Wayne Hale

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 19, 1945

61 N.L.R.B. 1305 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of WAYNE HALE and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN & HELPERS, LOCAL 57,
A. F. L.
In the Matter Of WAYNE HALE and INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF
AMERICA, C. 1. 0., LOCAL 5-246
Cases Nos. 19-R-1516 and 19-R-1517, respectively.Decided
May 19, 1945
Mr. Wayne Hale, of McKenzie Bridge, Oreg., for the Company.
Messrs. Harry George and George Brown, of Portland, Oreg., and
Mr. Max Gardner, of Eugene, Oreg., for the I. W. A.
Mr. D. B. McFadyen, of Eugene, Oreg., and Mr. Lawrence Kramer,
of Portland, Oreg., for the Teamsters.
Mr. Angelo J. Fiumara, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions duly filed by International Brotherhood of .Team-
sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers, Local 57, A. F. L.,
herein called the Teamsters, and by International Woodworkers of
America, C. I. 0., Local 5-246, herein called the I. W. A., each alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Wayne Hale,' McKenzie Bridge, Oregon,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board con-
solidated the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due
notice before John E. Hedrick, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was
held at Eugene, Oregon, on March 21, 1945. The Company, the Team-
sters, and the I. , W. A. appeared and participated. All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues.
' The parties stipulated that all formal papers in Cases Nos 19-R-1516 and 19-R-
1517 be amended to show the name of the Company as indicated in the caption and in
the body of the Decision.
61 N. L R. B, No 210
1305
1306 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the conclusion of the
hearing, the I. W. A. moved that the petition of the Teamsters be
dismissed on the ground that the latter's prima facie showing of
representation was insufficient. The Trial Examiner referred the
motion to the Board. For reasons set forth in Section III, infra,
said motion is hereby denied. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity 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
The Company, which is individually owned and operated by Wayne
Hale, conducts a logging operation near McKenzie Bridge, Oregon,
where it cuts approximately 16,000,000 board feet of logs per year.
All logs are hauled away by the Company's own trucks and sold to
plywood mills and sawmills at or near Eugene, Oregon; the mills,
in turn, ship substantially all their products outside the State of
Oregon.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men & Helpers, Local 57, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees
of the Company. .
International Woodworkers of America, Local 5-246, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about February 1, 1945, the I. W. A. addressed a letter to
the Company requesting recognition as the exclusive collective bar-
gaining representative of all its employees. The Company refused
such request suggesting that the matter be placed before the Board.
At about the same time, the Company received a letter from the
Teamsers requesting recognition as the exclusive bargaining repre-
sentative of its truck drivers. A conference between the Company
and Teamsters followed but produced no results, whereupon the
Teamsters filed the petition herein.
WAYNE HALE 1307
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the I. W. A. and the Teamsters each represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the respective units alleged by each
to be appropriate.2
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; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The I. W. A. seeks a unit composed of all production, transporta-
tion, and maintenance employees at the Company's McKenzie Bridge
operation, excluding the woods foreman, truck foreman, and other
supervisory and clerical employees. The Teamsters desires a unit
composed of all truck drivers employed in connection with this opera-
tion, excluding gravel truck drivers and the truck foreman.3 The
Company took no definite position on the unit issue other than to
express preference for a single unit and to agree to the exclusion of
the woods foreman and truck foreman from any unit or units found
appropriate by the Board.
There has been no previous history of collective bargaining at the
logging operation. The Company's personnel includes two or three
fallers, four buskers, two men who yard the logs, a loading engineer,
a loader, seven logging truck drivers, two gravel truck drivers, and
one individual who does odd jobs 4 All these employees, except the
logging truck drivers, work exclusively in and about the woods con-
nected with the logging camp at or near McKenzie Bridge, Oregon,
where they perform tasks ordinarily associated with their job classi-
fications; the two gravel truck drivers, however, not only drive the
Company's two gravel trucks which are used to keep the logging roads
8 The Field Examiner reported that the Teamsters submitted 5 application cards ;
that the names of all persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay
roll of February 10, 1945, which contained the names of 6 employees in the unit claimed
by the Teamsters to be appropriate ; and that the cards were dated during Feb-
ruary 1945 . The Field Examiner reported further that the I W. A. submitted 14 ap-
plication cards ; that the names of 12 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the
aforesaid pay roll containing the names of 22 employees in the unit alleged by the
I. W. A. to be appropriate ; that of these signatures , 3 were of employees designated on the
'pay roll as logging truck drivers , and that the cards were dated during February 1945
At the hearing , the I. W A. submitted 13 application cards dated during the months of
February and March 1945 ; there is no indication , however, as to whether or not some
of the cards submitted at the hearing were duplicates of those reported upon by the Field
Examiner.
3 The Teamsters ' petition alleges as appropriate a unit consisting of all the Company's
truck drivers but, at the hearing, its representative revised the unit contention as set
forth above.
4 The Field Examiner ' s report indicates that the Company 's total personnel as of Febru-
ary 27, 1945 , consisted of 22 employees , 6 of whom were logging truck drivers The
evidence adduced at the hearing indicates a total of 23 employees, of whom 7 are logging
truck drivers.
1308 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
in repair but also, from time to time, work as choker setters, buckers,
or fallers. At the logging camp, the Company maintains a cook house
and a camp house for the benefit of its employees, and many employees
avail themselves of its facilities.-5 The logging truck drivers have
their headquarters at Springfield, Oregon, a considerable distance
from the logging camp, and live in the vicinity of Springfield. These
employees are in frequent contact with the Company's other employees
since they drive their trucks regularly to the logging camp where the
trucks are loaded with logs for hauling and transportation to the mills
of the Company's customers in the State. The record shows that
these drivers spend all their time driving the logging trucks except
that they may, on occasion, volunteer to assist the loader in loading
the truck.
Wayne Hale, the proprietor, exercises general supervision over the
activities at and about the logging camp and at the headquarters of
the logging truck drivers. The seven logging truck drivers are under
the immediate charge of the truck foreman and the remaining em-
ployees are subordinated to the woods foreman. Although both fore-
men have the right to hire and discharge employees under their super-,
vision, neither has, "as a matter of practice, exercised that right, all
hiring and discharging having been done heretofore by Wayne Hale.
Each foreman, however, assigns work to the men under him, directs
the work of these men, and apparently has made recommendations
concerning hire and discharge that have been followed; in addition,
the truck foreman buys supplies for the trucks and takes care of all
O. D. T. regulations. All employees appear to-be listed on the same
pay roll and are compensated on an hourly basis with the exception of
the fallers and buckers who are paid on a piece-work basis. Only for
accounting purposes, are separate records kept for the logging and
trucking phases of the operation. -
On all the facts, we are of the opinion that the Company conducts
its logging operations as an integrated enterprise and that an indus-
trial unit would be feasible for collective bargaining. The evidence
also indicates, however, that the logging truck drivers could function
separately for the purposes of collective bargaining, as this group of
employees is skilled, homogeneous, and functionally distinct 6 Al-
though we note that this group does not include the gravel truck
drivers, we do not find the omission objectionable under the facts of
5 At present, 12 employees live at the logging camp, while, the others live off the
premises
8 We are not persuaded that the record supports the contention of the I. W A as to a
prevailing custom in the logging industry of including logging truck drivers in the same
bargainin'g unit with logging camp employees where the emplo3er owns the logging
trucks ; nor are we persuaded by the opposing contention of the Teamsters that there is a
custom supporting the establishment of logging truck drivers in such a situation as a
separate unit.
WAYNE HALE 1309
this case. It is clear that the gravel truck drivers function, in part, as
choker setters, buckers, or fallers ; that they work under different imme-
diate supervision; and that there is no interchange between them and
the logging truck drivers. It thus appears that their exclusion from
the unit sought by the Teamsters will not impede the orderly processes
of collective bargaining. Accordingly, our determination of the ap-
propriate unit or units will depend, in part, upon the desires of the
employees as expressed in the elections which we shall hereinafter
direct.
We shall direct that separate elections by secret ballot be held among
the employees in each of the voting groups described below who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and
additions set forth in the Direction :
Group 1. All. logging truck drivers of the Company, excluding
gravel truck drivers, the truck foreman, and all supervisory employees
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend
such action, to determine whether they desire to be represented by the
Teamsters, by the I. W. A., or by neither.
Group 2. All production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, including gravel truck drivers, but excluding logging truck
drivers, office and clerical employees, the woods foreman, truck fore-
man, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by the I. W. A.
As stated above, there will be no final determination of the appro-
priate unit or units pending the results of the elections. If a majority
of the logging truck drivers select the Teamsters as their representative,
they will constitute a separate unit. If a majority in each voting
group select the I. W. A., both groups will together constitute a single
unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Wayne Hale,
McKenzie Bridge, Oregon, separate elections 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
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1310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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, Sections 9 and 10, of said Rules and Regulations,
among the following groups of employees of the Company who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during the
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem-
porarily 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 elections
(1) to determine whether the employees described in Group 1 of Sec-
tion IV, supra, desire to be represented by International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers, Local 57, A. F. L.,
or by International Woodworkers of America, Local 5-246, C. I. 0.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither; and (2) to
determine whether or not the employees described in Group 2, of
Section IV, supra, desire to be represented by International Wood-
workers of America, Local 5-246, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
Ma. JOHN M. HousTON took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Elections.