The Long-Bell Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 27, 1942

41 N.L.R.B. 389 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter -of THE LONG-BELL LUMBER COMPANY and LUMBER &
SAWMVLILL WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 2512, CHARTERED'BY THE UNITED
BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED
WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-3737.-Decided May 27, 1942
Jurisdiction : logging industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: con-
flicting claims of rival representatives ; supplementary agreement concluded
during the pendency of proceedings and in the face of petitioner' s conflicting
claims, held no bar; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance
employees at one division of Company, including electricians and a named
individual, but excluding supervisory employees with the power to hire, and
discharge ; office employees ; civil engineers ; machinists for whom a separate
representative had been previously certified by the Board ; mercantile em-
ployees; townsite miscellaneous employees; scalers; yarder, skidder, high
lead, steel gang, and section foremen ; the rig-up foreman, the line-gang fore-
man, and the -pile-driver foreman. .
Mr. David E. McLean, of Longview, Wash., for the Company.
Mr. C. D. Cunningham, of Centralia, Wash., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. James J. Molthan, of Seattle, Wash., for the C. I. O.
Mr. George H. Gentithes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union,
Local 2512, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
herein called the. A. F. of L., alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The
Long-Bell Lumber Company, Longview, Washington, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis S. Penfield, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Ryderwood, Washington, on
April 17, 1942. The Company, the A. F. of L., and International
Woodworkers of America, Local 3-34 (C. I. 0.), hereinafter called
41 N. L. R. B., No. 82.
i
389
390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the C. I. 0., appeared, participated, and were afforded full oppor-
tunity 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. A brief was filed on behalf of the Company which
the Board has duly considered. Upon the entire record "in the case,
the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Long-Bell Lumber Company is a Missouri corporation with
principal offices in Kansas City, Missouri. This proceeding is con-
cerned solely with the Company's division at Ryderwood, Washing-
ton, where it is engaged in logging operations. Trees or logs are
felled by the logging employees of Ryderwood and are transported
to the Company's Longview division by rail where they are manu-
factured into-lumber at a sawmill. In 1938 this sawmill turned out
206,926,613 feet of lumber, commercial log scale. Fifty-six percent
of the logs used in the manufacture. of this lumber came from the
Company's Ryderwood properties; the remainder being purchased
in the open market. The value of the lumber manufactured at Long-
view in 1938 was $5,267,242.22. The Company also sold logs valued
at $438,343.18, some of which were obtained from Ryderwood and
others in the open market. Of the lumber sold from Longview, 93.5
percent was shipped to places outside the State of Washington, while
41.1 percent of the logs were shipped to places outside the State of
Washington. Together the Ryderwood and Longview divisions pur-
chased during 1938 the following raw materials from the States in-
dicated : $200,000 worth of logging machinery from Washington and
Oregon; 25,000 gallons of gasoline from California; 50,000 barrels
of fuel oil from California and miscellaneous items valued at $50,000
from various States throughout the country. The Company's present
operations are approximately as above-described.' The Company
admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2512, chartered by the
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.
' By stipulation of the parties the operations of the Company at the present time are
substantially described in Matter of Long -Bell Lumber Company and Internatsohal Associa-
tion of Machinists . Local No. 1350, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 16
N L. R B 892 The above findings are based upon the findings of the Board in that case.
THE ' LONG-BELL LUMBER -COMPANY 391
International Woodworkers of America, Local 3-34, iss a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.'
1 III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
.-The A..F. of L. has made no formal request that the Company
bargain with it, believing that such a request would be of no avail
because of an existing sole recognition contract between the Company
and the C. I. O. This contract was entered into on September 25,
1940. It provided for continuation until April 1, 1941, and there;
after until April 1 of each succeeding year until 1945 unless written
notice to terminate or change the terms is given not less than 60 days
prior to April 1 of any year. It further provided. that if such notice
to terminate or change the terms is given and negotiations continue,
the agreement shall remain in force until a subsequent agreement is
reached or negotiations are discontinued. Supplemental agreements'
were signed on December 23, 1940, and August 9, 1941. Late in
January 1942, at the request of the C. I. 0., negotiations covering
the subjects of wages, hours, vacations, and termination were begun:
The-Company 'exercised its privilege of cancelation and notified the
C. I. O. that it chose to terminate the contract. This led to further
negotiations culminating in a supplementary agreement dated Febru=
ary 27, 1942, which provided that regardless of any notice of termi-
nation or cancelation theretofore given by either party, the agreement
should remain in full force pending the outcome of current negotia-,
lions, and that except for the four subjects above enumerated, all
provisions of the previously existing agreement should remain un-
changed. Prior to the signing of the supplementary agreement of
February 27, 1942, the Company was notified that the A. F. of L.
had filed its petition in this proceeding. Inasmuch as said agree-
ment was concluded with the C. I. O. during the pendency of this
proceeding and in the face of the conflicting claims of the A. F. of, L.
we find that it does not constitute a bar to a present determination of
representatives. A statement of a Field Examiner introduced in
evidence at the hearing indicates that the A. F. of L. represents- a
substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.2 '
2 The Field Examiner reported that the A F of L had submitted 257 names on a peti-
tion designating it as the exclusive bargaining agent for • the signatories and re-
voking any authority theretofore given by them to the C I 0 Of the 257 signatm es 189
were names appearing on the Company 's pav roll of ' March 20 , 1942 , which , after the
deduction of certain stipulated exclusions , contains 495 names All signatures appeared
to be genuine The C I . O. submitted no evidence to the Field Examiner , contending
that it represents these employees by virtue of the contract between it and the Company.
During the hearing, hoccever , it submitted its membership list of 263 persons in addition
to 13 application-for-membership cards
392 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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
Subject only to dispute concerning the inclusion of three groups of
employees discussed below, the parties agree that all production and
maintenance employees of the Company, at its Ryderwood, Wash-
ington, division, including -electricians and W. C. Greer, but exclud-
ing supervisory employees with the power to hire and discharge,
office employees, civil engineers, and machinists for whom a separate
representative has been previously certified by the Board,3 constituted
an appropriate unit.
Differences arose as to the following employees :
a. Mercantile employees
The A. F. of L. contends that mercantile employees of the Company
are included within the above description of appropriate unit. The
C. I. 0. and the Company contend that they should be excluded.
The functions of the mercantile employees are the operation of
a general store owned and operated by the Company. Its depart-
ments include groceries, meats, hardware, dry goods, confectionery,
furniture, and drugs. These departments are under the supervision
of a manager under whom there is an assistant' manager. The em-
ployees are paid directly by the Company on a monthly basis. Their
work is limited to the particular department assigned them,, in the
store. Sales are not confined to Company employees but are open to
the general public. These employees were excluded from the unit
in an earlier proceeding, pursuant to stipulation .4 For that reason
and because their duties are not directly related to the principal
business of the Company, we shall exclude them from the production
and maintenance unit.
b. Alleged supervisory employees
By stipulation the parties agree to the exclusion of certain super-
visory' employees appropriately marked on Board's'Exhibit 9 under
' In Matter of Long-Bell Lumber Company and International Association of Machinists,
Local No. 1350, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 18 N. L R B. 40, Inter-
national Association of Machinists , Local No. 1350 , was certified as the representative of
the employees in the machine shop of the Long -Bell Lumber Company at its Ryderwood,
Washington, division , including one woods mechanic , but excluding supervisory employees,
and those employees excluded by stipulations
4 16 N L. R. B. 892, 898.
THE LONG-BELL LUMBER COMPANY 393
the heading "Dei.._.rtmental Supervisors." 5 They disagreed, how-
ever, as to certain other supervisory employees. Except in the case_
of T. R. Lapp (line-gang foreman) where the C. I. 0. joins the Com-
,,pany in seeking his exclusion, the Company seeks their exclusion and
the two unions request their inclusion. Those in dispute include :
scalers; yarder, skidder, high lead, steel gang, and section foremen;
a rig-up foreman, a line-gang foreman, and a pile-driver foreman.
These employees perform no manual labor. They have authority
to recommend hiring and discharge to their superiors. The procedure
prescribed by the Company in hiring requires the foremen as well
as the highest officials of the Company to employ men only through
the employment office. Thus, a foreman desiring the services of a
workman cannot hire him immediately but must send him to the
employment office. The foreman's wishes, however, are always re-
spected by the employment agent, so that unless the contemplated
employee is physically disabled, the foreman's recommendation is
equivalent to employment. The added step of routing future em-
ployees through the employment office is principally for purposes of
keeping accurate employment records rather than for limiting ,the
foreman's power. With reference to discharging, a foreman dis-
satisfied with one of his subordinates is not required to keep him
although the employee may be transferred by a higher official to
another foreman instead of being discharged. The employees in this
group were excluded from the unit in the prior proceeding before the
Board. For that reason and because, in view of their authority, we
are of the opinion that they fall within the category of supervisory
employees with the power to hire and discharge, we shall exclude
them. I
c. Townsite miscellaneous
Those disputed under this category include two town watchmen,
one town clean-up man, one hotel clerk, two town carpenters, and a
town garbage man. The A. F. of L. would include all of these
employees while the C. I. 0. and the Company would exclude them.
As is the case with the mercantile employees the activities of the
group under discussion are not directly related to the principal busi-
ness of the Company. They will be excluded from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its Ryderwood, Washington, division, including electri-
cians and W. C. Greer, but excluding supervisory employees with
the power to hire and discharge; office employees; civil engineers;
s The names thus marked were : C. Vandercook , Sr, C J. Hines , H. W. Alexander,
C. H. Blake, J. P. Brown, J. A Derks, C . A. Edwards , J. R Edwards, George Enten-
man, Andrew Holman, B F . Nelson, C. A. Russell, Frank Scherieble, C. J. Simpson,
R. R. Van Orden , Clair Vaughn , B B. Walkley , and H. B. Whitten.
394 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR , RELATIONS BOARD
machinists for whom a separate representative has been previously
certified by the Board; mercantile employees; townsite miscellaneous
employees; scalers; yarder, skidder, high lead, steel gang, and sec-
tion foremen; the rig-up foreman, the line-gang foreman, and the
pile-driver foreman, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
. t- V. THE DETERMIN AXON OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees 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 Rela-
tions Act, and 'pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations 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 The Long-Bell
Lumber Company, Longview, Washington, an election by secret bal-
lot be conducted as early as possible but not later than thirty (30)
'days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervi-
sion of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Section 9, 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 any such employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the
United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding any who have
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by Lumber & Sawmill Workers Union,
Local 2512, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
or by International Woodworkers of America, Local 3-34 - (C. I. 0.),
or by neither.