Alpha Lithograph Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 2, 1948

76 N.L.R.B. 506 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of ALPIIA LITHOGRAPH Co., EMPLOYER and INDEPENDENT
LITHOGRAPHERS UNION OF THE CITY OF CAMDEN, NEw JERSEY,
PETITIONER
Case No. 4-R-.761.Decided March 2, 1948
Mr. Elmer G. Van Name, of Camden, N. J., for the Employer.
dlr. N. Thomas Smaldore, of Camden, N. J., for the Petitioner.
Matthew Silverman, Esq., by Messrs. Benjamin Al. Robinson and
11%alter Harris, of Collingswood, N. J., for the Intervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania, on December 5, 1947, before John H. Garver,
hearing officer., The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE EMPLOYER
Alpha Lithograph Co., a New Jersey Corporation, operates a litho-
graphing plant in Camden, New Jersey. The Employer annually
receives at its plant raw materials consisting of paper, ink, chemicals,
and film, valued in excess of $100,000, of which more than 90 percent is
received from points outside the State of New Jersey. It annually
produces finished products at its plant valued in excess of $500,000, ap-
proximately 50 percent of which is shipped to points outside the State
of New Jersey.
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
1 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a
three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members [ Houston, Reynolds, and
Gray].
76 N. L. R. B., No. 80.
506
ALPHA LITHOGRAPH CO.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
507
The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
Amalgamated Lithographers of America and Local No. 14 of Amal-
gamated Lithographers of America, herein jointly called the Inter-
venor, are labor organizations affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all hourly paid production
and maintenance employees, including press helpers, general workers,
and the shipper, but excluding salaried employees and all supervisory
personnel. The Intervenor would exclude from the unit press helpers,
general workers, and the shipper, alleging that these employees were
not included in the unit covered by its contract with the Employer in
1945 and 1946. The Employer takes no specific position with respect
to the appropriateness of the unit but agrees with the Petitioner that
the above-mentioned employees were, in fact, covered by the said
contracts.
The Employer is engaged in the operation of a lithographing plant
in Camden, New Jersey. Its manufacturing operations consist of ap-
proximately 6 departments, viz, the press, plate-making, art, pho-
tographic, stripping, and plate graining departments, all of which
are under the supervision of the plant superintendent. The only other
supervisory employees are the foremen in the press and plate-making
departments. With the exception of the foregoing supervisory em-
ployees and the office force, the Employer employs a total of approxi-
mately 46 employees, including 5 press helpers, 3 general workers, and
1 shipper.
The history of collective bargaining at the Employer's plant dis-
closes that the Employer and the Intervenor executed collective bar-
gaining agreements for the years 1945 and 1946, respectively, cover-
ing "all those employees in the lithographing department on or about
offset presses or other lithographic presses and all those employees who
508 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
contribute in any manner to the making of lithographic plates." 2
Appended to each contract was a minimum wage scale listing certain
classifications and containing, in addition, a general provision fixing a
minimum wage for male and female employees.
It is the contention of the Intervenor that all employees intended
to be covered by the above-mentioned agreements are defined by the
classifications set forth in the minimum wage scale, and that inasmuch
as press helpers, general workers, and the shipper are not set forth in
the minimum wage scale, these employees were not covered by the
contracts. The Petitioner and the Employer assert, however, that the
contract provisions clearly indicate that these employees were covered
by the contract inasmuch as "all those who contributed in any manner
in the making of lithographic plates" were included within its cover-
age; and that the general provisions of the wage scale included any
employees of the Employer not specifically covered by classifications
set forth in the minlmuun wage scale.
The record discloses that during the bargaining negotiations leading
to the contracts of 1945 and 1946, no discussions took place with respect
to the inclusion or exclusion of any of the Employer's employees. It
indicates, however, that general workers are not bargained for by the
Intervenor under any of its collective bargaining agreements with
plants similar to the Employer's.3 It would thus appear that the his-
tory of collective bargaining is inconclusive with respect to the issue of
whether press helpers, general workers, and the shipper were included
in the unit represented by the Intervenor in 1945 and 1946.
Under these circumstances and upon the entire record of the case,
we perceive no reason for excluding these employees from the unit
sought herein. We shall, therefore, include them in the unit.
We find that all hourly paid production and maintenance employ-
ees of the Employer, including press helpers, general workers, and the
shipper, but excluding salaried employees and supervisors, as defined
in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Alpha Lithograph Co., Camden,
New Jersey, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
2 The record shows that as the result of negotiations with an association of employers
which included the Employer, the Intervenor executed identical agreements with approxi-
mately 30 lithographic companies in the Philadelphia area.
3 The only exception is in the case of one particular plant where certain specific general
workers were included by a rider attached to the original contract.
ALPHA LITHOGRAPH CO. 509
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Fourth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate 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, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented by Independent Lithographers Union of
the City of Camden, New Jersey, or by Amalgamated Lithographers
of America, Local No. 14, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither.