The Mengel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 6, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 880 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of THE MENGEL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OA' FIRE_IIEN AND OILERS , LOCAL NO. 320, AFL,
PETITIONER
In the Matter of THE MENGEL COMPANY. EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Cases Nos. 9-RC-63 and 9-IBC-78, respectively.-Decided
August 6, 19418
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidation thereof was
ordered, and a hearing 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 the undersigned Board
Members.*
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 labor organizations named in the Direction of Elections
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 appropriate unit ; the determination of representatives :
The Petitioner, International Woodworkers of America, CIO,
herein called the Woodworkers, and the Intervenor, United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 2866, A. F. of L.,
herein called the Carpenters, request a unit consisting of the produc-
tion and maintenance employees of the Company at its four Louisville
" Houston , Reynolds , and Gray.
78 N. L. R. B., No. 121
880
THE MENGEL COMPANY 881
plants. The Petitioner, International Brotherhood of Firemen and
Oilers, Local No. 320, AFL, herein called the Firemen and Oilers,
requests a unit consisting of the powerhouse employees at these four
plants. Taking issue with the positions of the unions, the Company
(a) proposes the establishment of separate bargaining units in each
of two of its divisions, and (b) opposes the establishment of a separate
powerhouse unit.
The scope of the unit
The Company is engaged in the business of manufacturing and
selling furniture, plywood, veneers, and other wood products, as well
as fibre containers. It operates plants throughout the United States.
Involved here are its four plants at Louisville, Kentucky.
The record showed that two of these plants, known as the 4th Street
and 12th Street Plants, respectively, are part of the Company's Fur-
niture Division, while Branches 2 and 10 are operated by the Com-
pany's Plywood Division.
In 1941, when the Company first recognized the Carpenters as ex-
clusive bargaining representative for a multi-plant unit of employees,
these four plants were all designated woodworking plants, were under
a single supervisory hierarchy, and had one pay roll. In 1945, as part
of an over-all decentralization program, a reorganization took place.
As a result, a_Furn]tiu•e Division and a Plywood Division were estab-
lished.
Each division is headed by a vice president in charge of its opera-
tions, one manufactures a branded type of furniture, nationally ad-
vertised and sold to retailers, and the other manufactures plywood,
veneers, and other wood products, as in the past. Each division has
its own pay roll, and employees are rarely interchanged. However,
although the vice president in charge of each division has final author-
ity to negotiate contracts for his own division, the basic personnel
policy is formulated by the Company's President. Each division
has a personnel officer but most of the initial screening and the prin-
cipal personnel office still are within the Furniture Division. ^ Branches
2 and 10 of the Plywood Division obtain power and steam from the
powerhouses of the Furniture Division. Most of the plywood and
veneer used by the Furniture Division is obtained from the Plywood
Division.
As indicated above, collective bargaining between the Carpenters
and the Company on an over-all four-plant basis had existed since
1941. There is no evidence that the afore-mentioned reorganization in
1945 had impaired, the effectiveness of this bargaining.relationshili,
882 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
nor are there any other persuasive reasons before us for breaking ups
this established unit into two separate units.'
Under the circumstances, we are persuaded that harmonious indus-
trial relations and stability would best be served by leaving the exist-
ing multi-division pattern undisturbed.2
The powerhouse employees
The petition filed by the Firemen and Oilers seeks a unit of power-
house and boiler- room employees. The Company and the Wood-
workers opposed a separate unit for these employees because, among-
other reasons, they have been represented as part of an industrial unit.
The Company operates two powerhouses in connection with its four
Louisville plants. The powerhouse at the 12th Street Plant furnishes
power solely to that plant but the powerhouse at the, 4th Street Plant
not only furnishes power to that plant but also to Branches 2 and 10,
which have no powerhouse but only a boiler used for trash disposal.
The 4th Street and 12th Street powerhouses consist of a boiler room
in which steam is manufactured and an engine room for the engines
which operate the woodworking machinery.
The unit sought by the Firemen and Oilers consists of approximately
26 employees (firemen, operating engineers, fuel handlers, mainte-
nance men, oilers, and utility men). Of these, 16 are employed at the
4th Street Plant, 6 at the 12th Street Plant, and 4 at Branches 2 and 10.
The fire and boiler rooms are physically separated from the manu-
facturing establishments and there is no interchange of work between
the production employees and the powerhouse employees.
Under all the circumstances, and in accordance with Board policy
as to powerhouse employees,3 we believe that the powerhouse employees
may either constitute a separate bargaining unit or be included within
the industrial unit. Accordingly, we shall make no final unit deter-
minations at the present time but shall direct elections among the fol-
Iowing groups of employees of the Company at its 4th Street and 12th
Street Plants and at Branches 2 and 10, Louisville, Kentucky :
(a) All powerhouse and boiler room employees, including firemen,
oilers, maintenance men, engineers, helpers, utility men, fuel handlers,
coal unloaders, and all other labor used in the operation of the power-
house,4 excluding clerical employees, and supervisors;
1 It is also to be noted that neither of the two Unions seeking to represent the production
and maintenance employees claims that the four-plant unit is inappropriate. See Matter
of Doughnut Corporation of America, 66 N L. R B. 1231.
z See Matter of Western Electric Company, Incorporated, 74 N. L. It. B. 1029, 1031.
$ Matter of The Ruberoid Company, 74 N. L. R. B. 1151.
4 Inasmuch as the Firemen and Oilers is willing to include certain unskilled laborers such
as fuel and ash handlers who work alongside the other powerhouse employees , we find no
reason to exclude them, particularly in view of the fact that they customarily are included
in such units . See Matter of E. I. DuPont de Nemour8 & Company, 59 N. L. It. B. 952.
THE MENGEL COMPANY 883
(b) All production and maintenance employees, excluding the
powerhouse and boiler room employees, professional employees,
guards, and supervisors.
If the majority of employees in voting group (a) select the Fire-
men and Oilers, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 5
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, elections by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, among the employ-
ees in the voting groups described in paragraph numbered 4, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or re-
instated prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding employ-
ees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether, for purposes of collective bargaining, the employees in voting
group (a) desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of
Firemen and Oilers, Local No. 320, AFL, or by International Wood-
workers of America, CIO, or by United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America, Local 2866, A. F. or L., or by no union; and
whether the employees in voting group (b) desire to be represented by
International Woodworkers of America, CIO, or by United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners, Local 2866, A. F. of L., or by no union.
5 Any participant in the election directed herein may , upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by , the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.