West Tacoma Newsprint Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 23, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 961 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of WEST TACOMA NEWSPRINT CO., AND CELLIILOSE EN-
GINEERS , INC., EMPLOYERS and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MA-
CHINISTS, LODGE 297 (IND.), PETITIONER
Case No. 19-RC-89.-Decided February 23, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was 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 Employers 1 are engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employers.
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; determination of representatives:
The Petitioner seeks a unit of "all employees of the Company per-
forming work generally recognized as journeymen machinists' work,
*Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
3 The names of the Employers appear in the caption of this case as amended at the
hearing. Cellulose Engineers , Inc., herein called "Cellulose," is a corporation engaged in
rendering engineering services in constructing and operating pulp and paper mills in various
States and foreign countries . It is employed under a contract with West Tacoma News-
print Co, herein called "Tacoma ," as a corporate general manager in charge of operating
Tacoma's mill . Previously, it had rendered engineering services and supervised the re-
habilitation of this mill for use in 1946-1947. As the corporate general manager, it selects,
hires, discharges , and supervises all employees who work in the mill, directs the mill opera-
tions, advises on labor relations policy, and was a signatory to the labor contract with the
Paper Workers. The managing officials and department heads of the mill are carried on
the pay roll of Tacoma. Cellulose and Tacoma are herein jointly called the Employers.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 147.
961
962 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
including maintenance machinists, helpers and apprentices." Ta-
coma, Cellulose, Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manu-
facturers (herein called the Association), and International Brother-
hood of Paper Makers and Mt. Rainier Local No. 180 of International
Brotherhood of Paper Makers (herein jointly called the Paper Mak-
ers), contend that existing bargaining on an Association-wide basis
should be continued.
Tacoma is engaged in the manufacture of newsprint and maintains
a plant at West Tacoma, Washington, where it employs approxi--
mately 130 employees. The unit sought by the Petitioner is composed
of 4 maintenance mechanics. These employees, and 2 others 2 (for-
merly classified as millwrights and now as " maintenance mechanics
B") had previously worked as mechanics for the contractors engaged
in construction work at the mill, and when those operations had been
completed, were continued as maintenance employees. They work
under the direct supervision of the maintenance superintendent, who
also supervises the work of a welder-iron worker, a crew of electricians,
and a labor gang. They report at a section of a basement, a part of
which is used as a supply room. One of them works as a grinder man
about one-fourth of his time, operating a machine which is used in the
production process; the rest of his time he devotes to repair work in
the basement space and in maintenance work in the mill. The others
do mostly preventive maintenance work in assigned sections of the
mill, and infrequent repair work in the basement space. There are
8 other maintenance employees but their work is not related to the
work of the maintenance mechanics. According to the testimony, the
machinists in question perform a variety of operations in adjusting
machinery, inspecting operating machinery to discover defective parts
and replace them before break-downs, making parts where practicable
and installing and replacing them. Each of the machinists has served
a required period of apprenticeship, and each, including the mill-
wrights, provides his own hand tools. None of them is transferred to
other types of maintenance and production work.
We find that these employees are engaged in the performance of
work which involve specialized craft skills and are, under established
Board policy, ordinarily entitled to a self-determination election.3
However, the Employers and the Paper Makers urge that the re-
quested unit be denied because of the bargaining history in this plant
and in the paper and pulp industry on the Pacific Coast.
2 At the hearing it appeared that two other maintenance mechanics perform related
work. The Petitioner took the position that if the Board found them to be engaged in
work of the machinist trade, they should be included in the unit sought in the petition.
8 Matter of P. Lorillard Company, 73 N. L. R. B. 596, 601.
WEST TACOMA NEWSPRINT CO. 963
The plant at West Tacoma had been idle for several years. About
May 1, 1947, after its rehabilitation by Cellulose, production com-
menced. At about the same time, Tacoma and Cellulose entered into
a 3 months' contract with the Paper Makers, covering all mill em-
ployees, including the employees involved herein. At the expiration
of that contract, Tacoma and the Paper Makers executed another con-
tract, effective July 1, 1947, and terminating July 1, 1948, covering
the same complement of employees.
The record discloses that the Association, organized in 1934 for
the purpose of the negotiation of labor agreements and the handling
of labor problems, now includes 32 of the 36 pulp and paper manu-
facturers in the Pacific Coast area, comprising the States of Wash-
ington, Oregon, and California. Since its organization, the Asso-
ciation has negotiated uniform labor agreements which have been
executed and generally adhered to by representatives of the labor
organizations and the individual members of the Association as sig-
natories thereto.
In 1946, when Cellulose began rebuilding the plant, it recommended
to Tacoma that it apply for membership in the Association. Realiz-
ing that some time would be consumed in doing so, the contract with
the Paper Makers was made for a short term. The termination date
of the second contract was fixed to correspond approximately with
that of the Association-wide contract then in effect, with time allowed
for the formalities of admission to the Association. On March 10,
1948, Tacoma became a member of the Association, joined in the
negotiations for, and became subject to, the uniform labor agreement
to which the 32 members of the Association were parties and which
went into effect on June 1, 1948.
We believe that the history of the inclusion of these employees
in the more comprehensive unit only since May 1947, and the fact
that Tacoma's membership in the Association since March 10, 1948,
has been of such brief duration, warrant us in declining to deny
them the opportunity of deciding at the present time whether they
desire to continue to be represented as part of the production and
maintenance unit or whether they desire to bargain as a separate
unit on a single employer basis. We will, therefore, make no final
unit determination until we have first ascertained the desires of the
employees involved. Accordingly, we shall direct an election by
secret ballot among the following employees of the Employers at
their West Tacoma, Washington, plant :
All employees performing journeymen machinists work, including
maintenance machinists, millwrights,4 their helpers and apprentices,
* The millwrights are also described as "maintenance mechanics B."
829595-50-vol. 81-62
964 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and excluding all other employees, professional employees, guards,
office employees, and supervisors.
If the employees in the above voting group select the Petitioner,
they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a sep-
arate unit. If they select the Intervenor, they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to remain a part of the production and mainte-
nance unit now represented by the Intervenor.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election 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
supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this
case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as
amended, among the employees in the voting group described in para-
graph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but ex-
cluding 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 reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be
represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International
Association of Machinists, Lodge 297 (Ind.), or by Mt. Rainier Local
180 of International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, or by neither.