Curt Teich & Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 8, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 177 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of CURT TEICH & COMPANY, INC., and AMALGAMATED,
LITHOGRAPHERS of AMERICA, LOCAL No. 4, A. F. L.
In the Matter of CURT TEICH & COMPANY, INC. and BOOKBINDERS &..
PAPER CUTTERS' UNION, O. 8, A. F. L.
Cases Nos. 13-R-f901 and 13-R-2,935, respectively.-Decided August
8, 1P4511
Messrs. Otto A. Jaburek and Curt Teich, Jr., both of Chicago, Ilk,.
for the Company.
Mr. George A. Canary, of Chicago, Ill., for the Amalgamated..
Mr. Joseph, L. Bryan, of Chicago, Ill., for the Bookbinders.
Mr. Bruce C. Heath, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions duly filed by Amalgamated Lithographers of Amer-
ica, Local No. 4, A. F. L., herein called Amalgamated, and Bookbinders,
& Paper Cutters' Union, No. 8, A. F. L., herein called the Bookbinders,,
alleging that a question affecting commerce-had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Curt'Teich & Company, Inc., of Chi-
cago, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate consolidated hearing upon
due notice before Gustaf B. Erickson, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Chicago, Illinois, on May 18, 1945. The Company, the
Amalgamated, and the Bookbinders appeared and participated. All
parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and.
cross-examine witnesses, and to 'introduce evidence bearing on the
issues . The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free-
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were
afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. '
Upon the entire record in the case, the-Board makes the following :
63 N. L . It. B., No. 25.
177
178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OT FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Curt Teich & Company, Inc., is an Illinois corporation engaged in
lithographic printing in Chicago, Illinois. The chief articles pro-
duced are pictorial folders, post cards, and semi-multicolor work.
The principal raw material used by the Company during 1944 was
paper, of which approximately 90 percent, valued in excess of $100,000,
was shipped from points outside the State of Illinois. Sales during
the same period amounted to over $100,000, of which 90 percent was
shipped to points outside the State.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Amalgamated Lithographers of America, Local No. 4, affiliated
with American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
Bookbinders & Paper Cutters' Union, Local No. 8, affiliated with
American Federation of Labor. is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about February 13, 1945, the Amalgamated wrote the Com-
pany a letter stating that a majority of its employees had designated
the Amalgamated as their exclusive bargaining agent and requested
a conference "for the purpose of collective bargaining." The Company
replied by letter dated February 22, 1945, that it had no knowledge'
of the claims made by the Amalgamated, and that the Company must
therefore refuse to enter into a bargaining conference.
On March 14,1945, the officials of the Bookbinders and the Company
held a conference'in the Board's Chicago office, but the Company re-
fused to recognize the Bookbinders as the exclusive bargaining agent
of certain of its employees. The Amalgamated filed its petition on
February 23, 1945; the Bookbinders, on March 9, 1945.
A statement of a Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Amalgamated and the Bookbinders each
represents substantial numbers of employees in the units hereinafter
found appropriate.'
' The Field Examiner reported that the Amalgamated submitted 18 application for
membership cards , that the names of 18 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the
Company's pay roll of April 24, 1945, which contained the names of 52 employees in the
appropriate unit ; and that the cards were dated 1 in January and the balance in Febru-
ary 1945.
The Bookbinders submitted five application for membership cards, five of which bore
the names of persons appearing on the cards contained in the aforesaid pay roll, which
contained the names of seven employees in the appropriate unit. The cards were dated
one in February 1945, and the balance undated.
CURT TEICH & COMPANY, INC. 179
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company , within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
The Amalgamated seeks a unit of all production employees of the
Company, including employees of the art department, offset laborers,
and foremen, but excluding office clerical and supervisory employees.
The Bookbinders asks for a unit composed of all male 2 skilled bindery
employees of the Company, including foremen, but excluding office
clerical and supervisory employees. The Company does not generally
dispute the appropriateness of these units but takes the position that
certain classifications of employees sought by the Amalgamated and
the Bookbinders are not properly within the units petitioned for and
should, therefore, be excluded. The disputed categories will be sep-
arately treated below.
Art department-employees. In its art department the Company em-
ploys 4 mechanical retouchers, 6 fake fill-in artists, 2 hand colorists
and fake fill-in artists,, and 16 learners. The Company contends that
these art department employees are not a part of the lithographic
process and, therefore, do not belong within a unit of lithographic
production employees. The Amalgamated claims that these employees
are an essential part of the lithographic production process and should
be included within the unit.' The evidence discloses that 90 percent of
the Company's business is the production of lithographed post cards.
The Company usually receives from its customers an order to produce
from an ordinary black and white photograph, a lithographed colored
post card. In the production of the lithographed card from the photo-
graph, if it should be necessary to block out objectionable figures in
the picture, such work is performed by the mechanical retouchers who
are also known in the trade as photo retouchers. It is also indicated
that, except in rare instances, the colors to be used in the finished card
are determined by the hand colorist who is also an artist. The usual
procedure is to send the black and white photograph to the camera
department where photographers make impressions, the number of
impressions being determined by the number of different colors to be
used in lithographing the finished card. The impressions are then
sent to the fake fill-in artists and learners who block the previously
determined colors on the impressions. After these operations have
been performed, the impressions are returned to the photographers
who make a half-tone negative. From the negative the camera depart-
ment makes a positive print, and from thereon the lithographic proc
ess is continued, which includes the making of plates, the application
2 Matter of Lloyd Hollister, Inc., 55 N. L R. B. 32.
662514-46-vol 63-13
180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of chemicals and water, and the operation of the press. It is clear
from the above that the work performed by the art department `em-
ployees, i. e., preparation of copy, is all a part of a continuous opera-
tion necessary to the ultimate production of the lithographed post
cards: We are of the opinion therefore that the Company's art de-
partment employees are properly a part of the production, unit sought
by the Amalgamated.
Offset laborers: The Company employs several persons whom it
classifies as offset laborers. It is their duty to load and unload paper
stock which is received by the Company and to keep the feeders sup-
plied with paper. The Company contends that because of the general
nature of their work that they are not an essential part of the litho-
graphic process and should not be included in a unit of lithographic
production employees. The Amalgamated would include them. Since
the offset laborers perform duties which are an integral part of the
production process, we shall include them within the production unit.,
Banding Machine, Stripling Machine, and Deckle-edge Machine
Operators: In the bindery department the Company employs persons
who .operate banding, stripling, and deckle-edge machines. The Com-
pany contends that these employees should not be included in a unit
of bindery department employees, since they operate special machines
which generally are not considered to be a part of the normal binding
operations, and which are located in the bindery department merely
as a matter of convenience. The banding machine places a paper-tape
band around a bunch of 50 or 100 post cards. The other machines
striple and deckle-edge cards. The evidence discloses that the opera-
tions in the bindery are continuous' and that the foregoing occupational
categories are customarily within the jurisdiction of the Bookbinders.
We shall therefore include these machine operators in the unit of
bindery employees.
Upon the basis of the entire record, we find the following units
appropriate for the purposes 'of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
(1) All production employees of the Company, including employees
of the art department, offset laborers, foremen,8 but excluding bindery
department employees, office clerical employees, and maintenance em-
ployees;4
(2) All male bindery employees of the Company's bindery depart-
ment, including banding, stripling, and deckle-edge machine operators
and foremen,5 but excluding the superintendent and all supervisory
employees above the rank of foreman.
8 In the printing trades the Board customarily sanctions the historical inclusion of super-
visory employees within units compilsed of ordinary production employees . See Matter of
W. F. Hall Printing Co., 51 N. L. R B. 640, and subsequent cases
4 See Matter of Providence Lithograph Company; 62 N. L. R. B. 1389.
3 See footnote 4, supra.
CURT TEICH & COMPANY, INC. 181
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tions herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
The Company employs several part-time employees and trainees.
They work regularly for the Company approximately 30 hours per
week; they are paid the same wage rate as full-time employees and
have similar duties and conditions of employment. Since they are
regular part-time employees, we shall permit them to participate in
the election.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Re-
lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Curt Teich & Com-
pany, Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Article
III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the em-
ployees in the units 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 em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause , to determine :
(1) Whether or not the employees in the lithographic production
unit desire to be represented by Amalgamated Lithographers of
America, Local No. 4, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
(2) Whether or not the male employees in the bindery unit desire
to be represented by the Bookbinders & Paper Cutters' Union, No. 8,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.