Keystone Printing Service - Waukegan News-Sun

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 12, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 157 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of KEYSTONE PRINTING SERVICE-WAUKEGAN NEWS-
SUN, EMPLOYER and CHICAGO NEWSPAPER GUILD, LOCAL 71, AMERI-
CAN NEWSPAPER GUILD, C. I. 0.,1 PETITIONER
Case No. 13-RC-577.Decided July 12, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held before
Philip Licari, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Sections 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Gray].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation 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 the employees in the Editorial
Department of the Employer's newspaper, the Waukegan News-Sun.
The parties generally agree as to the composition of the unit, but
cannot agree upon the inclusion or exclusion of the sports editor,
society editor, county editor, telegraph editor, and manager of the
Highland Park office, all of whom the Employer contends are
supervisors.
The sports editor and the society editor are in charge of the prepara-
tion and make-up of the sports page and society page, respectively.
1 The caption in this case is hereby amended to reflect the complete name of the
Petitioner as indicated above.
85 N. L. R. B., No. 28.
157
158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Each has one assistant. They hire, discharge, and responsibly direct
the work of their assistants. Accordingly, we find that the sports
editor and the society editor are supervisors within the meaning of the
Act and we shall, therefore, exclude them from the unit.2
The county editor gathers and writes local news. ,He receives news
stories from approximately 14 "stringer" correspondents, some of
whom are paid by the week and some of whom are paid by the line for
whatever part of their material is published. The county editor's
uncontradicted testimony was to the effect that he hires, discharges,
and directs the work of the "stringer" correspondents. We find,
therefore, that the county editor is a supervisor within the meaning of
the Act and we shall exclude him from the unit.
Betty Karger, the manager of the Highland Park office, is the only
employee in the Employer's branch office. Her office duties appear
to be 'routine such as receiving classified advertisements for publication
and accepting payments for subscriptions. In addition, she covers
local news events which she writes and submits to the paper for publi-
cation. Although the Employer employs a local woman who has an
extension telephone in her home to answer the telephone whenever
Miss Karger is out of the office, the record does not establish that Miss
Karger's routine direction of this employee constitutes her a super-
visor as defined in the Act. In view of the fact that Miss Karger's
duties are substantially similar to those of the other editorial em-
ployees, we shall include her in the unit.
The telegraph editor is in charge of the telegraph desk. He selects
stories for publication from those received from the press services,
edits the copy, and writes headlines. In addition, he writes a column
for the newspaper. There are no employees under his direction. His
duties are not concerned with labor relations or with over-all man-
agement policies. Although he holds a responsible position with
respect to editorial matters, we find that he is neither a suprvisor nor a
managerial employee; accordingly; we shall include him in the unit.
We find that all employees in the Editorial Department of the
Employer's newspaper, the Waukegan News-Suit, Waukegan, Illinois,
including the telegi aph editor, and ' the manager of the Highland
Park office, but excluding the managing editor, news editor, sports
editor, society editor, county editor; and all other supervisors as de-
fined in the Act; constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
2 Matter of The Brooklyn Citizen, 52 N. L. It. B . 673, 676; Matter of Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, 13 N. L. It . B. 974, 985.
KEYSTONE PRINTING SERVICE-WAUKEGAN NEWS-SUN
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
159
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 super-
vision of the. Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, 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,
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Chicago Newspaper Guild, Local 71, American Newspaper
Guild, C. I. O.