Mohawk Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 5, 1943

51 N.L.R.B. 1080 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of MOHAWK LUMBER COMPANY and LOCAL UNION No.
5-2460F THE INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA , C. I. O.
Case No. R-5716.-Decided August 5, 1943
0
Mr. Maurice Springer, of Eugene. Oreg., for the Company.
Mr. A. F. Hartung, of Portland, Oreg., for the I. W. A.
Mr. William R. Cameron, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Woodworkers of America,
Local Union No. 5-246, C. I. 0., herein called the I. W. A., alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Mohawk Lumber Company, Marcola, Ore-
gon, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before John E.
Hedrick, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Eugene, Oregon,
on July 21, 1943. The Company and the I. W. A. appeared, partici-
pated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Trial Examiner's ruling made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were
afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Mohawk Lumber Company is a partnership, composed of the part-
ners Maurice Springer, B. W. White, Bula White, Mabel Northcroft,
and Anna Naden, which operates a mill and conducts logging opera-
tions near Marcola, Oregon. Approximately 98 percent of the logs
cut in the logging operations are made up into lumber at the mill.
During the period from December 10, 1942, to June 30, 1943, the
51 N. L. R. B., No 171.
1080
MOHAWK LUMBER COMPANY 1081
Company cut approximately 7,500,000 feet of lumber, 83 percent of
which was shipped-to points outside the State of Oregon. The Com-
pany employs approximately 21 employees in its logging operations
and 25 employees in its mill. The-Company concedes that it is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Local Union No. 5-246 of the International Woodworkers of Amer-
ica is a labor organization affiliated with the Congres's of Industrial
Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On May 18, 1943, the I. W. A. notified the Company by letter that
it claimed to represent a majority of the Company's employees em-
ployed in the logging operations and sawmill and requested a col-
lective bargaining conference. The Company, by letter of May 25,
1943, refused the request and referred the I. W. A. to the Board for
certification.
A statement of the Regional Director introduced into evidence at
the hearing indicates that the I. W. A. represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Company within the mealiinn Mf
Section 9(c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The I. W. A. contends that all production, maintenance, and trans-
portation employees, excluding office, clerical, and full-time super-
visory employees employed in the mill and in the logging operations
constitute an appropriate unit. The Company does not object to inclu-
sion of any of the specific classifications sought to be included by the
I. W. A., but contends that employees at the sawmill and in the logging
operations separately constitute appropriate units.
The Company's logging operations are carried on at a distance of
approximately 6 miles from the mill, which is located 1 mile from the
town of Marcola, Oregon. All of the Company's employees reside in
the town. The record discloses that there is occasional transfer of
employees between the logging operations and the mill. We have
previously, in numerous cases, held that employees of the mill and log-
1 The Regional Director reported that the I. W. A. submitted 29 membership and authori-
zation cards of which 24 appeared to bear genuine original signatures of persons whose
names, are on the Company 's pay roll of June 25, 1943, containing the names of 50 em-
ployees in the unit claimed to be appropriate . Of the 24 cards, 4 were dated in April, 18
in May, and 2 in June 1943.
1082 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ging operations of a manufacturer of lumber may together constitute
an appropriate bargaining unit.2 It is apparent that all the employees
of the Company in this case have interests sufficiently in common that
they may be joined in a single unit. Inasmuch as the only labor
organization here involved is seeking to represent them as one unit,
and no sufficient reason to the contrary has been advanced by the Com-
pany or appears in the record, we shall include all employees, both at
the logging operations and at the mill, within a single unit.
We find that all production, maintenance, and transportation em-
ployees of the Company in its logging operations and sawmill, exclud-
ilig office and clerical employees 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, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
i
At the hearing controversy developed with reference to the eligibility
to vote at the election of three employees who are students employed
by the Company during the summer vacation from high school. The
Company desires that they be excluded. The I. W. A. desires that
they be included, if still employed at the time of an election. The
record discloses that their employment will terminate and they will
return to high school immediately upon commencement of the fall term
of school, which will probably occur shortly after the holding of the
election hereinafter directed. It thus appears that they do not have
sufficient interest in the terms and conditions of employment to justify
their participation in the election with the other employees. We shall
therefore exclude them.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees 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 Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9,,of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby
e See Matter of S. A. Agnew Lumber Co, 44 N. L. R. B. 1253; Matter of Henry Lumber
Company, 36 N. L. R. B. 452; Matter of Buzard-Burkhart Pine Company, 35 N. L. R. B.
203; Matter of Fischer Lumber Company, Inc., 31 N. L. R. B. 828; Matter of Carlisle
Lumber Company, 31 N. L R. B. 180; Matter of Hobbs, Wall and Company, a Corporation,
30 N. L. R. B. 1027; Matter of Row River Lumber Company, `30 N. L. R. B. 232.
MOHAWK LUMBER COMPANY 1083
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Mohawk Lumber
Company, Marcola, Oregon, 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 Nineteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III, Section 10, 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 employees who did not work during said pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily 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, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by Local Union No. 5-246, of the Inter-
national Woodworkers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of,
collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN MILLis took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.