International Paper Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 15, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 483 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 483
press helpers (feeders),19 artists, camera operators, photocomposers,
platemakers, provers and assistant cameramen, grainermen, grainer-
men-platemakers, and winders on regular assignment in the litho-
graphic department,20 excluding inkmen, rollmen, composers, proof-
readers, ream cuttermen, truckers, letterpress winders, and sorter-
inspectors, and also excluding office and clerical employees, guards,
professional employees, supervisors as defined in the Act, and all
other employees.
If, in this election, the employees in the above-described voting group
select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire
to constitute a separate collective bargaining unit.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
19 Not including the part -time press helpers who spend less than 50 percent of their
time in work on the lithographic presses.
21 Not including the extra winders who spend less than 50 percent of their time in work
on the lithographic presses.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, SOUTHERN KRAFT DIVISION and IN-
TERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, CONTAINER DIVISION and INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE No. 1002, PETITIONER.
Cases Nos. 10-RC-900,10-RC-901,10-RC-902,10-RC-903,10-RC-
904, 10-RC-905,10-RC-906, and 10-RC-907. May 15, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon petitions duly filed,' a hearing on these consolidated cases was
held before James W. Mackle, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed .2
At the request of the Employer, the International Brotherhood of
Paper Makers, the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and
Paper Mill Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers,3 the Board heard oral argument on March 13, 1951. All
i The petitions and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Employer
2 The hearing officer referred to the Board the Employer ' s motion to delete from the
petitions all reference to International Paper Company, Container Division . For reasons
set forth herein, the motion is denied.
3 These labor organizations , collectively called the Joint Intervenors, and separately
referred to herein as the Paper Makers, Pulp Workers, and the Electricians , respectively,
intervened jointly. United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices ofthe Plumbing
and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, A F. L , hereinafter known
as the Pipefitters , the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders
and Helpers of America, hereinafter known as the Boilermakers , and the International
Union of Operating Engineers , Local No 497, hereinafter known as the Operating
Engineers , also intervened in this proceeding.
24 NLRB No 81
484 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
parties were represented by counsel and participated in the argument.4
The St. Regis Paper Company, Pacific Coast Association of Pulp
and Paper Manufacturers, and the American Paper and Pulp Associa-
tion filed briefs as amici curiae. They are accepted and made part
of the record.
Upon the entire record in the consolidated cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.5
4. The Petitioner seeks the establishment of eight separate units,
craft in character, limited to the Employer's two Georgetown opera-
tions. The Pipefitters, the Operating Engineers, and the Boiler-
makers also make craft unit contentions. The Joint Intervenors and
the Employer, however, contend that the units sought by the Machin-
ists and the other Intervenors are inappropriate and that the only
appropriate unit is one including all production and maintenance em-
ployees of the Southern Kraft Division consisting of nine mills. The
Employer further contends, contrary to the Machinists, that employees
in the Container Division should not be included in a unit with em-
ployees of the Southern Kraft Division c
General Operations
The International Paper Company is a New York corporation en-
gaged in the manufacture of paper, pulp board, and paper bags. Its
principal office is located in New York City. It has mills and plants
in various parts of the United States and Canada. The parent com-
pany has several distinct divisions, including among others, the
Southern Kraft Division, and the Container Division.
The Southern Kraft Division of the Employer, with its principal
office in Mobile, Alabama, operates nine plants 7 in six southern States,
including the plant at Georgetown, South Carolina. There is a head-
4 Oral argument was heard jointly in the instant cases and in International Paper
Company, Southern Kraft Division (Rayon Plant), 04 NLRB No 87, because of certain
issues common to them.
5 The parties do not urge current contracts as a bar to a present determination of
representatives.
6 Although the Petitioner expresses a preference for units coextensive with the opera-
tions of the Southern Kraft Division and the Container Division at Georgetown, this
issue arises only in the case of the millwrights who ate the only classification involved
having counterparts at the Container Division in Georgetown.
7 These plants are located as follows : Two at Bastrop , Louisiana ; one at Springhill,
Louisiana ; one at Camden , Arkansas ; one at Mobile, Alabama ; one at Moss Point,
Mississippi ; one at Panama City, Florida ; one at Georgetown , South Carolina ; and one
at Natchez , Mississippi . The Natchez plant commenced operations on May 12, 1950.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 485
quarters staff in Mobile which handles all matters of policy in the
operation of the nine plants, as well as the scheduling of production;
the purchase and distribution of timberlands and other raw materials;
and allocation of equipment, pulp, byproducts, and, waste material.
Wage rates and labor policies are the responsibility of the division
office and all collective bargaining negotiations for the plants in the
Southern Kraft Division are conducted at Mobile.
The Container Division of the Employer is operated separately and
apart from the Southern Kraft Division. It has its headquarters in
New York City, andoperates nine plants in various States,$ including
the plant in Georgetown, South Carolina. The principal products
manufactured by the Container Division are corrugated boxes and
fiber containers.
The Southern Kraft Division plant at Georgetown, hereinafter
called the paper plant, converts wood, in the form of small logs, into
finished paper or paperboard. In the course of this process the wood
is chipped and cooked in a caustic liquor solution. The resulting pulp
in solution passes through washing, screening, refining, pressing, and
drying in a continuous flow, all for the purpose of removing the water,
drying the pulp, and making the finished paper or paperboard. The
paper-making process, as well as the various recovery operations, is a
continuous, mechanical, and chemical operation carried on 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week.'
The Georgetown box plant obtains the paper used in its manufac-
turing operations from the paper plant at Georgetown. At the pres-
ent time, the box plant uses less than one-sixth of the output of the
paper plant. The waste material resulting in the manufacture of con-
tainers in the box plant is baled and, on occasion, may be purchased
by the paper plant to be reused in the manufacture of paper stock.
Steam, electricity, and water used in the box plant are purchased from
the paper plant. Electricians, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, and
welders, employed by the paper plant, are frequently "hired" to repair
breakdowns occurring in the box plant.
Integration of the Maintenance Force With the Production
Process at the Plant Level
The Employer's Georgetown plant is directed by a mill manager.
Reporting directly to the mill manager are the superintendent of
utilities, maintenance, and engineering; the superintendent of the pulp
8 Plants of the Container Division are located as follows, One in Whippany, New Jersey ;
one in Summerville , Massachusetts ; one in Ohio ; one in Illinois ; two in Missouri ; one in
Springhill, Louisiana ; one in California ; and one in Georgetown, South Carolina. Of
the nine. plants comprising the Container Division, the Georgetown plant and the Spring-
hill plant are the only Container Division plants located adjacent to paper and pulp
mills of the Southern Kraft Division.
9 The Georgetown plant is shut down four times a year for cleaning and repairs.
486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mill ; and the superintendent of the paper mill 1o The mechanical or
maintenance force is under the supervision of the master mechanic
who reports to the superintendent of utilities, maintenance, and engi-
neering. The master mechanic has two assistants; the first assistant,
is in charge of maintenance generally, and the second assistant is in
charge of shift maintenance men.
The Employer has classified its maintenance force generally into
two groups. A substantial number of the mechanics are called "oper-
ating" mechanics. "Operating" mechanics and their helpers are
assigned to one of three shifts to perform maintenance work required
within a department. The "operating" mechanic's time is carried-by
the maintenance foreman assigned to the department in which he is
working. Once assigned to a shift and a department, the "operating"
mechanic and helper meet the shift as does a production worker. The
"operating" mechanic is under the general supervision of the master
mechanic, and, if on the day shift, he is usually supervised by the
maintenance foreman. However, if assigned to a shift or department
having no maintenance foreman, he is directed by the production tour
foreman on duty. For administrative purposes, he is still under one
of the maintenance foremen.
The, remainder of the mechanics and helpers 'are called "day" me-
chanics and helpers 11 The "day" mechanics and helpers are assigned
exclusively to day work. They receive their assignment each day and
then report to the department where their services are needed. The
greater portion of the work performed by the maintenance mechanics,
with the exception of the work of the machinists and the blacksmith,
is carried on throughout the entire mill.12 The mechanics perform the
usual installation and repair of the production equipment. Although
their work takes them into the production area, the mechanics do not
operate the production machinery, nor do the production employees
assist them in their maintenance work 13 Part of the repair and main-
tenance work is done while the machinery and equipment is in opera-
tion, but if it becomes necessary to shut- down any part of the ma-
chinery, the shutdown is coordinated between the maintenance and
production supervisors. Only a skeleton crew of "day" mechanics
works week ends, although the production process continues.
"It would appear that the Georgetown operations are typical of the plants in the
Southern Kraft Division. In view of the great distances between plants, varying from
approximately 650 miles to approximately 1,100'miles there is no employee interchange
of moment among, the plants Seniority, irrespective of the contract provisions, would
appear to be applied , in practice , on a plant level.
11 Some of the mechanics , such as carpenters, painters , steelworkers , the sheet metal
workers, and the blacksmith and their helpers, are on day work exclusively.
12 On occasion the machinists also work on equipment in the production area.
ii Some of the maintenance jobs are regularly recurring jobs necessary to keep the
equipment in operation. For example, the Fourdrinier wires and felts on the paper
machine must be changed and replaced ; the disks in the Southland refiners must be
changed and iegrooved ; pipelines carrying milk of lime , liquor, and pulp must be removed
and cleaned ; and digester valves are regularly removed and overhauled
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 487
The Employer does not maintain a formal apprenticeship training
program. However, it conducts a training program by which journey-
men mechanics are developed.14 Helpers progress through a series of
classifications before they become eligible for a position as mechanic,
and usually the minimum normal time for an inexperienced employee
to advance to the lowest rated mechanic classification is approximately
25 months.',' Approximately 18 months more are required before the
mechanic advances to the top rate of his classification. And while
the Employer urges that there is a real distinction between what he
terms paper industry mechanics and building trades craftsmen, we
note that the Employer has, in the past, hired craftsmen from the
building trades as journeymen mechanics.
Bargaining History
In 1937 the Paper Makers, after 4 years of abortive organizational
activity at some of the plants in the division, joined with the Pulp
Workers to organize the plants of the Southern Kraft Division.',' In
January 1938, the Employer and the Paper Makers and Pulp Workers
entered into a maintenance-of-membership agreement covering pro-
duction and maintenance employees at the Mobile mill. The Em-
ployer recognized the Paper Makers and the Pulp Workers as the
agencies representing their members and "those employees designat-
ing the above affiliates of the American Federation of Labor as their
representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining." In March
of that year, these unions together with the Machinists and the Elec-
tricians entered into a single contract containing an identical recog-
nition clause, for the Panama City mill. By May of the following
year, similar contracts were negotiated by the Paper Makers and the
Pulp Workers with the Employer for the other plants then in the
Southern Kraft Division. The same year, 1939, also brought the first
general agreement for all the Employer's Southern Kraft mills. This
contract accorded the same type of recognition as before to the Elec-
tricians, Paper Makers, Pulp Workers, and Machinists in the units
in which each had locals which were signatory to the agreement 17
Agreements with substantially the same provisions were negotiated
in 1940, 1941, and 1942. As new locals were formed at various plants,
14 A substantial number of the Employer ' s mechanics have beeen trained under this
system.
J5 This period may be longer because promotion from the helper status to mechanic
status is not made automatically but is contingent upon openings in the mechanics
classification.
16 This Division of International Paper Company was then known as the Southern Kraft
Corporation.
17 The Paper Makers and the Pulp workers had signatory locals in all the plants then
comprising the Southern Kraft Division. In fact, two locals of the Paper Makers appear
as signatories at all the plants except Panama City ; one apparently being a maintenance
and one a production local The Electricians had signatory locals at the Panama City
and Springhill mills, and the Machinists had a signatory local at the Panama City mill.
488 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
they joined as signatories."' By 1942 the Electricians and Machinists
had formed locals at Georgetown and Camden, and the Pipefitters
International and one of its locals also were signatories to the
contract.19
As the 1942 agreement included a union-shop provision, the Paper
Makers, Pulp Workers, and Machinists entered into a jurisdictional
agreement among themselves to clarify any doubt as to which union
the employees should join in order to comply with this provision .20
This agreement was not signed by the Electricians, but was later ac-
cepted by them. The Employer did not participate in this jurisdic-
tional agreement.
The annual agreements through 1947 remained substantially the
same. However, the Machinists did not participate in the 1947 nego-
tiations because it had withdrawn from the AFL at the time, and the
other unions refused to carry on negotiations together with the Ma-
chinists. The Machinists later signed the agreement.
The 1948 and 1949 agreements remained substantially the same.
Recognition was accorded to the Unions "as the sole agencies repre-
senting their employees for purpose of collective bargaining." The
union-security clause was to apply only to those unions complying
with the requirements of the 1947 amendments to the Act.21 Petitions
for union-shop elections were thereupon filed by the five International
Unions. These petitions were for the respective categories which each
union claimed to represent at the various plants of the Employer.
A consent-election agreement 22 was then entered into by all parties,
and the Petitioners won each Board election 23
is Voluntary recognition was extended by the Employer at bargaining conferences to
newly formed craft locals at any of its plants upon the request of their respective craft
Internationals without objection by the Joint Intervenors.
19A Pipefitters' local and a Machinists' local had been formed at the Springhill mill.
20 The agreement provided that one who was already a member of a Paper Makers' local
was eligible for transfer at his request, but would not be required to transfer unless he
chose to do so.
21 The union-security provision appearing in both contracts exceeded the permissive
bounds of Section 8 (a) (3) of the amended Act. After requiring that all permanent
(eligible) employees become members of their respective signatory locals 30 days after
being employed, the contract further provided "Any permanent employee who is now in
good standing in his local signatory Union, or who after this date becomes or is reinstated
as a member shall, as a condition of employment, maintain such membership in these
unions during the life of this agreement, or any extension thereof." Shepherd Manufac-
turing Company, Inc, 90 NLRB 2196.
22 The ultimate consent-election agreement entered into by the parties contained the
following unit designation : "All employees as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agree-
ment which became effective on May 31, 1948, between the Company and the undersigned
International Unions on behalf of their local unions in malls having local signatory
thereto at Georgetown, S. C , Mobile, Ala, Moss Point, Miss, Bastrop, La, and Springhill,
La , plants of Southern Kraft Division of International Paper Company, excluding all
employees not covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, guards, watchmen, protes-
sional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. (All of the above plants constitute
a single unit.)"
"The elections were not conducted at Panama City, Florida, and Camden , Arkansas,
plants because union-security provisions are illegal in both States.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 489
Before the negotiations in 1950, the Employer was notified by the
Paper Makers that, in the coming negotiations, they would no longer
participate jointly with the Pipefitters and Machinists, but would
continue to negotiate jointly with the Pulp Workers and the Elec-
tricians. Up to this time negotiations for all these contracts had been
conducted in the following way : Delegates from each of the locals
at each mill met in Mobile and through committees, settled on a pro-
gram for the coming negotiations. After formulating their policy,
the delegates and the representatives of the five Internationals 24 met
with the Employer. If a new local were participating for the first
time, the Employer would be notified, and the Employer recognized
the local informally. The chairman, selected by the Unions, acted
as their spokesman, with international representatives of the various
Unions participating directly in discussions of problems relating to
their members. After final agreement was reached, the contract was
referred to the local unions for approval.
The Employer complied with the Paper Makers' request, and there-
upon entered negotiations first with the Paper Makers, Pulp Workers,
and Electricians who had apparently caucused among themselves at
Mobile. The Paper Makers and Pulp Workers represented at that,
time employees at all eight of the Employer's mills, and the Elec-
tricians represented employees at all but one of the plants. A union-
security contract resulted.25 The separate negotiations thereafter
with the Machinists and the Pipefitters, in that order, resulted in
similar union-security contracts. The Machinists then represented
employees at four of the Employer's mills,"' and the Pipefitters at
three of the Employer's mills 21 In each of these separate contracts
the Employer extended recognition to the signatory union or unions
"as the sole collective bargaining agency for the hourly rated em-
ployees in the Units in those plants where these Unions through a
National Labor Relations Board certification or other appropriate
means satisfactory to the parties concerned, collectively or severally'28
have been or shall be certified or recognized as the sole collective bar-
gaining agency for such units."
Contentions
The employer and the Joint Intervenors, in support of their posi-
tion that the only appropriate unit is one including all production and
u During the 1947 negotiations the Machinists did not participate.
u The three separate contracts negotiated during 1950 contained similar union -security
provisions to those of the 1948 and 1949 contracts already set forth.
26 The Machinists had locals at Georgetown , Panama City , Springhill , and Camden mills.
27 The Pipefitters had locals at Panama City, Springhill, and Camden mills
"The words "collectively and severally " were omitted from the Machinists' and
Pipefitters ' contracts.
490 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
maintenance employees of the Southern Kraft Division , contend that
the collective bargaining has always been of the industrial type, and
on a multiplant basis, with the crafts participating only on a non-
craft basis acting in concert. The Petitioner and other Intervenors
view the collective bargaining as supporting their unit contentions of
craft bargaining on a single -plant basis.
In resolving the issues of craft versus industrial bargaining and
single-plant versus multiplant bargaining, we are unable to accord any
,controlling weight to the bargaining history through 1947. As al-
ready pointed out, the recognition clauses in these contracts extended
recognition to the signatory Unions only for their members and those
designating the Unions as their representatives for collective bargain-
ing purposes. Such recognition falls short of the exclusive recognition
required by the Act and is akin to "members-only" recognition. Bar-
gaining on such a basis is, under well -established Board principles,
not controlling on matters of unit Y In any event, however, on the
issue of craft versus industrial bargaining , we note that all the bar-
gaining up to and including 1949 was on a joint and several basis, that
is, whenever matters vital to a particular craft were up for discussion,
the craft representative bargained for his craft . Voluntary recogni-
tion was extended by the Employer at bargaining conferences to
newly formed craft locals at any of its plants , upon the request of
their respective craft Internationals without objection by the Joint
Intervenors. Both Employer and Joint Intervenors acknowledged
thereby that the crafts ' interests and desires were to be respected
in the bargaining scheme. Indeed, the Paper Makers found it ex-
pedient to have both a production and a maintenance local at virtually
every plant in the Division , a further acknowledgment of craft bar-
gaining, albeit on a multicraft basis. And in the day-to-day admin-
istration of contracts, such matters as grievances and union security
were handled by each union for its constituents.
Moreover , this prevalent type of bargaining , which the Joint Inter-
venors and the Employer urge was industrial in character , was dras-
tically revised by the Joint Intervenors in 1950 by their insistence that
the Machinists and the Pipefitters go their separate ways. The conse-
quence of this action was the filing of the Machinists' petitions herein
and the execution thereafter of separate contracts with the Joint
Intervenors, the Machinists , and the Pipefitters.
In these circumstances the fact that the contracts up to and includ-
ing 1949 were planned jointly and ratified on a joint basis, and that
a single contract covering all employees in the claimed appropriate
units was executed each time, fall short of establishing bargaining on
an industrial basis. We find instead, that the bargaining , although
= Crucible Steel Castings Company, 00 NLRB 1843.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 491
intended to provide any advantage which might flow from collective
action, nevertheless operated to preserve the craft identities of the
various AFL affiliates and was craft-like in character.
On the issue of single-plant versus multiplant bargaining it is clear
that all the contracts through 1949, whether members only or exclusive
bargaining agreements, merely disclose the plants intended to be cov-
ered, but contain no provision defining the unit either in the recogni-
tion clause or elsewhere. Moreover, the substantive provisions of these
contracts and the practice of the parties in administering them de-
scribed above are more consistent, in our opinion, with the view that
the parties intended simply to cover many units by one uniform
agreement than that a single amalgamated unit was intended. And
similarly, in the 1950 contracts, which spoke generally in terms of
unit in, their recognition clauses, the language is more consistent with
a conclusion of single-plant units. Thus recognition is extended in
the "units in those plants" where the bargaining agency involved is
or shall become either certified or recognized as "the sole collective
bargaining agency for such units." [Emphasis supplied.] Signifi-
cantly too, these contracts were executed after the filing of these
petitions which put the alleged multiplant bargaining in issue. Under
these circumstances and on the basis of the entire record, the bargain-
ing history does not preclude the right of self-determination in units
on a single-plant basis.311
Nor does the integrated nature of the Operations serve, as the Joint
Intervenors and the Employer contend, to prevent the establishment
of units less than plant-wide on a craft basis. We are satisfied, on the
basis of the comprehensive record, that the maintenance functions are
not so closely identified with production functions as to be indistinct.
The maintenance employees do a substantial amount of nonrepetitive
work in addition to their repetitive or prescheduled duties. Although
the work of some classifications takes them to the production area,
functional and supervisory lines are generally maintained. In addi-
tion, the employees are more than specialists in maintenance of paper
machinery and equipment. Some of them are craftsmen hired from
the building trades. Those who come up through the ranks undergo
about 2 years of training and as a consequence appear to acquire the
essential skills of their craft.
Nor do we find such a degree of integration here as existed in the
National Tube Company, 76 NLRB 1199, Permanente Metals Corpora-
tion, 89 NLRB 804, Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, 87 NLRB 1076,
and Corn Products Re fining Company, 80 NLRB 362, where the Board
found craft bargaining inappropriate in the basic steel, aluminum,
311 Cf HUdr ade Food Products Corporation, 85 NLRB 841.
492 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
lumber, and "wet" milling industries, respectively.31 We are of the
opinion that the operations before us do not require an integration of
men and machines equivalent to that in the basic steel, basic aluminum,
or "wet" milling industry, or a coordination of well-trained and
highly specialized personnel to such a degree that it has tended, as in
the lumber industry, to develop specialists rather than workmen in the
craft tradition.
Accordingly, as the integration of operations and the bargaining
history are not sufficient to offset the special community of interests
among smaller than plant-wide units, we find, in order to effectuate
the policy of the Act as amended in 1947 and as we have hitherto
found in other cases arising in this industry,32 that craft units are
appropriate. And, depending upon the desires of the employees in-
volved, they may be bargained for separately or as part of the more
inclusive plant-wide unit.
Composition of the Units
Case No. 10-RC-900
The Machinists seeks a unit of all machinists, millwrights, automo-
tive mechanics, welders, knife grindermen, oilers, toolroom man, black-
smith, and their leadmen and helpers at both the Container Division
plant and the Southern Kraft Division plant in Georgetown. In the
alternative, it would represent the welders separately, or represent all
the above employees together with other maintenance classifications
(except electricians) as a single maintenance unit. Neither the Em-
ployer nor the Joint Intervenors take any position as to the composi-
tion of this or any other unit sought in these proceedings by the
Petitioner or other Intervenors. The Employer, however, does ob-
ject to the inclusion of the Container Division employees in any unit
of Southern Kraft Division employees. As the request to include
employees from both plants ignores the divisional lines of the Em-
ployer and past bargaining conducted on a separate basis, we are
91 We are assuming, for the sake of argument , that the prerequisites for the application
of these principles in these cases are present here, viz , a history of bargaining in the
industry on an industrial basis and a similar pattern of integration throughout the industry.
The Employer , who urges the applicability of the principles set forth in these cases,
acknowledges, in effect, that the bargaining history in other sections of the country has
not been consistently on an industrial basis , and that some , but not all , plants in the
paper industry are as integrated as the Southern Kraft Division plants.
zr One of these cases involved the Camden , Arkansas , plant of the Employer, Interna-
tional Paper Company, Southern Kraft Division, 87 NLRB 49 . See also Coosa River
Newsprint ' Company, 90 NLRB No 57 ; Rem Paper Company, 83 NLRB 265; Worthy Paper
Company Ass'n., 80 NLRB 19 ; Southland Paper Mills , Inc, 81 NLRB 330; Gaylord
Container Corporation , 80 NLRB 1201; Smith Paper Company, 76 NLRB 1226; St. Regis
Paper Company ( Kraft Pulp Division ), 80 NLRB 570; West Virginia Pulp and Paper
Company, 45 NLRB 69 and 61 NLRB 438, West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company,
89 NLRB 815 ; Gaylord Container Corporation, supra.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 493
satisfied, and find, that employees at these two plants may not be
placed in the same bargaining unit. However, as appears hereinafter,
this does not preclude any separate unit determinations as to the
Georgetown plant of the Southern Container Division.-33
In the Southern Kraft Division plant at Georgetown, there are 18
machinists and 5 machinist helpers. Four machinists and 4 ma-
chinist helpers are assigned to operating or shift work and the remain-
ing machinists and helpers are "day" mechanics. All the machinists
spend most of their time in the machine shop operating machine shop
equipment, such as lathes,, drill presses, shapers, and hydraulic presses.
They make parts and repair the machinery and equipment in the plant.
This work requires close tolerances as well as the exercise of other skills
of a journeyman machinist.
The approximately 43 millwrights and 31 millwright helpers in the
plant work under the supervision of several millwright foremen.
Twenty-seven of them are assigned as "day" millwrights and 16 are
assigned to shift work. Eight of the millwright helpers are also
assigned to shift work. Those millwrights who are not assigned to
a department, work throughout the entire mill. All of them maintain
and replace various types of machinery, install bearings, pumps, and
impellers. They remove and repair suction boxes, grind the rolls
used on the paper machines, and install new machinery in the plant.
In performing this work, they exercise the skills required of a journey-
man millwright.
There are five auto mechanics working under the supervision of
the garage foreman in the Employer's garage. These mechanics re-
pair automobile, truck, and tow motor engines. They also repair all
gasoline motors at the Employer's plant.
Twenty welders and 10 welder helpers work throughout the Em-
ployer's operations. Normally 2 welders are assigned to the Kem Fiber
and Wood Yard, 2 to the Kraft mill, 1 to the powerhouse, 3 to the
machine shop, 1 to the garage, 1 to the marine way, and the balance
are not assigned. The welders do both acetylene and electric welding.
They repair cribs, braise or build up equipment and machinery which
is worn, renew liner plates in conveyers, rebuild chipper spouts, and
weld all types of pipe. In addition, those welders who have been cer-
tified by the Hartford Insurance Company's procedure or by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers perform high pressure
welding. Welders and welder helpers are supervised by the mainte-
nance foreman on duty in the department to which they are assigned,
or by the "craft" leadmen or foreman with whom they are working at
the time.
As already noted , the only classification in issue which is found at both plants is
that of millwrights.
494 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Three knife grindermen spend their time sharpening knives used in
the chippers. They work in the woodroom and are supervised by the
foreman of the woodroom.
All 18 oilers are assigned to specific parts of the plant. Their duties
include oiling and greasing of all production machinery, and assist-
ing the maintenance mechanics when their other duties permit. The
oilers are usually supervised by the millwright foreman on duty in the
department to which they are assigned, or, on the night shifts, by the
production tour foreman on duty.
There is one toolroom man located in the machine shop. He per-
forms the usual functions of a toolroom man under the supervision
of the machine shop foreman.
The blacksmith and his helper are located in the blacksmith shop
which is adjacent to the machine shop. These employees are under
the supervision of the machine shop foreman. The blacksmith uses
the tools and exercises the skills of his trade in making, among other
things, pipe hangers, special bolts, and special brackets used through-
out the plant.
It is clear that the various categories of employees, whom the
Machinists would join in a single unit in this case, together form a.
heterogeneous group having no common supervision or place of work,
and performing substantially unrelated work. We believe, therefore,
that they lack a sufficient community of interest to warrant their place-
ment in a single bargaining unit apart. from all other employees in the
plant. It is clear, however, that the millwrights at the Georgetown
plant of Southern Kraft Division, as well as those at the Georgetown
plant of Container Division, constitute traditional craft groups, and
may constitute separate units.3 As to the welders, we find that they
perform craft functions and may therefore also function separately.35
In addition, because the machine shop employees perform a function-
ally distinct aspect of the plant work, are under the common super-
vision of the machine shop foreman, and are grouped around a very
substantial nucleus of highly skilled machinists, we believe that they
too, apart from all other employees, may, if they so desire, constitute
a separate bargaining unit 33
The oilers, the knife grindermen, and the auto mechanics, by reason
of their duties, functions, work situs, and their lack of special com-
munity of interest with either the millwrights or the machinists, more
appropriately belong in the residual production and maintenance unit.
The blacksmith's work functions, his location adjacent to the
machine shop, and his supervision by the machine shop foreman con-
vinces us that he is to all intents and purposes part of the machine
14 Coosa River Newsprint Company, supra.
as United States Rubber Company, 91 NLRB No. 21 3, and cases cited therein.
36 Coosa River Newsprint Company, supra.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY .495
shop. We shall also include him and his helper in that voting group.37
We shall therefore establish separate voting groups of (1) mill-
wrights, their leadmen 38 and helpers, at each Georgetown plant, (2)
welders and welder helpers at the Southern Kraft Division plant, and
(3) all employees in the machine shop of the Southern Kraft Division
plant including machinists and the blacksmith, and their helpers and
leadmen, and the toolroom man.
Case No. 10-RC-,901
The Machinists seeks a unit of all crane operators, tractor oper-
ators,39 truck drivers, and their leadmen and helpers. The Operating
Engineers seeks an identical unit, or in the alternative, a unit of crane
operators alone. Of the 25 crane operators, all, except one who oper-
ates a utility crane throughout the entire operation, are assigned to
the woodyard. All are classified as production employees by the Em-
ployer. They are not supervised by a maintenance foreman, but are
tinder the supervision of the woodyard shift foreman, who supervises
them in the operation of various cranes used in moving the logs. In
several cases involving employees performing duties similar to those
of the crane operators involved herein, the Board has held that such
employees are not craftsmen."' On the facts before us, we perceive no
persuasive reason for departing from our determinations in those
cases. Nor do we believe that the crane operators, bulldozer operators,
and truck drivers have sufficient homogeneity and community of inter-
est to warrant their being joined for bargaining purposes.
However, the truck drivers form an identifiable group, performing
work functionally different from that of other employees, and we have
frequently held that truck drivers may constitute a separate bargain-
ing unit.41- In these circumstances, we find that truck drivers, truck
driver helpers, and their leadman, may, if they so desire, constitute'a
separate appropriate unit. We shall accordingly establish them as a
separate voting group.
Cases Nos. 10-RC-90., 10-RC-903, and 10-RC-904
In Case No. 10-RRC-902, the Machinists seeks a unit of one tinsmith
and/or sheet metal worker and his helper; in Case No. 10-RC-903, a
unit of boilermakers and boilermaker helpers; and in Case No.
"Coosa Raver Newsprint Company, supra.
3e It does not appear that any of the Employer 's leadmen are supervisors within the
meaning of the Act.
31 The record indicates that there are no tractor operators at the Employer 's plant.
There is, however, a bulldozer operator
40 Coosa River Newsprint Company, supra ; Southern Paperboard Corporation, 80
NLRB 1456.
41 Coosa River Newsprint Company, supra.
496 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
10-RC-904, a unit of steelworkers, steelworker riggers, and their help-
ers and leadman. The Boilermakers would combine all three groups
and also include welders assigned to work with these groups. The
boilermakers are trained in the various skills of boilermaking such as
riveting, welding, caulking, chipping, rolling, flanging, and laying
out of sheet iron and steel. The machinery and equipment which they
repair include boilers, tanks, and conveyers. The duties of the steel-
workers overlap somewhat the duties of the boilermakers. They work
together on the repair of barking drums and relining of conveyers.
The steelworkers, however, are the only mechanics who install struc-
tural steel. The steelworker rigger prepares all the rigging for the
steelworkers enabling them to move heavy pieces of equipment or
beams of steel 42 The sheet metal worker and/or tinsmith performs
the duties of his craft working primarily with light gauge metals.
He builds duct work, junction boxes, and repairs the hot-air system
which is part of the drying operation. The boilermakers steel-
workers, steelworker rigger, and the sheet metal worker and their
helpers are assigned for administrative purposes to the steelworker
leadman, and he frequently directs their work. They are, however,
not grouped into an identifiable department.
Although these classifications frequently get their directions from
the same leadman, they constitute a heterogeneous grouping and we
perceive no basis for establishing them as a single voting group.
However, as the boilermakers and their helpers, the sheet metal worker
and his helper, and the steelworkers, steelworker rigger, and their
helpers, and leadman are engaged in work typical of their respective
trades which, in each instance requires a high degree of skill, we shall
establish them as separate voting groups, as we have heretofore done
with respect to the welders.
Cases Nos. 10-RC-905 and 10-RC-907
In Case No. 10-RC-905, the Machinists seeks a unit of painters and
their helpers, and in Case No. 10-RC-907 a unit of carpenters and
their helpers. In the alternative, it would consolidate both groups
into one unit.
The Employer's 14 painters, under the direction of a painter lead-
man, and working out of the paint shop, do protective painting on
tanks, conveyers, doors, window sashes, and on many other pieces of
equipment.
The nine carpenters, nine carpenter helpers, and one carpenter lead-
man work out of the carpenter shop. They are supervised by a car-
penter foreman. They build scaffoldings used by the maintenance
12 The steelworker rigger will also, on occasion , set up rigging to aid other maintenance
mechanics.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 497
mechanics, repair wooden head boxes, maintain roofs, install corru-
gated sidings on buildings, repair wooden docks, and build wooden
flights used in the chip conveyers.
It is clear from the record that both the painters and the carpenters
possess the traditional skills of their craft and are entitled to separate
representation, if they so desire. We shall therefore establish sepa-
rate voting groups for the painters and carpenters, together with their
helpers and leadmen 43
Case No. 10-IBC-906
The Machinists seeks a unit of all pipefitters, their helpers, and
leadmen. In the alternative it would include them in a comprehensive
unit consisting of boilermakers, welders, pipe fitters, steelworkers,
riggers, sheet metal workers, and their leadmen and helpers. The
Pipefitters generally agrees with the unit request of the Machinists, but
would include welders regularly assigned to work with the pipe fitters.
The 19 pipe fitters, 19 pipe fitter helpers and 2 pipe fitter leadmen,
are under the supervision of the pipe fitter foreman. All the pipe
fitters have substantially the same skills. They work throughout the
entire plant, performing the traditional work of their trade. As the
Employer's pipe fitters comprise a traditional craft group, we find that
they may, if they so desire, constitute a separate appropriate unit "
We shall therefore establish a voting group of pipe fitters, their lead-
men, and helpers excluding welders.
In view of the foregoing determinations, we shall direct separate
elections among the employees of the Employer at its Georgetown,
South Carolina, plant of its Southern Kraft Division, in the voting
groups set forth below, including in each, leadmen and helpers, but
excluding from each all supervisors as defined in the Act:
(a) All millwrights.
(b) , All welders.
(c) All machine shop employees including machinists, the toolroom
man, and the blacksmith.
(d) All truck drivers.
(e) All tinsmiths and/or sheet metal workers.
(f) All boilermakers.
(g) All steelworkers, and the steelworker rigger.
(h) All painters.
(i) All carpenters.
(j) All plumbers and pipe fitters.
?? Coosa River Newsprint Company, supra ; Merck h Co., Inc., 88 NLRB , 975, and cases
cited therein
44 International Paper Company, Southern Kraft Division, supra; Coosa River News-
print Company , supra, and cases cited therein.
953841-52-vol. 94-33
Ogg DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
- We shall also direct a separate election at the Georgetown, South
Carolina, plant of the Employer's Container Division among its mill-
wrights,4' their helpers, and leadmen.
If a majority of the employees in any of these voting groups vote
for the Machinists; or for the Pipefitters, or the Boilermakers, or the
Operating Engineers, in the voting groups where these labor organiza-
tions also appear on the ballot, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute separate bargaining units.
Direction of Elections 46
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate 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
supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which these
cases were heard, and subject to Sections 102.61 and 102.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees
in the voting groups described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who
were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Elections, including employees who did not
work during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily ]aid off, and employees in the military services of the
United States who appear in person at the polls, 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 elections, and
also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstate-
ment, to determine whether the employees desire to be represented
for purposes of collective bargaining:
(1) In voting groups (a), (c), (h), and (i), by International
Brotherhood of Paper Makers, AFL, International Brotherhood of
Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers, AFL, jointly, or by International Associa-
tion of Machinists, Lodge 1002, or by neither.
" Contrary to the Machinists ' contentions , we shall not include adjusters as the record
clearly shows that they do not possess the skills of millwrights , and are under different
supervision.
96 The compliance status of the following Local Unions at the Southern Kraft Division
and the Container Division plants in Georgetown has lapsed : International Brotherhood
of Paper Makers , Georgetown Local No. 378, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite
and Paper Mill Workers, Seaboard Local No. 357 , Will Go Local No. 606, Georgetown
Local No. 420 , Lafayette Local No 477 , and West End Local No 618 . The Regional
Director is herewith instructed to delete the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers
and the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers from the
ballots in the applicable elections directed herein if the above locals have not, within
2 weeks from this date , renewed their compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h). No
election shall be scheduled within the 2-week period allowed until and unless compliance
has'been determined:
Any participant in the elections directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY 499
(2) In voting group (d) by International Brotherhood of Paper
Makers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper
Mill Workers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL, jointly, or by InternationalAssociation of Machinists, Lodge
1002, or by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No.
497, or by none.
(3) In voting groups (e), (f), and (g) by International Brother-
hood of Paper Makers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Pulp,
Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, AFL, jointly, or by International Association
of Machinists, Lodge 1002, or by International Brotherhood of Boiler-
makers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America, or by none.
(4) In voting group (j) by International Brotherhood of Paper
Makers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper
Mill Workers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL, jointly, or by International Association of Machinists, Lodge
1002, or by United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of
the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and
Canada, AFL, or by none.
(5) In voting group (b) by International Brotherhood of Paper
Makers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and
Paper Mill Workers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, AFL, jointly, or by International Association of Machinists,
Lodge 1002, or by International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron
Ship Builders and Helpers of America, or by United Association of
Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting In-
dustry of the United States and Canada, AFL, or by none.
In the voting group established at the Employer's Georgetown
operation of the Container Division whether the employees desire to
be represented by International Association of Machinists, Lodge
1002, or by International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper
Mill Workers, AFL, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL, jointly, or by neither 47
MEMBER REYNOLDS , dissenting :
I disagree with the conclusion of my colleagues that single-plant
units are appropriate . In my opinion , the labor relations history
from 1939 to 1950 clearly reflects an intention by the parties to bargain
on a multiplant basis, as manifested by the 11-year period during
which the Employer entered into one contract covering all employees
in all plants with the labor organizations involved acting jointly and
471t does not appear that the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers, AFL,
bargained in conjunction with the Pulp Workers and the Electricians for employees'in
the Employer's Georgetown operation of the Container Division.
500 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
concertedly as one bargaining agent.48 Therefore, - consistent with
well-established Board precedent, I would find that where, as here,
there has been a long and continuous bargaining history on the basis
of a multiplant unit, a unit limited to employees of one plant is not
appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining.49 Accordingly,
I would dismiss the petitions herein.
48 Although there was an abandonment of joint negotiations by some of the intervening
unions in 1950, the ensuing contracts did not change the multiplant character of the
prior bargaining history.
0Hanovia Chemical and Manufacturing Company, 90 NLRB 650; Manhattan Sponging
Works, 90 NLRB 13 , and cases cited therein . See also cases cited in footnote 24 of my
dissenting opinion in Hygrade Food Products Corporation , 85 NLRB 841.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY , SOUTHERN KRAFT DIVISION (RAYON
PLANT ) and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PAPER MAKERS, AFL,
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PULP, SULPHITE AND PAPER MILL
WORKERS, AFL , INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL
WORKERS, AFL , JOINT PETITIONERS 1
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY , SOUTHERN KRAFT DIVISION (RAYON
PLANT ) and LOCAL No. 681, UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN
AND APPRENTICES OF, TIIE PLUMBING AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY
OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, AFL, PETITIONER
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY , SOUTHERN KRAFT DIVISION (RAYON
PLANT) and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETI-
TIONER. Cases Nos.15-RC-383,15-RC-386, and 15-RC-395. May
15, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
Richard C. Keenan, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
On February 23, 1951, these cases were consolidated with Case
No. 10-RC-900, et al., for the purpose of oral argument, which was
heard before the Board on March 13, 1951.2 All parties were repre-
sented by counsel and participated in the argument.
Upon the entire record in these cases, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
1 The names of all labor organizations participating in this proceeding appear as
corrected at the hearing.
2 Oral argument was heard jointly in the instant cases and in International Paper
Company, Southern Kraft Division, Cases Nos. 10-RC-900-907 (involving other opera-
tions of the Employer) because of certain issues common among them.
94 NLRB No. 87.