West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 6, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 309 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of WEST VIRGINIA PULP & PAPER COMPANY and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD, PULP, SULPHITE, AND PAPER MILI.
WORKERS, AFL
Case No. 5-R-,0102.-Decided March 6, 1946
Messrs. Burgess Osterhout and James W. Townsen , of New York
City, for the Company.
Messrs. James S . Killen and George W. Brooks, of Washington,
D. C., for the Paper Mill Workers.
Mr. Charles J. Verlander , of Richmond , Va., for the Firemen and
Oilers.
Mr. Walter F. McKenna , of Baltimore , Md., for the Machinists.
Mr. Frank Grasso, of Cleveland , Ohio , for the CIO.
Mr. Donald H . Frank , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Brotherhood, Pulp,
Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, herein called the Paper
Mill Workers, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen
concerning the representation of employees of West Virginia Pulp
& Paper Company, at its Covington, Virginia; Williamsburg, Penn-
sylvania; and Luke, Maryland, plants, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before Earle K. Shawe, Trial Examiner.
The hearing was held at Baltimore, Maryland, on December 6, 1945.
The following parties appeared and participated : the Company;
the Paper Mill Workers; International Brotherhood of Firemen and
Oilers Union, herein called the Firemen and Oilers; International
Association of Machinists, herein called the Machinists; and Paper
Workers Organizing Committee-CIO, herein called the CIO.' All
parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
' International Brotherhood of Paper Makers ; District 50, United Mine Workers of
America ; and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL , were served with
notice of hearing , but did not appear or participate.
66 N. L . R. B., No. 34.
309
310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from, prejudipial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were
afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board,
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company is engaged in the manufac-
ture and distribution of pulp and paper mill products, and chemical
byproducts. The Company's principal office is located at New York
City. All sales of the Company's products are handled through
the : Company 's sales offices in New York City, Chicago, and San
Francisco.: The Company owns and operates six plants, located at
Mechanicsville, New York; Tyrone, Pennsylvania; Charleston, South
Carolina; and at Covington, Virginia; Williamsburg, Pennsylvania;
and Luke,2 Maryland. The latter three plants are the sole operations
of the Company involved in this proceeding.
The Company purchases annually, for its Covington plant, ma-
terials valued in excess of $6,500,000, of which approximately 50
percent is shipped to that plant from points outside the State of
Virginia. The value of the finished products manufactured at the
Covington plant exceeds $14,500,000 annually, of which ' approxi-
mately 08 percent is shipped from that plant to points outside the
State of Virginia.
The Company purchases annually, for its Luke plant , materials
valued in excess of $4,500,000, of which approximately 90 percent
is shipped to that plant from points outside the -State of Maryland.
The value of the finished products manufactured at the Luke plant
exceeds $9,000,000, of which approximately 95 percent is shipped
from that plant to points outside the State of Maryland.
The Company purchases, annually, for its Williamsburg plant,
materials valued in excess of $750,000, of which approximately 75
percent is shipped to that plant from points outside the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania. The value of the finished products manu-
factured,-at the Williamsburg plant exceeds $2,800,000, of which
approximately, 90 percent is shipped from that plant to points
outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and we so find.
2 Otherwise referred to as the Piedmont plant.
WEST VIRGINIA PULP & PAPER COMPANY 311
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood , Pulp, Sulphite , and Paper Mill'
Workers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a
labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
International Association of Machinists is a labor organization
admitting to membership employees of the Company. `
Paper Workers Organizing Committee , affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations , is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Paper
Mill Workers as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain
of the Company's employees until the Paper Mill Workers has been
certified by the Board in an appropriate unit .3 The CIO moved
the dismissal of the petition on the grounds that (1) its ' contract
with the Company is a bar to a present determination of representa-
tives and (2) the Paper Mill Workers has made an insufficient
showing of interest to warrant an election.
On November 15, 1944, the CIO and the Company entered into
a collective bargaining contract 4 covering the production and
maintenance employees here sought to be represented by the Paper
Mill Workers. The contract provided a 1-year term and contained
a maintenance-of-membership clause applicable to those employees
who were members of the CIO on November 30, 1944, or who joined
it thereafter.
In July 1945 the contracting parties entered into a written Interim
Agreement, providing that a new contract was to be negotiated and
that when the new contract was entered into it would supersede
the November 1944 contract. Negotiations continued until August
20, when an agreement was reached, a copy of which was initialed
by the negotiators. Pursuant to that agreement, notices were posted
on August 21 at the three plants involved herein, notifying the
8 The Company , the CIO, and the Paper Mill Workers are agreed that a plant-wide
production and maintenance unit is appropriate . The Firemen and Oilers and the
Machinists Intervened for the purpose of contending that certain craft units are ap-
propriate.
d As the result of a consent election among the employees involved herein, won by the
CIO on August 29, 1944; Cases Nos, 5-R-1624, 5-R-1625, 5-R-1631, End 5-R-1632.
312 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees that the new contract provides for a maintenance-of-
membership clause and advising them that (1) non-members of the
CIO were not required to join, (2) employees who joined or rejoined
the CIO after September 4 would be required to maintain their
membership for the duration of the contract (i. e., until August 20,
1946), and (3) members of the CIO would have an opportunity
until September 4 to notify the CIO in writing of their desire to
withdraw from membership, but would be required to remain members
for the contract term if they did not do so. As a result less than
20 employees at the three plants resigned their CIO membership.
By August 31, the CIO locals at the three plants had ratified the
August 20 agreement; on September 19 the Paper Mill Workers
filed its present petition; on September 24 the contracting parties
formally signed their new contract.
There is some controversy among the parties as to the date when
the new contract became a legal , binding instrument. We find it
unnecessary to determine that question. To October 9, to October
30, and to the date of the hearing, the Paper Mill Workers was
able to produce cards of only 131/2, 16 4/5, and 17 4/5 percent, re-
spectively, of the employees in the unit it proposes. Although we
have, on occasion,5 entertained a petition and directed an election
upon a showing of less than the 30 percent which we normally re-
quire, where an intervening labor organization had a maintenance-
of-membership or closed-shop contract, the reasons underlying those
decisions are not applicable here. In this case, the escape provision
of the new contract was publicized and, in effect, opened up the
maintenance-of-membership clause on August 21, 1945, for a period
of 15 days shortly before the Paper Mill Workers' request for recogni-
tion, at a time when, presumably, the Paper Mill Workers was
engaged in its organizational campaign. Thus, there was no require-
ment in effect which might have deterred employees from signing
cards of the Paper Mill Workers. Under these circumstances, we
are of the opinion that the Paper Mill Workers has failed to make
a sufficient showing of interest to warrant an election upon its petition.
We shall therefore dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the
entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby
orders that the petition in Case No. 5-R-2102, filed by International
Brotherhood, Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, for
5 Matter of National Container Corporation, 62 N. L . R, B. 48, Matter of Kesterson
Lumber Corporation , 61 N. L. R, B, 355; Matter of Chicago Molded Products Corpora-
tson, 49 N. L , R. B. 756,
WEST VIRGINIA PULP & PAPER COMPANY 313
investigation and certification of representatives of employees of
West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company, at its Covington, Virginia;
Williamsburg, Pennsylvania; and Luke, Maryland, plants, be, and
it hereby is, dismissed.s
B On April 15, 1946 , the Board denied a motion to reconsider its dismissal of the petition
and stated that the C I. 0 's contract , formally executed on September 24, 1945, consti-
tuted a bar to a determination of representatives without prejudice , however, to the filing
of a new petition within a reasonable time prior to the automatic renewal date of the
contract , July 21, 1946