Rib Lake Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 22, 1944

56 N.L.R.B. 798 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In- the Matter of RIB LAKE LUMBER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 18-R-990.-Decided May 22 ; 1944
Mr. 0. S. Hoebreckx , of Rhinelander , Wis., for the Company.
Mr. Edward J. Lambert,' of Wausau , Wis., for the Union.
Mr. William Strong, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Woodworkers of
'America, CIO, herein called the Union, alleging that a question af-
fecting commerce had arisen concerning ,the representation of emT
ployees of Rib Lake Lumber Company, Rib Lake, Wisconsin, herein
called the Company, the National • Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Clarence A. Meter,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Rib Lake, Wisconsin,
on, April 25, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared and par-
ticipated. All parties 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 ere afforded ,an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. -
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS-OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Rib Lake Lumber Company,, a Delaware corporation with its prin-
cipal office and place of business at Rib Lake, Wisconsin, is engaged
in the, logging and lumber business in the States of Wisconsin and
Michigan. We are here concerned with its operations near Rib Lake,
Wisconsin. During 1943, raw niaterials, consisting of logs, pulp-
wood, shingle bolts, cedar posts, poles, and ties, in an amount approxi-
56-N. L . R. B., No. 147.
798, •
RIB LAKE LUMBER COMPANY 799
,,mating,12,977,000 board feet, representing about 55 percent of the total
raw materials, used during the -year, were shipped to the Company
at Rib Lake, Wisconsin, from points outside the State of Wisconsin.
During the same period, the Company shipped approximately 9,574,750
board feet of finished products, constituting about 25 percent of its total
production, from Rib Lake to points outside the State of Wisconsin.
We find that the,Company is'engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Woodworkers of America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's em-
ployees until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appro-
priate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees 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.
i IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties stipulated that an appropriate unit should consist, in
part, of all production and maintenance employees of the Company in
and about its plant at Rib Lake, Wisconsin, including sawmill em-
ployees, planing mill employees, yard employees, and yard section
crew, but excluding office and clerical. employees, shippers, hardwood
graders, store clerks, cleaning woman, first aid man, and dry-kiln op-
erator, all employees in the logging operations, foremen, and all other
supervisory employees. - The Union would also include in the unit the
railroad train crew, the woods section crew, and the watchmen. The
Company opposes the inclusion of these employees.
Train crew and woods section crew-The Company carries on log-
ging operations approximately 20 miles from its Rib Lake plant.
These operations are connected with the plant by a railroad,, which
the Company owns and operates, and which is not a common carrier.
i The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 69 designation cards, and that -
there are 183 employees in the appropriate unit.
N
Soo DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR,, RELATIONS BOARD
The train crew, which.consists•of an engineer,•fireman, and, conductor,
operates the,trains which ;haul,about,45,pprcent,of the,logs,used,at the
mill,' from -the woods to, the mill., The train crew spends about, one-,.
sixth of its time switching-,in-the yards„'spotting cars of logs at, thei
mill,,and,sw,itching,cars, of finished, lumber.
The woods ,section crew maintains.the,railroad.tracks and equipment,
outside of the,y,ard.?•, The ,woods section, crew normally has its -head-
quarters in Rib Lake; however, about:one-third; of the time the woods
section crew lives and boards at the Company's camp in the woods.
Both the train crew'and-the woods section crew-are under the super=
vision of the superintendent-of woods operations; however, they are
carried'on the' plant pay ;roll for cost purposes. 7 Temporary replace-
ments for either crew may come from among the plant employees 'or
the woods employees. Permanent transferees in the past have come
also from among both thee plant and the woods-employees.
There is no history of collective bargaining between the Company-
and its employees;, the Union' is'the,sole -labor organization at present
seeking to organize them:' ', , I , -' f. , 1 - '
It appearing that the only labor 'organization among the Company's
employees seeks-to include the train crew and the woods section crew
in the unit,'that' the yard section crew has been' included by stipulation
in the' unit by both parties, and-tha't' these groups of employees could
properly constitute a part of either a plant employees' unit or a woods
employees' unit, or of a unit-composed of all employees, in the woods
and in the plant, we shall include the train crew and the woods -se
crew in the plant employees' unit' which we find appropriate.3
The watchmen are neither armed nor uniformed, nor are they mili-
tarized. These watchmen perform the ordinary, routine duties of
that category of employment. The Company objects,to the inclusion
of watchmen in the unit oil the ground, in.substance, that they are the
only representatives , of the ' Company • on its property when no others.
are ,present, that, their services, would be required in the event of a
strike,'that they must be employees -in whom the Company has full
confidence, and, that the Company, could not, have confidence in em-
ployees who ; are, "under:the Union's jurisdiction." We'have repeatedly
rejected, this line of objection to exercise by, non-supervisory watchmen
of rights under the Act' Nothing in our experience leads us to
2 The yard section crew , which maintains the tracks in 'tlie ' yard of the Company's plant,
has been included in the unit by stipulation- - • -
= Bargaining between other employers and their employees , referred to, by the Company,
is inconclusive andtfurnishes little basis for the unit determination:
See, e . g, Matter of Dravo , Corporation , 52 N. L. It. B. 322; -Matter, of Maryland
Drydock Company, 49 N. L. R B. 733 and 50 N. L. R, B.'363; Matter of Berkey, and Gay
The, National di p 'ply Company, '56 'N L. R. B. '639; Matter of H.' J DeFoe et al.,
Furniture Company, 56 N. L. R B. 578; Matter of The Spany Chalfant -Division of
56 N. L . R. B.-808, . . I - ' ' ,
,
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RIB LAKE LUMBER COMPANY 801
conclude that, the,exercise, of such,rights is incompatible with the full
honest, and loyal performance by, employees of their ;duty to the em-.
plover., Nor are we, persuaded that the watchmen should be denied the
right i to representation, if they so ,desire, by' the Unibn.5, , We shall
include the watchmen in the appropriate unit.
We find that all - production and maintenance employees of the
Company in and about its plant at, Rib. Lake, Wisconsin, including
sawmill employees, planing mill employees, yard employees, yard'
section crew, woods section, crew, train crew, and watchmen, but
Excluding office,and clerical employees, shippers, hardwood, graders,
store clerks, cleaning woman, first aid man,, and dry kiln operator; all
employees in the logging operations, foremen, and any "other super-
visory 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. TIIE 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
Direction.,
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,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represen-
tatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Rib Lake Lum-
ber Company, Rib Lake, Wisconsin, 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 Eighteenth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, 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
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
See e. g., Berkey and Gay, Spang Chalfant, and DeFoe cases, supra.
587784-45-vol. 56-52
802 -DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 any who have since quit or been discharged'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 represented
by International Woodworkers of America, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective!
bargaining.
CHAIRMAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election,
f
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