1958, following an investigation, the Regional
Director issued and duly served on the parties his report on chal-
lenged ballots, in which he recommended that the challenges made by
the Unions be sustained. The Employer timely filed exceptions to
the Regional Director's recommendations.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [Chairman Leedom and Members Bean and Jenkins].
The Board has considered the Regional Director's report, the ex-
ceptions, and the entire record in this case, and finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9(c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of. the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All production and maintenance employees engaged in the manu-
facturing of lumber at the Post Falls Lumber Company plant located
at Post Falls, Idaho, but excluding all office clerical employees and
plant clerical employees, supervisors and professional employees, inde-
pendent contractors, and guards and/or watchmen as defined in the
Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended.
5. No objections to the election were filed. The Employer's excep-
tions to the challenges are lacking in merit.
The Employer filed exceptions to the challenges of three employees
involved herein.
At the time Fred Bramer and John Hanshew were hired by the
Company, there was an understanding with them that they were to be
made permanent employees upon completion of the construction work
for which they were hired. Bramer was hired June 1, 1958, as a
construction laborer; Hanshew was hired about May 15, 1958, as a
construction laborer; Harold Gain, who cast the third challenged
ballot, was hired April 1, 1958, as a construction laborer. There is
no question about Gain's status, as the Employer concedes that he
was hired as a temporary employee. Bramer, Gain, and Hanshew
were hired for the purpose of construction work and were so employed
on the day of the election. The essential element in determining an
employee's eligibility to vote is his status on the eligibility payroll date
ORMET CORPORATION 159
and on the date of the election.' As Bramer and Hanshew were not
only temporary employees on the date of the election but were not in
the voting unit, they were not eligible to vote. We therefore agree
with the Regional Director's recommendations and hereby sustain
the challenges to the ballots of Fred Bramer, Harold Gain, and John
Hanshew. Accordingly, as the Intervenor has received a majority
of the valid votes cast, we shall certify it as the bargaining repre-
sentative of the employees in the appropriate unit.
[The Board certified International Woodworkers of America,
AFL-CIO, Local 10-119, as the designated collective- bargaining rep-
resentative of the employees of the Employer in the appropriate unit
described in paragraph numbered 2.]
1 Gulf States Asphalt Company, 106 NLRB 1212.
Ormet Corporation and Baton Rouge Metal Trades Council,
AFL-CIO and United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO,
Petitioners. Cases Nos. 15-RC-1801 and 15-RC-1802.' Novem-
ber 19, 1958
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVES
On July 1 and.2, 1958, pursuant to a stipulation for certification
upon consent election, an election was conducted under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region
among the employees in the agreed-upon unit. Following the elec-
tion, the Regional Director served upon the parties a tally of ballots
which showed that, of approximately 287 eligible voters, 282 cast
ballots, of which 130 were for the Metal Trades Council, 55 for the
Aluminum Workers,' 90 for the Steelworkers, 5 for no labor organi-
zation, and 2 ballots were void. As the results of the election were
inconclusive, a runoff election was held on July 29 and 30, 1958,
between the Metal Trades Council and the Steelworkers, pursuant
to Section 102.70 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 7, as
amended. The tally of ballots thereafter furnished the parties showed
that of approximately 286 eligible voters, 282 ballots were cast, of
which 124 were for the Steelworkers and 158 for the Metal Trades
Council.
1 Cases Nos. 15-RC-1801 and 15-RC-1802 were consolidated by the Regional Director
prior to the first election.
' Aluminum Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, intervened on the basis of a
showing of interest.
122 NLRB No. 30.