Interborough News Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 18, 1948

78 N.L.R.B. 1089 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of INTERBOROUGI3 NEWS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
NEWSPAPER AND MAIL DELIVERERS UNION OF NEW YORK AND
VICINITY, PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-100.-Decided August 18, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at New York
City, on May 4,1948, before Warren Leland, hearing officer. The hear-
ing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations named below claim to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
The employer has declined to recognize the Petitioner as the exclu-
sive bargaining representative of certain of its employees because of
conflicting claims to representation made by the Petitioner, the Inter-
venor and Local 906, United Office and Professional Workers of Amer-
ica, CIO.2
'Local 917, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, A. F of L, herein called the In-
tervenor, was permitted to intervene at the hearing without objection.
*Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock.
2 Local 906, U. 0 P. W. A., CIO, held contracts with the Employer covering the em-
ployees herein concerned, from 1936 until the last contract expired, under its own terms, on
February 1, 1948. The CIO appeared at, but did not seek to intervene in, the hearing
concerned with this petition.
78 N. L. R. B, No. 154.
1089
1090 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer contends that a contract entered into July 15, 1947,
between the Employer and the Petitioner constitutes a waiver of Peti-
tioner's rights, under the Briggs-Indiana doctrine,3 to represent the
employees herein concerned. This contract, which covers employees
other than those sought to be represented by this petition, contains a
clause providing, "Inasmuch as the employer has contracted with vari-
ous unions for all classes of work done in its establishment and since
both parties desire to avoid jurisdictional dispute, the union agrees
that it will not claim jurisdiction over any work except that described
in this contract." As this contract expired on July 16, 1948, we have
no occasion to consider the application of the Briggs-Indiana doctrine
to this case.4
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.
4. The appropriate unit :
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all the Employer's return
clerks and shipping clerks, but excluding elevator operators, mimeo-
graph operators, and supervisors. The Intervenor would exclude
only the supervisors. The Employer takes no position concerning the
propriety of the unit. As the historical bargaining unit established
by bargaining between the Employer and the CIO has included eleva-
tor operators and mimeograph operators and as Petitioner offers no
reasons for their exclusion, we shall include them in the unit.
We find that all the shipping clerks, return clerks, elevator opera-
tors, and mimeograph operators employed by the Interborough News
Company in its New York City operations, excluding 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 the Interborough News Company,
New York City, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early
as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction,
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Second 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 paragraph numbered 4,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
' Matter of Briggs-Indiana Corporation, 63 N. L . R. B. 1270.
"Compare Matter of Essex County News Co., 75 N. L. R. B. 697.
INTERBOROUGH NEWS COMPANY 1091
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 the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers
Union of New York and Vicinity, or by Local 917, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither.5
5 Having failed to achieve compliance or to initiate steps for compliance with the filing
requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, the CIO will not be accorded a
place on the ballot.