Court Square Press, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 23, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1516 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of COURT SQUARE PRESS, INC., EMPLOYER and AMALGAM-
ATED LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA, CIO, LOCAL 3, PETITIONER
Case No.1-RC-1884.Decided January 23,1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Joseph Lepie, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and
Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all employees in the
lithography department of the Employer's printing plant which does
both letter press and offset or lithographic printing. The Employer
contends that the composing room employees should be included in
the unit because almost three-fourths of their work is done for the
lithography department.
The unit proposed by the Petitioner is the traditional unit of litho-
graphic employees frequently recognized by the Board as appropriate
in the so-called combination shops, those which do both letter press
and lithographic printing. We shall therefore limit the unit to
employees in the lithography department.
The parties disagree as to the supervisory status of four employees.
The Petitioner contends that Eugene Fitzgerald and David Guttell
are, and James McMahon and Richard Brown are not, supervisors.
1 The Dfadison Company, 92 NLRB 914, overruling 91 NLRB 135.
92 NLRB No. 229.
1516
COURT SQUARE. PRESS, INC. 1517
McMahon is a highly skilled dot etcher and lithographic artist
who also directs the work of two other lithographic artists. He
reports directly to one Wilson, who is stationed on another floor of the
Employer's plant, and who is the over-all supervisor of the camera-
men, platemakers, and artists. Although McMahon has no authority.
to hire or fire,-he has the authority effectively to recommend changes
in the status of his subordinates. Accordingly, we find that he is a
supervisor. We shall therefore exclude him from the unit.
Brown is a platemaker who spends 70 percent of his time making
plates and the rest in giving out work to other employees in his depart-
ment. Brown gives out work under orders from Wilson, the super-
visor of the department. He has no authority to hire, fire, or recom-
mend hiring or firing. In view of these facts, we find that Brown is
not a supervisor. We shall include him in the unit.
Fitzgerald works in the offset press department where he spends
about 20 percent of his time repairing minor breakdowns in the
presses, and SO percent assigning work to the press operators. He
works under the supervision of Corman, the general supervisor of the
offset pressmen, and assigns work according to Corman's orders. Fitz-
gerald is paid at about the same rate as the offset pressmen. He has
no authority to hire, fire, or recommend such action. In the light
of the foregoing, we find that Fitzgerald is not a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act. Accordingly, we shall include him in the unit.
Guttell is a photographer who works in the camera room under the
supervision of Wilson. He distributes the work to other employees
in the camera room, but spends nearly all his time in making photo-
graphs. As there is no showing that Guttell responsibly directs the
work of other employees, and as the record is clear that he has no au-
thority to hire, fire, or recommend such action, we find that he is not
a supervisor. Accordingly, we shall include him in the unit.
We find that the following employees of the Employer at its.plant
in Boston, Massachusetts, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act:
All employees in the lithographic department,2 'including photog-
raphers, artists, retouchers, opaquers, platemakers, strippers, prov-
ers, pressmen, feeder operators, press tenders, grainers, helpers, ap-
prentices, and general workmen, but excluding office and clerical
employees, salesmen, guards, and supervisors 3 as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
' Including Eugene Fitzgerald, Richard Brown, and David Guttell.
3 Including James McMahon.