Mullins Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 26, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 28 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

28 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
.that it had no legal objection to the direction of such an election and
,desired that its name be placed on the ballot.
No cause having been shown why an election should not be directed,
and because we believe that these employees may appropriately be
included in either the Petitioner's or the Intervenor's unit, we shall,
in accord with Board precedent,3 direct an election among employees
in the following voting group : All employees engaged in the main-
tenance and operation of air-conditioning equipment in the Em-
ployer's Durham, North Carolina, plant, excluding all other employees
and all supervisors.
If a majority of the employees in the voting group cast their bal-
lots for either the Petitioner or the Intervenor, they will be taken
to have indicated their desire to be part of the existing bargaining
unit represented by the labor organization of their choice, and the
labor organization selected may bargain for the employees in the
voting group as part of the existing unit.
Order
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Order issued on October 20, 1950,
dismissing the petition herein be, and it hereby is, vacated and set
aside.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
CHAIRMAN HERZOG and MEMBER REYNOLDS hook no part in the
consideration of the above Amended Decision, Order, and Direction
of Election.
3 Cf Great Lakes Pipe Line Company, 92 NLRB 583. Although Board Member
Murdock dissented from the majority' s decision in that case, he considers himself bound
by that decision.
MULLINS LUMBER COMPANY AND SCHOOLFIELD INDUSTRIES, DIVISION
OF MULLINS LUMBER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD
OF PULP, SULPHITE AND PAPER MILL WORKERS, A. F . OF L.,
PETITIONER. Case No. 10-RC-1199. April 26, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before John S. Patton,
hearing officer. 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 Act, the Board
94 NLRB No. S.
MULLINS LUMBER COMPANY 29
has delegated its powers in connection with case to a three-member
panel [Members Houston, ]Reynolds, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning ofd
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist 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.. Mullins Lumber Company, the Employer herein, operates a lum-
ber plant and a furniture plant at Mullins, South Carolina, and a
sawmill at Hasty Point, South Carolina, 55 miles from Mullins. At
its furniture plant the Employer does business under the name of
Schoolfield Industries, Division of Mullins Lumber Company.
The Petitioner seeks to represent employees at the Employer's saw-
mill, lumber plant, and furniture plant in a. single bargaining unit..
The Employer contends that the multiplant unit sought by the Peti-
tioner is inappropriate for bargaining purposes, and urges that em-
ployees at each of its three plants constitute a separate bargaining
unit. There is no history of collective bargaining for employees at
any of these locations. The parties agree that office clerical employ-
ees, watchmen,l and supervisors should be excluded from any unit
found appropriate.
At Hasty Point, the Employer, with 20 employees, operates a saw-
mill, where it cuts trees and saws them into rough lumber. Trucks
from the Employer's lumber plant at Mullins carry the rough lumber
from the sawmill to the lumber plant. At the lumber plant, with ap-
proximately 200 employees, the Employer planes, dries, and finishes
the lumber, cutting it to order. Most of this dressed lumber is sold.
to outside dealers, but approximately 20 percent of it is used by the
Employer in its furniture plant, a separate building located on the
Employer's premises at Mullins. At the furniture plant, with ap-
proximately 130 employees, the Employer makes bedroom furniture
from this and other lumber.
One payroll clerk, working at the lumber plant at Mullins, pre-
pares payrolls for the Employer's three operations. Each plant, how-
ever, has a separate payroll and separate pay envelopes, and employees
are paid at the plants. One bookkeeper keeps separate books for the
three plants. A maintenance crew maintains and services all equip-
ment for them.
Each plant is under a separate plant superintendent and local super
vision, and maintains considerable autonomy. Hiring and discharge
I Watchmen employed at the plants solely for plant-protection purposes are employed:
as guards within the meaning of the Act.
30 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
is handled at each plant by the plant superintendent. Practically all
employees are hired at each plant as common laborers at the same
minimum rate of pay, and those more adept are trained at the plant
for semiskilled and skilled plant jobs. Skills at the lumber plant and
sawmill are comparable. Different skills are required at the furni-
ture plant. There is little employee contact between the sawmill and
the other two plants and employees are not interchangeable. Under
these circumstances, we find that employees at the lumber plant, the
furniture plant, and the sawmill, respectively, constitute separate
appropriate bargaining units.2 In view of the fact that the Petitioner
Teas not made an adequate showing of representation as to employees
of the lumber plant, however, we shall make no formal unit finding
as to these employees and shall not direct an election among them at
this time.'
The-following employees of the Employer constitute separate units
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
(1) All employees at the Employer's furniture plant, known as
Schoolfield Industries, Division of Mullins Lumber Company, Mul-
lins, South Carolina, excluding office clerical employees, watchmen,
and supervisors, as defined in the Act.
(2) All employees of the Employer's sawmill at Hasty Point, South
Carolina, excluding office clerical employees, watchmen, and super-
visors, as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
2 Burrus Timber Products , Inc., 87 NLRB 1561 ; Seaboard Packing Company, 91 NLRB
361 ; Booth Fisheries Corporation , 91 NLRB 363.
1 Chase Aircraft Company, Inc ., 91 NLRB 288.
HAROLD F. GROSS D/B/A SOUTHWESTERN MICHIGAN BROADCASTING
COMPANY and DETROIT CHAPTER, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROAD-
CAST ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS (INDEPENDENT), PETITIONFt.
Case No. 7-RC-1097. April 26,1951
Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Elections 1 in the above-
entitled proceeding, the Regional Director for the Seventh Region
conducted a representation election among the employees of the Em-
ployer at Kalamazoo, Michigan, on February 13, 1951. Such election
was conducted by mail ballot.
1 92 NLRB No. 230.
:94 NLRB No. 17.