Cleveland Mailers' Union No. 12, ITU

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 11, 1976

223 N.L.R.B. 1402 (N.L.R.B. 1976)

1402 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Cleveland Mailers' Union No. 12, International Typo-
graphical Union , AFL-CIO' and The Art Gravure
Corporation of Ohio and Cleveland Newspaper
Printing Pressmen's Union No. 5, affiliated with the
International Printing and Graphic Communica-
tions Union , AFL-CIO
Cleveland Newspaper Printing Pressmen 's Union No.
5, affiliated with the International Printing and
Graphic Communications Union, AFL-CIO and
The Art Gravure Corporation of Ohio and Cleve-
land Mailers' Union No. 12, International Typo-
graphical Union , AFL-CIO. Cases 8-CD-319 and
8-CD-320
May 11, 1976
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF
DISPUTE
BY MEMBERS FANNING, PENELLO, AND WALTHER
This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended , follow-
ing charges filed by The Art Gravure Corporation of
Ohio , herein called the Employer, alleging that both
Cleveland Mailers ' Union No. 12, International Ty-
pographical Union , AFL-CIO, herein called the
Mailers, and Cleveland Newspaper Printing
Pressmen 's Union No . 5, affiliated with the Interna-
tional Printing and Graphic Communications Union,
AFL-CIO, herein called the Pressmen , have violated
Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act.
A hearing was held before Hearing Officer Thom-
as J. Blabey on November 18 and 25 and December
16, 1975 . All parties appeared and were afforded full
opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross-exam-
ine witnesses , and to present evidence bearing on the
issues . Thereafter , the Employer , the Mailers , and the
Pressmen filed briefs.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended , the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three -member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the hearing and finds they are free from
prejudicial error . They are hereby affirmed.
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The parties stipulated that the Employer, an Ohio
corporation and subsidiary of the Plain Dealer Pub-
lishing Company, is engaged in the business of print-
ing by gravure process materials such as advertising
circulars, tabloids and supplements for Sunday news-
papers, and the television guide for the Plain Dealer.
Annually in the course of its business it receives
goods valued in excess of $50,000 directly from
points outside the State of Ohio. The parties further
stipulated, and we find, that the Employer is an em-
ployer engaged in commerce within the meaning of
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
11. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The parties stipulated, and we find, that the Mail-
ers and the Pressmen are labor organizations within
the meaning of the Act.
Ill. THE DISPUTE
A. Background and Facts of Dispute
The Employer prints supplements for newspapers
by rotogravure process. It employs several hundred
employees represented by various unions, including
the Pressmen and Mailers. The Pressmen represents
80 employees whose duties involve the operation of
the presses and all work associated with that. Among
those represented by the Pressmen are employees
known as "flyboys," who, among other things, assist
the pressmen in webbing (threading) the press, mov-
ing printing cylinders, and greasing and cleaning the
superstructure of the press. In addition, they take the
completed product (called "books") from the deliv-
ery end of the press and perform a function known
as "jogging," which consists of evening the edges of
the stacked books so they are in straight stacks of the
required number of books. After the books are jog-
ged the flyboys place them on skids. The skids are
then moved by members of the Paper Handlers (not
involved herein) to an area where members of the
Mailers wrap and strap the books on the skids for
shipment.
During the summer of 1975, the Employer an-
nounced its intention to install counter-stackers
which would automatically count, jog, and stack the
books. The "jogging function" as performed by the
flyboys would be eliminated. The counter-stacker
would be attached directly to the delivery end of the
press. The flyboys would still, however, remove the
books from the counter-stacker, as they did before
from the press, and place them on skids.' When the
Employer declared its intention to purchase counter-
stackers, each Union claimed that the operation of
2 At the hearing the Mailers claimed only the operation of the counter-
The names of both labor organizations appear as amended at the hear - stacker; it does not claim the work of removing the stacked books from the
ing. counter-stacker and placing them on skids.
223 NLRB No. 209
CLEVELAND MAILERS ' UNION NO. 12, ITU 1403
these machines was within its jurisdiction. On or
about July 2, 1975, Hanna, president of the
Pressmen's Union, informed the Employer that if the
work was assigned to the Mailers the Pressmen
would strike.
Both Unions have had longstanding bargaining re-
lationships with the Employer. The Mailers last con-
tract was effective October 1, 1972, to March 31,
1975; that contract was given full force and effective
during negotiations which resulted in a new agree-
ment, signed on November 21, 1975. The Pressmen's
most recent contract was effective September 1,
1972, and expired on May 8, 1975; that contract is
being given full force and effect while negotiations
for a new contract continue.
By letter of September 19, 1975, the Employer as-
signed the operation of the counter-stackers to em-
ployees represented by the Pressmen (i.e., flyboys).
At the time of the hearing, the Employer had not yet
purchased or contracted for the counter-stackers.
B. Work in Dispute
It was stipulated that the work in dispute involves
the performance of tasks directly related to the opera-
tion of the counter-stackers . The parties further stipu-
lated that the dispute does not include the task of
removing the bundles of printed materials from the
counter-stackers and placing them on skids; this task
will continue to be performed, as it is now without
counter-stackers , from the delivery end of the press
by so-called flyboys (members of Pressmen). The
"operation" of the counter -stackers , or the work in
dispute, entails only turning the machine on and off,
making periodic adjustments both as to the speed at
which the machine will operate and as to the size of
the material being printed , and the performance of
various minor service and maintenance functions
such as greasing and oiling the machine.
C. Contentions of the Parties
The Employer and the Pressmen contend the work
is properly assigned to the Pressmen on the basis of
efficiency, economic factors, and industry practice.
The Mailers contends it should be awarded the work
on the basis of contractual language, skills, and em-
ployer and area practice.
D. Applicability of the Statute
Before the Board may proceed to a determination
of a dispute pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act, it
must be satisfied that there is reasonable cause to
believe that Section 8(b)(4)(D) has been violated.
Here the record reveals that Hanna, president of the
Pressmen, informed the Employer that if the work
was assigned to the Mailers the Pressmen would
strike. The parties have no agreed-upon method for
the voluntary adjustment of the dispute. According-
ly, we conclude there is reasonable cause to believe
that the Pressmen violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) and
that the dispute is properly before us for determina-
tion under Section 10(k) of the Act.
E. Merits of the Dispute
Section 10(k) of the Act requires the Board to
make an affirmative award after giving due consider-
ation to various relevant factors.
1: Collective-bargaining agreements
The Pressmen's contract (art. I, sec. 12) includes
the following language:
The jurisdiction of the Union includes all print-
ing presses including but not limited to gravure,
offset and letterpress printing presses and asso-
ciated devices in the pressroom of the Employer.
This language has been unchanged since 1967. The
Employer and Pressmen contend the term "associat-
ed devices" would include counter-stackers, particu-
larly since the counter-stackers are to be attached
directly to the presses in the pressroom.
The Mailers contract includes the following lan-
guage which was taken from its contract with the
parent, Plain Dealer Publishing Company, and in-
cluded in not only the 1973 agreement but also the
agreement of November 21, 1975: 3
Section 4. The jurisdiction of the union is de-
fined as including all mailing room work in
shops covered by this contract and includes all
work appertaining to mailing of newspapers .. .
such as . . . taking bundles or papers from convey-
ors and counter-stackers . . . . [Emphasis sup-
plied.]
As can be seen, the contractual jurisdiction is "tak-
ing bundles or papers from conveyors and counter-
stackers" which the Mailers herein specifically dis-
claims. Thus, the Mailers, by President McTaggart,
specifically indicated it did not want the flyboys'
work of removing the bundles but that it wanted only
the operation of the machine, i.e., the operation of
the buttons and controls.
J At the present newspaper, a conveyor moves the papers from the deliv-
ery end of the press out of the pressroom to the mailroom, where employees
represented by the Mailers perform the operations performed by the flyboys
(pressmen) herein (discussed infra).
1404 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We do not believe the language of either contract
favors an award to either group of employees.
2. Skills
Mr. Ring, the assistant to the business manager at
the Cleveland Plain Dealer, testified: "There is no
skill, really the operation of the counter-stacker .. .
could be mastered in one hour by anyone with rea-
sonable intelligence and dexterity." The record is
clear that members of both the Pressmen and Mailers
have or could quickly acquire the skill to do the work
in dispute,
3. Company and industry practice
Whatever the type printing press used , jurisdiction
in other shops appears to depend on whether the
counter-stackers are located at the delivery end of
the press or whether they are located in a separate
mailing room or area to which the product is first
conveyed . As Ring testified , the Mailers generally
has jurisdiction "when there is an independent con-
veyor system under its own power that carries the
product of the press to a point , whatever distance it
may be , that is considered a mail room area ." At the
parent , Cleveland Plain Dealer , itself the counter-
stackers are operated by members of the Mailers.
But, there , the counter-stackers are in the mailroom,
a considerable distance from the press , and the news-
papers are carried to the mailroom , which is about a
story and a half above the pressroom , by an indepen-
dently powered conveyor.
The record further shows that in 9 or 11 unionized
"gravure" plants where the counter-stackers are lo-
cated directly at the delivery end of the press the
counter-stackers are operated by flyboys (pressmen) .4
In the other two gravure plants where the Mailers has
jurisdiction , the counter-stackers are located in a sep-
arate mailing area and the product is delivered to
that area by conveyor.
While this factor is very close, it appears that in-
dustry practice favors an award to employees repre-
sented by the Pressmen because the counter-stackers
herein are to be attached directly to the press and
located in the pressroom.
4. Economy and efficiency
The operation of the counter-stacker would in-
clude pushing the button to start and stop it, adjust-
ing its speed, making adjustments for the size of the
product coming off the press, greasing and oiling it,
4 Not all of these plants have employees represented by the Mailers.
and possibly performing minor repairs on it. Mr.
Ring testified that some runs of books last from I
day to 2 weeks, sometimes on a three-shift basis.
Thus, on a long production run, which also might
run around the clock, there would be nothing for one
"operating" the counter-stacker to do since it would
not even be necessary to push the "start-stop" but-
tons at the beginning and end of each shift. If em-
ployees represented by the Mailers were awarded the
work in dispute, it would presumably add an addi-
tional man to the area, whose sole function would be
limited to operating the buttons on the counter-
stacker which, in fact, might not be necessary for
extended periods. Likewise, when the presses are not
running, the counter-stackers do not operate and a
mailer operating the counter-stacker would have
nothing to do.
On the other hand, the flyboys, in addition to re-
moving the bundles from the counter-stacker, would
still have all of the press-related functions they now
perform, such as obtaining printing cylinders, greas-
ing and cleaning the superstructure of the press, and
otherwise assisting the pressmen. In other words, if
the counter-stackers are not operating, the flyboys
will perform the same functions they perform now
and continue to work. Likewise, in the event of an
emergency, it would appear more reasonable to have
the flyboys, who would be physically present to re-
move bundles from it, operating the counter-stacker.
In conclusion, we are of the opinion that reasons of
efficiency and economy of operation favor the em-
ployees represented by the Pressmen.
5. The Employer's assignment and preference
The Employer, after what it stated was a careful
consideration of all relevant factors, assigned the op-
eration of the counter-stacker to the employees rep-
resented by the Pressmen (flyboys). That criterion
therefore favors the employees represented by the
Pressmen.
Conclusions
Upon the entire record and the foregoing consider-
ation of all relevant factors, we conclude that the
employees represented by the Pressmen are entitled
to perform the work in dispute and we shall de-
termine the dispute in their favor. In making this
award, we are assigning the work to employees repre-
sented by the Pressmen rather than to that organiza-
tion itself or its members. The present determination
is limited to the particular controversy which gave
rise to this dispute.
CLEVELAND MAILERS ' UNION NO. 12, ITU
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, and on the basis of the
foregoing findings and the entire record in this pro-
ceeding, the National Labor Relations Board hereby
makes the following Determination of Dispute:
1405
Employees of The Art Gravure Corporation of
Ohio who are represented by Cleveland Newspaper
Printing Pressmen 's Union No . 5, affiliated with the
International Printing and Graphic Communications
Union , AFL-CIO, are entitled to perform the disput-
ed work of operating counter-stackers at the
Employer 's Cleveland, Ohio , plant.