Columbia Envelope Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 2, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 439 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of COLUMBIA ENVELOPE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
INDEPENDENT ENVELOPE AND PAPER WORKERS' UNION, PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-4330.-Decided July 2, 1947
Mr. Otto A. Jaburek, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer.
Messrs. Muench d Muench, by Mr. Morgan C. Muench, of Chicago,
Ill., for the Petitioner.
Messrs. Meyers, Meyers cC Rothstein, by Mr. David B. Rothstein, of
Chicago, Ill., for the AFL.
Mr. Joseph B. Roche, of Chicago, Ill., for the CIO.
Mr. Abraham Frank, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago,
Illinois, on May 2, 6, 1947, before Robert T. Drake, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer's request for oral
argument is denied inasmuch as the record, in our opinion, adequately
presents the issues and positions of the parties.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Columbia Envelope Company, an Illinois corporation, is engaged
in the manufacture of commercial stationery and catalogue envelopes.
Its principal place of business and only plant is located in Chicago,
Illinois. During the year 1946 the Employer purchased raw mate-
rials valued in excess of $50,000, of which more than 90 percent was
derived from sources outside the State of Illinois. During the same
period the Employer sold finished products, valued in excess of
$600,000, of which more than 50 percent was shipped to points outside
the State of Illinois.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
74 N. L. R. B., No. 79. ' 439
440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS -BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization, claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
Chicago Specialty and Novelty Workers, International Printing
Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, Local 385, herein
called the AFL, is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
Warehouse and Distribution Workers Union, Local 208, Interna-
tional Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union, herein called the
CIO, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
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 has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner and the Employer contend that a single unit compris-
ing all production and maintenance employees, including employees in
the printing department, constitute an appropriate unit. As an
alternative, the Petitioner requests a unit of production and mainte-
nance employees and a separate unit of floormen in the commercial
and catalogue departments and employees in the printing department.
The CIO seeks a unit of all production and maintenance employees,
excluding machine operators in the commercial and catalogue depart-
ments and employees in the printing department. The AFL seeks a
unit of those employees in the commercial, catalogue, and printing
departments excluded from the production and maintenance unit
sought by the CIO.
The Employer's plant is under the direct supervision of a general
manager and the manufacturing process is a continuous operation in
which the various activities of the employees are closely integrated.
In its production of commercial and catalogue envelopes the Employer
utilizes a number of envelope machines and two Gordon presses. The
machines automatically turn out finished envelopes and print the re-
turn address in a single operation. Floormen in the commercial and
catalogue departments set up the machines for operation. and insert
COLUMBIA ENVELOPE COMPANY 441
the rubber molds from which the impression on the envelope is made.
In the same departments, machine operators feed paper into the ma-
chine and see that they are filled with the proper amount of glue and
ink. The two Gordon presses are operated by employees of the print-
ing department, which includes a typesetter and a type distributor.
However, when work in the printing department becomes slack, the
Gordon press operators are shifted to other departments. Both ma-
chine operators and Gordon press operators are relatively unskilled
and normally are trained on the job within a period of approximately
2 weeks.
On May 11, 1946, the CIO entered into a contract with the Employer
as the representative of a plant-wide unit of production and mainte-
nance employees. Thus the unit sought herein by the AFL would
require the establishment of a separate unit of employees heretofore
included in a single industrial unit. Moreover, the unit requested by
the AFL would be comprised primarily of employees who do not fall
within a particular craft for which a separate unit customarily has
received the approbation of the Board in the printing industry.
In view of the past bargaining history, the interchange of employees,
and the integration of operations, we are of the opinion that a single
plant-wide unit requested by the Petitioner and the Employer is
appropriate.'
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Employer, including machine operators and employees of the print-
ing department, but excluding salesmen, office and clerical employees,
the general manager, and all or any other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 2
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Columbia Envelope Company,
of Chicago, Illinois, 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 Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55
'' See Matter of Be)l oioatz Envelope Company, 38 N. L R. B 914 See also Matter of
Atlas Wall Paper Dvvnson of the Kimberly Clark Corporation , 67 N. L R B. 347.
P Any participant in' the election herein may , upon its prompt request to , and approval
thereof by , the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 4, 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, 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 not been rehired or reinstated prior
to the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be rep-
resented by Independent Envelope & Paper Workers' Union, or by
Chicago Specialty and Novelty Workers, International Printing
Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, Local 385, AFL,
or by Warehouse and Distribution Workers Union, International
Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union, Local 208, CIO, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by none.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.