The Connor Lumber and Land Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 9, 1950

90 N.L.R.B. 283 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of THE CONNOR LUMBER AND LAND COMPANY, EMPLOYER,
and INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, LOCAL No. 15,
PETITIONER
Case No. 18-RU-561.-Decided June 9, 1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Clarence A.
Meter , hearing officer . The hearing officer's ruling made at the hear-
ing 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-nmeniber panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
Nation a] Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
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 Employer and the Petitioner agree that the appropriate unit
should include production and maintenance employees engaged in the
logging operations of the Employer around Laona, Wisconsin. They
disagree as to the geographic limits of the unit. In addition the Em-
ployer raises a question concerning the inclusion of scalers in the unit.
During the past season the Employer maintained logging operations
at four locations within Forest County, Wisconsin , each within about
5 miles of Laona, Wisconsin . Substantially all the employees involved
in this proceeding live within a 15-mile radius of Laona, and travel to
the logging locations each day by private car or by company bus. The
Employer would limit the unit to its existing logging locations. The
Petitioner would extend the area of the unit to 75 miles around Laona
so that the certification which may result from this proceeding would
cover any future transfer of logging operations . The location of the
Employer 's future logging operations i s most indefinite , and it appears
90 NLRB No. 55.
283
284 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
that the only supply of timber immediately available to the Employer
is within Forest County. We are of the opinion that the propriety of
including in the unit employees of any new logging locations of the
Employer should be decided in future proceedings for clarification of
the certification or redetermination of the appropriate unit. We shall
therefore simply define the unit here found appropriated to be the log-
ging operations maintained by the Employer around Laona, W71s-
consin.1
The Employer would exclude scalers from the unit as supervisory
and managerial employees; the Petitioner takes no position on the
question. Scalers scale logs as they are cut and record the results of
the scaling. 11rnges of employees on it piecework rate are based upon
the scalers' records. A scaler nnay report unsatisfactory cutting to the
foreman and may snake recommendations concerning discipline or
discharge of employees. In the absence of the foreman, a scaler per-
fornns the duties of the foreman. We conclude from the duties and
authority of scalers that they are supervisers as defined in the Act and
should be excluded from the unit.
We find that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act: All. production and maintenance employees engaged
in the logging operations of the Employer around Laona, Wisconsin,
excluding timekeepers, office and clerical employees, watchmen, truck
drivers on the Laona Mill. payroll, scalers, the logging superintendent,
woods foreman, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. It is customary for the Employer to suspend logging oparations
from about March 15 to about May. 15 or June I each year. The date
when operations are resumed varies depending upon weather andhigh-
way conditions, the demand for logs, and completion of repair work
at the Employer's mill. We shall therefore direct that an election be
held after resumption of.operations this year, on a date to ba deter-
mined by the Regional Director among employees in the appropriate
unit who are employed during the payroll period immediately preced-
ing the date of the issuance of notice of election by the Regional
Director.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain rqresentatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted on a date to be selected by. the Regional
Director in accordance with the instructions set forth in paragraph
numbered 5, above, sunder the direction and supervision of the Regional
I Cf. Commercial Solvents Corporations , 74 NLRB 1265.
THE' CONNOR LUMBER AND LAND COMPANY 285
Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject
to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations , among the employees in the unit found appropriate
in paragraph numbered 4, above, who are employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the issuance of notice
of election by the Regional Director , including employees who do not
work during said payroll period because they are ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who thereafter
quit or are discharged for cause and are not 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 or not they
desire to be represented , for purposes of collective bargaining, by
International Woodworkers of America , CIO, Local No. 15.