Sound Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 27, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 207 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of SOUND LUMBER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and OPERATING
ENGINEERS , LOCAL UNION No. 3 OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF
`OPERATING ENGINEERS , AFL, PETITIONER and LUMBER AND SAWMILL
WORKERS LOCAL 2726, AFL, INTERVENOR
Case No. 20-RC-fit.Decided August 27, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer
of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of Members Houston, Mur-
dock, and Gray.,
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor organizations claim-
ing to represent employees of the Employer.
3. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds that no ques-
tion exists concerning the.representation of employees of the Em-
ployer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and- Section 2'(6) and
(7) of the Act, for the following reasons :
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprising one crane operator, two
Ross Carrier operators, and two fork lift operators. The Intervenor
contends that these employees should continue to be included in the
production and maintenance unit which the Intervenor has repre-
sented since August 1947. The Employer took no position as to the
appropriateness of the proposed unit at the hearing, but, in a brief
filed after the hearing, took the same position as the Intervenor.
i Board Member Gray is not participating.
79 N L. R B., No. 29:
207
208 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The employees whom the Petitioner seeks to represent are the only
ones at the mill engaged in work involving mobile equipment. The
crane operator, who is the third highest paid employee in the mill, is
chiefly engaged in putting the logs to be used into the pond or taking
them out and decking them for future use. He occasionally performs
construction work, and moves lumber to be reworked from the green
chain to the mill. He works only with his crane, and required 2 years'
experience to become a fully qualified crane operator. There is no
apprenticeship or training program for crane operators at the Em-
ployer's mill.
Carrier operators are engaged in moving lumber from the sawmill to
the planing mill, to storage areas, or to the loading areas. Fork lift
operators work with equipment that stacks lumber. All these opera-
tors are familiar with lumber and the appropriate manner and place
for storing different grades. They are selected from employees al-
ready working at the mill who have expressed an interest in learning
this kind of work. About 6 months' training is required for em-
ployees to qualify for this work. They are paid a slightly higher
rate than the average mill employee. About 15 percent of the time
of these operators is spent in helping around the mill in some capacity
other than as operators.
In support of its position, the Petitioner argues that the operation
of moving lumber and logs is plainly distinct from any other operation
at the mill, and may take place at times when other operations of the
mill are closed down. The work of the entire mill is highly integrated,
however, and the operations of the group sought by the Petitioner
are closely related to the other operations at the mill. In view of
the integrated nature of the work, and in view of the fact that the
proposed unit is not made up of skilled craftsmen, we shall not sever
the employees in question from the production and maintenance unit
in which they have been included.
We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
- IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be , and it hereby is,
dismissed.