Opinion ID: 325324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: internal structure.

Text: 4 The Pine Bluff Mill, located in Jefferson County, Arkansas, is one of a number of such facilities maintained by I.P. for treatment and conversion of wood into paper. It commenced production in 1958 and, at the time of trial, employed 1443 employees, of which 118 were black. The population of Jefferson County is 30% black. The mill consists primarily of production departments which process wood into paper and maintenance craft departments which are responsible for repairing and maintaining the machinery used at the mill. Also employed at Pine Bluff are supervisory personnel and office and clerical personnel. 1 Of the 160 supervisory personnel, one accountant hired in 1969 is black. 5 Production workers are organized into ten departments 2 which, in turn, are subdivided into various lines of progression (LOP) based either upon the type of job performed or geographic proximity to other jobs in a particular LOP. As a worker ascends in the LOP his pay rate increases. Associated with many of these departments are labor pools into which employees are hired by I.P. and from which laborers are assigned to various entry level jobs in a LOP as temporary or permanent vacancies therein occur. Also in the production area, but not associated with any specific department or LOP, are various miscellaneous hourly jobs. Under the collective bargaining agreements in effect at Pine Bluff, promotion, demotion, layoff and recall are determined on the basis of seniority of which there are three types: company or mill seniority, department seniority, and job seniority. 3 6 Prior to 1962 all of the production jobs were segregated on the basis of race. The Wood Yard Department was the only production department permitting blacks. Various miscellaneous jobs were designated black jobs and the General Yard Crew was a black labor pool. The black jobs were generally less desirable, lower paying, and more physically demanding. Subsequent to 1962 this situation changed as will be hereafter discussed. 7 The maintenance crafts jobs are organized into three departments 4 and are represented by various skilled crafts, 5 both journeyman and apprentice status. These are the highest paying hourly positions at I.P. The company, based upon test results achieved on a battery of tests, effectuates hiring of these employees into the apprenticeship programs. Applicants therefor must be under 25 years of age, or 29 if the applicant is an I.P. incumbent employee. Job training and union membership follow. Until 1962 the bargaining representatives for these crafts were segregated white unions. Thus the maintenance crafts at Pine Bluff were all white. At the time of trial, two black apprentices had been hired into the 255 skilled craft positions at the Pine Bluff Mill. 8