Union Bag and Paper Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 8, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 188 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of UNION BAG AND PAPER CORPORATION and SAVANNAH
PRINTING PRESSMEN'S AND ASSISTANTS' UNION, No. 110, SUBORDINATE
TO INTERNATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN 'S AND ASSISTANTS' UNION OF
NORTH AMERICA, AFL.
Case No. 10-R-1255.-Decided August 8,1945
Mr. F. W. Kelley, of Savannah, Ga., for the Company.
Mr. G. 0. Baker, of Atlanta, Ga., for the Printing Pressmen.
Messrs. Frank C. Barnes, Jr., and L. F. Bennett, of Savannah, Ga.,
for the Pulp Workers.
Miss Helen Hart, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
.DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Savannah Printing Pressmen's and
Assistants' Union, No. 110, subordinate to International Printing
Pressmen's and Assistants' Union of North America, AFL, herein.
called the Printing Pressmen, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Union
Bag and Paper Corporation, Savannah, Georgia, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap-
propriate hearing upon due notice before T. Lowry Whittaker, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Savannah, Georgia, on February
5 and May 15, 1945. At the commencement of the hearing, the Trial
Examiner granted a motion to intervene made by International Broth-
erhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, Chatham Local
435, AFL, herein called the Pulp Workers. The Company, the Print-
ing Pressmen, and the Pulp Workers appeared ,l participated, and
were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-ex-
amine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The
Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-,
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
'International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , AFL, and International Brotherhood
of Paper Makers , AFL, were both served with Notice of Hearing but failed to appear.
63 N. L . R. B., No. 27.
188
UNION BAG AND PAPER CORPORATION 189
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Union Bag and Paper Corporation, a New Jersey corporation, has
its principal office and place of business in New York City. The Com-
pany operates a plant at Savannah, Georgia, solely involved in this
proceeding, where it is engaged in the manufacture of paper and paper
bags from wood pulp. During the past 12 months, the Company pur-
chased approximately $7,000,000 worth of wood pulp, about 25 per-
cent of which originated outside the State of Georgia, and it pur-
chased about $1,195,000 worth of coal and oil, all of which originated
outside the State of Georgia. During the same period, the Company
manufactured finished products valued in excess of $18,310,331, about
94 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of Georgia.
For the purposes of this case, the Company admits that it is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
'Savannah Printing Pressmen's and Assistants' Union, No. 110, sub-
ordinate to International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of
North America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is
a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Work-
ers, Chatham Local 435, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Printing
Pressmen as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its
employees.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing , indicates that the Printing Pressmen represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate 2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
'The Field Examiner reported that the Printing Pressmen submitted 31 application
cards ; that the names of 26 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's
pay roll of August 15 , 1944 , which contained the names of 41 employees in the alleged
appropriate unit ; and that the Pulp Workers relied on its contract with the Company as
evidence of its interest.
190 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPRO`i'RIATE UNIT;- THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Printing Pressmen contends that the following unit is appro-
priate : all foremen, assistant foremen, head pressmen, pressmen, press-
men helpers, compositors, platen press operators, ink warehouseman,
and engravers in the Bag Division or Factory of the Company's
Savannah plant,3 excluding superintendents, assistant superintendents,
multigraph operators, laborers, and all other employees. The Com-
pany opposes the establishment of such a unit, maintaining that the
printing department petitioned for should not be separated from the
rest of the Bag Factory which had been organized by the Pulp Work-
ers as a single bargaining unit; the Company stipulated at the hearing,
however, that should the Board find that the printing department con-
stituted a separate appropriate unit, it would accept the Printing
Pressmen's definition of the unit. The Pulp Workers does not oppose
the separation of the printing department from the rest of the Bag
Factory and its representation by the Printing Pressmen.
The Company's Savannah plant employs approximately 4,000 people
and it is organized into 5 divisions, namely : the Pulp and Paper Mill
Division, the Bag Division or Factory, the Technical Service Division,
the Accounting and Office Division, and the Industrial Relations Divi-
sion. These various divisions of the plant are contained in 1 building,
but are separated from each other by fire walls. The printing depart-
ment, separately supervised, is, as has been noted above, part of the
Bag Division, which employs about 1,700 employees in all. There
is apparently little interchange of employees between the printing
department and the rest of the Bag Division. Training is necessary
to acquire the special skills of any of the employees in the printing
department and it is clear that these employees form a well-defined
printing trades craft.
Organization of the Company's employees began about June 1939,
and has not followed any definite pattern but has tended, in some
instances , to be on a craft basis.4 In August 1941, the Pulp Workers
' The employees sought comprise the printing department , although they are located in
various parts of the Bag Division . It appears that the printing department , as such, is a
functional and administrative part of the Bag Division , having no separate physical
existence.
4 International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Shipbuilders , Welders and Helpers,
Local Lodge No. 26 , AFL, appeared at the plant in 1939, and has a current contract with
the Company by which it represents boilermakers , welders , and helpers in the Pulp and
Paper Mill Division and one welder and one helper who are now in the Bag Division. In-
ternational Association of Machinists , Forest City Lodge No 23 , AFL, was the next union
to organize at the plant, and it presently represents a unit of machinists , machinist appren-
tices, millwrights , and helpers in the Pulp and Paper Mill Division . In 1940, International
Brotherhood of Paper Makers . Local Union Nos 407 , 388, 388A, AFL , were designated by
the Regional Director as bargaining representative for certain departments of the Pulp
and Paper Mill Division , and at the same time the Pulp workers was designated by him
as the bargaining agent for a residual unit in that division . In 1941 , the Pulp workers,
as more fully set forth hereinafter , organized the Bag Division , and in 1944 , International
Brotherhood of Electrical workers was recognized by the Company as bargaining agent
for the power department of the Pulp and Paper Mill Division.
UNION BAG AND PAPER CORPORATION 191
filed a petition for certification seeking a unit of all production and
maintenance employees of the Bag Division, except supervisory,
clerical, technical, and confidential employees." A consent election
was held under Board auspices among the 831 employees in this divi-
sion, which the Pulp Workers won, and on September 1941 the Com-
pany and the Pulp Workers signed a contract covering this unit. On
June 1, 1944, the Company signed a joint contract with the Pulp
Workers, various locals of the International Brotherhood of Paper
Makers, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. In
this 1944 contract the Company referred to the unions as "the union"
and recognized them as "the sole agent for all production and main-
tenance employees of the Pulp and Paper Division, and the Bag
Division, on the Company's payroll . . . exclusive of supervisory,
professional and clerical forces and exclusive of employees in those
classifications covered by the International Association of Machinists
and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Welders." 6 In
practice, however, each union has continued to represent only the
unit for which it had originally acted. Therefore, the Bag Factory
is actually represented by the Pulp Workers alone.
Since the election of September 1941 in the Bag Division, the print-
ing department has been greatly enlarged. In 1941, the printing de-
partment had only about 15 employees and at present it consists of
about 48 persons.
From the foregoing facts it appears that the employees in the
printing department comprise a traditional craft in the printing
trades and that their number has greatly increased since 1941. It
further appears that self-organization throughout the Savannah plant
has not followed any clear-cut line and has in some cases been on a
craft basis. Moreover, the Pulp Workers, which now represents the
entire Bag Division, has no objection to the representation of the
printing department employees by the Printing Pressmen in a sep-
arate unit. In these circumstances we are of the opinion that the
printing department employees may appropriately constitute either
a separate bargaining unit or may function as part of the Bag Division
unit.
We shall not, therefore, make a present finding concerning the ap-
propriate unit, but shall reserve such determination pending the re-
sults of the election hereinafter directed among employees of the
printing department. Upon the results of such election shall depend,
in part, our decision as to the appropriate unit. If the employees in
the printing department select the Printing Pressmen as their bargain-
Case No 10-R-490.
The June 1944 contract was to remain in effect for a period of 1 year and was subject
to automatic renewal from year to year thereafter in the absence of notice to terminate
given at least 30 days prior to any anniversary date. The petition in the present case was=
filed prior to the 1945 operative date of the automatic renewal clause.
192 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing representative, they shall. constitute a separate appropriate unit,
otherwise, they shall remain part of the Bag Division unit presently
represented by the Pulp Workers.7
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the follow-
ing employees who were employed during the pay-roll period immedi-
ately preceding the date of our Direction of Election herein, subject to
the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction : all foremen,
assistant foremen, head pressmen,8 pressmen, pressmen helpers, com-
positors, platen press operators, ink warehousemen and engravers in
the Bag Division of the Company's Savannah plant, excluding super-
intendents, assistant superintendents, multigraph operators, and
laborers.
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 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives-for the purposes of collective bargaining with Union Bag and
Paper Company, Savannah, Georgia, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations among
the employees in the voting group set forth 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 those
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, and have
riot been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to deter-
7 See Matter of Phelps Dodge Corporation, United Verde Branch, 56 N. L. R. B. 1560;
and Matter of General Foods Corporation, Corn Mill Division, 54 N. L. R. B. 596.
Although the Pulp Workers seemingly requested a place on the ballot, it is plain from the
statements made by its representative at the hearing, that it is willing to permit the print-
ing department employees to be represented in a separate unit by the Printing Pressmen
and to this extent has relinquished Jurisdiction over such employees, but that it wishes to
continue to represent them as part of the Bag Division in the event they fail to select its
sister union . In view of the type of election we are directing, the Pulp Workers' request has,
in fact, been granted.
8 Apparently foremen, assistant foremen and head pressmen are supervisory employees
customarily included in units of printing trades craftsmen. Accordingly, we shall not
exclude them. See Matter of John Dickinson Schneider, et al., 59 N. L. R. B. 1133; and
Matter of Service Printers, Incorporated, 54 N. L. R. B. 1082.
UNION BAG AND PAPER CORPORATION 193
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by Savannah Print-
ing Pressmen and Assistants' Union, No. 110, subordinate to Inter-
-national Printing Pressmen's and Assistants'- Union of North- America,
AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
Mn. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.