Waldorf Paper Products Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 11, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 127 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of WALDORF PAPER PRODUCTS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL B-
110, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 18-B-1833.-Decided February 11, 1948
Messrs. Gustav A. Larson and R. S. Felhaber, of St. Paul, Minn.,
for the Employer.
Messrs. S. A. Robins and Stanley B. Korengold, of Minneapolis,
Minn., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Thomas O. Kachelmacher, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the In-
tervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Minneap-
olis, Minnesota, on August 20 and 21, 1947, before Stephen M. Rey-
nolds, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hear-
ing, the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that
the Petitioner's appeal from the Regional Director' s refusal to issue
a notice of hearing was untimely filed. The hearing officer referred
the motion to the Board. The motion to dismiss is hereby denied, as
the record shows that the Petitioner was granted an extension of time
within which to file its appeal.'
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board 2 makes the following :
0
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Waldorf Paper Products Company, a Minnesota corporation with
its plant located in St. Paul, Minnesota, is engaged in the manufacture
' The Petitioner 's appeal was sustained by the Board and thereafter the Regional Director
issued a notice of hearing in this proceeding.
2 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to
a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board members [ Chairman Herzog and
Members Houston and Reynolds].
76 N. L. R. B., No. 17.
127
128 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of paper and paper products. During the year 1946, the Employer's
sales amounted to in excess of $1,000,000, of which from 60 to 70 per-
cent represented sales in which products were shipped to points outside
the State of Minnesota.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. TILE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Work-
ers, Local 264, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization-
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to repre-
sent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of certain employees of the Employer until
the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (e) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all maintenance electricians, helpers,
and group leaders 3 employed in the electrical department of the
Employer. The Intervenor and the Employer contend that the pro-
posed craft unit is not appropriate because of a history of collective
bargaining on a more inclusive plant-wide basis.'
The Employer's operations, employing approximately 1,375 em-
ployees, are divided into 7 main, divisions which are referred to as
paper stock, mill, container, carton, power plant, printing, and main-
tenance. The maintenance division, which has about 60 employees,
3 All of the parties agree and the record indicates that employees Wilezyk and Strum
are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act and should be included in any bargaining
unit.
4 Since 1937 , the Intervenor has bargained for the production and maintenance employees,
including the electricians A current contract , which is not urged as a bar to this pro-
ceeding, includes as a joint party of the Intervenor , the International Brotherhood of
Firemen and Oilers, which represents the firemen , water tenders or firemen helpers, boiler
washers, coal passers, ash handlers , and boiler maintenance employees. The Employer also
has separate bargaining contracts with the International Brotherhood of Operating Engi-
neers and the International Printing Pressmen 's Union covering power plant and printing
employees, respectively.
WALDORF PAPER PRODUCTS COMPANY 129•
is under the general supervision of the Superintendent of Maintenance,
and consists of the following departments : machine.-shop, steam-
fitters, millwrights, carpenters, service, and electrical.
The_ electrical department is under separate supervision ' and, is
housed in a separate room distinct from other departments of the
maintenance division. - There are approximately 10 to 12 employees
in the electrical department, some of whom ate master electricians
licensed by the State of Minnesota. Although the electricians may,
occasionally assist other, maintenance employees on jobs requiring a
"strong back," they are primarily engaged in repairing and over-
hauling electrical controls, splicing wire, wiring motors, and bending
conduit pipe, which -duties require the exercise of special skills and
aptitudes of the electrical craft .5
The record is clear that the electrical maintenance employees con-
stitute a skilled, homogeneous, and functionally distinct craft group
of employees, and of a type similar to units established elsewhere in
the industry s Under all the circumstances, we believe that the elec-
tricians herein involved may at this time constitute a separate appro-
priate unit, if they so desire. However, we shall make no unit determi-
nation pending the outcome of the election hereinafter directed. If, in
this election, the employees select the Petitioner, they will be consid-
ered to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargain-
ing unit.
In accordance with the foregoing, we shall direct that an election
be held among all maintenance electricians, helpers, and group leaders
employed by the Employer, excluding supervisors.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 7
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Waldorf Paper Products Com-
pany, St. Paul, Minnesota, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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, and subject to Sections
" The record does not support a contention of the Employer and Intervenor that there is
substantial interchange and intermingling of work between the electricians and other
maintenance workers.
See Matter of West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company , 45 N. L. R. B. 59 and 61
N L R B 438 , wherein the Board established a separate bargaining unit of electricians in
the paper making industry In addition thereto, while electricians have generally been
included in plant-wide contracts within the industry and area concerned , such employees
are also represented separately by the Petitioner through bargaining agreements at several
plants of paper making concerns , mcudmg a competitor to the Employer in this area
7 Any participant in the election herein may , upon its prompt request to and approval
thereof by the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
130 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 5, among the employees in the voting group
described 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 or temporarily laid off, but excluding those
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have
not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and
also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstate-
ment, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local B-110, AFL, or by
International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers,
Local 264, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.