Kingsport Press, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 5, 1964

146 N.L.R.B. 260 (N.L.R.B. 1964)

260 - DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
Pursuant to the Recommended Order of a Trial Examiner of the National Labor
Relations Board , and in order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended , you are notified that:
WE WILL, if requested to do so by Amalgamated Union Local 5, Metal, Iron
and Miscellaneous Workers, District 5 and Affiliated Unions, sign the agree-
ment reached with the above Union on or about January 31, 1963. If no such
request is made , we will , upon request , bargain collectively with the above-
named Union for the unit described herein with respect to rates of pay, wages,
hours of work , and other terms and conditions of employment , and if an
understanding is reached , embody such understanding in a signed agreement.
The bargaining unit is:
All production and maintenance employees , shipping and receiving de-
partment employees , inspectors , and leadmen employed at the Company's
New York City plant, exclusive of office clericals and professional em-
ployees , guards , watchmen , and all supervisors as defined in the Act.
WE WILL NOT make or effect any change in rates of pay , wages, hours, or
other terms or conditions of employment of our employees in the appropriate
unit without first giving notice to and consulting with the statutory representa-
tive of our employees.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner interfere with , restrain, or
coerce employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed them in Section 7 of the
Act, except to the extent that such rights may be affected by an agreement
requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment
as authorized in Section 8(a)(3) of the Act, as modified by the Labor-
Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.
REVERE METAL ART COMPANY, INC.,
Employer.
Dated-------------- ----- By-------------------------------------------
(Representative ) ( Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from the date of posting,
and must not be altered , defaced , or covered by any other material.
Employees may communicate directly with the Board 's Regional Office, Fifth
Floor, Squibb Building , 745 Fifth Avenue , New York , New York , Telephone No.
751-5500, if they have any question concerning this notice or compliance with its,
provisions.
Kingsport Press, Inc. and Local 175, Electrotypers Union , Inter-
national Stereotypers & Electrotypers Union of North Amer-
ica, AFL-CIO and Kingsport Printing Pressmen & Assistants'
Union No. 336 , International Printing Pressmen & Assistants'
Union of North America, AFL-CIO and Progressive Lodge
No. 1694, International Association of Machinists , AFL-CIO
and Bindery Workers Union , Local No . 82, International
Brotherhood of Bookbinders , AFL-CIO, Petitioners.' Cases
Nos. 10-RC-5804, 10-RC-5805, 10-RC-5806, and 10-RC-5807.
March 5, 1964
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
'The several Petitioners are referred to herein as the Electrotypers , the Pressmen, the
Machinists , and the Bindery Workers, respectively . The Pressmen intervened in Cases
Nos. 10-RC-5806 and 10-RC-5807 on the basis of representative showings of interest,
i.e., In excess of 30 percent . For this reason , we shall treat the Pressmen as a cross-
petitioner in those two cases.
146 NLRB No. 136.
KINGSPORT PRESS, INC. 261
Hearing Officer Hutton S. Brandon. The Hearing 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 Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with these cases to a three-
member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Members Leedom and
Fanning].
Upon the record of the hearing,2 the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. The Employer contends that no question of representation exists
because it has for many years recognized and continues to recognize
each of the four Petitioners as the bargaining representative of em-
ployees in the requested units. Further, as to the petitions filed by
the Machinists and the Bindery Workers, the Employer contends
that no question concerning representation exists because such Peti-
tioners are currently certified by the Board as the representatives
for the units respectively sought by them. We need not reach the
latter contention, in view of the intervention of the Pressmen in Cases
Nos. 10-RC-5806 and 10-RC-5807, on the basis of representative
showings of interest, sufficient to constitute them as cross-petitioners.
For this reason alone, a question concerning representation exists in
those two cases. As to the other two cases, the Employer's contention
is without merit. It is well settled that the fact that a petitioning
union is recognizedby an employer does not preclude the existence of
a question concerning representation.'
Accordingly, we find that in each case a question affecting com-
merce exists concerning the representation of certain employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1) and Section 2(6)
and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate units
Case No. 10-RC-5804
The Electrotypers seeks certification in a unit of employees cur-
rently represented by it, comprising all those in the Employer's
2 For the reasons stated below, we are issuing our Decision and Direction of Election
prior to the expiration of the time for filing briefs Our findings herein are therefore
made in the light of the record facts and the positions of the parties as set forth at the
hearing In any briefs subsequently filed, should any issues be raised which would warrant
a modification or reversal of any of the findings made herein, we shall treat such briefs
as motions for reconsideration . The Hearing Officer granted an extension of time until
March 9, 1964, for the filing of briefs . Subsequently , the Employer requested the Board
to grant a further extension to the close of business on March 17 , 1964. Such request is
hereby granted.
3 See Central Coat, Apron & linen Service, Inc., etc., 126 NLRB 958; General Box
Company, 82 NLRB 6718.
262 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
molded plate or electrotyping department, together with those en-
gaged in making offset and dycril plates in the photo-chemical depart-
ment. The Employer contends that the unit should encompass all
employees in its molded plate, composing room, and photo-chemical
departments, which together make up its prepress division, on the
ground that these departments are integrated and that the unit of
composing room employees currently represented by the International
Typographical Union, herein called the ITU,4 and the unit histori-
cally represented by the Electrotypers are no longer appropriate.
The Electrotypers has represented the employees in the molded
plate department of the Employer's printing establishment since
1937 and has negotiated contracts with the Employer covering such
employees until the expiration of its most recent contract in 1963.
Like the other labor organizations currently recognized by the Em-
ployer, the Electrotypers since March 11, 1963, has been engaged in
an economic strike against the Employer in support of bargaining
demands. During the term of the latest contract, the Employer in-
troduced the lithographic and other new processes into its operations
and in December 1962 the Employer recognized the Electrotypers as
the representative of employees engaged in making offset and dycril
plates in the newly formed photo-chemical department.
As a result of changes brought about through the introduction of
new printing processes, the Employer has added the photo-chemical
department and effected a closer integration between the composing
room and the molded plate departments. As part of its plan to inte-
grate the constituent departments of the prepress division, the Em-
ployer has placed all three departments under a division supervisor
and has interchanged employees in order that they may be trained
in more than one of the skills utilized in the division and to minimize
avoidable overtime during periods of peak production in the different
printing processes. However, the record establishes that the molded
plate department has separate immediate supervision and that, not-
withstanding the interchange above indicated, employees in the molded
plate department are primarily employed in skilled electrotyping
duties and only secondarily assigned to other work in the division.
Accordingly, on the basis of their separate bargaining history and
the absence of any persuasive evidence that they do not have a separate
community of interests by virtue of their electrotyping and plate-
making skills, we find that the following employees of the Employer
4 The ITU, although served with notice of the filing of the petition in Case No 10-RC-
5804, did not appear at the hearing . It is the certified representative of employees in the
Employer ' s composing room. In view of our finding below that such employees are ex-
cluded from the appropriate unit in this case, its interests in the proceedings are not
prejudiced.
KINGSPORT PRESS, INC. 263
at its Kingsport, Tennessee, plant constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All journeymen electrotypers and stereotypers, apprentices, and
helpers in the molded plate department, and all employees engaged
in offset and dycril platemaking in the photo-chemical department,
excluding all other employees, office clerical employees, professional
employees, guards, watchmen, and' supervisors as defined in the Act .5
Case No. 10-RC-5805
We find that the following employees of the Employer at its Kings-
port, Tennessee, plant, represented by the Pressmen since 1935; con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 ('b) of the Act :
All journeymen pressmen, apprentices, assistants, and helpers in
the flatbed, rotary, paper stock, paste vault, and spot up roller molds
sections, line up assistants, ink vault assistants, bundler offpress folder,
vault machine operators and helpers, and all offset pressmen, exclud-
ing all other employees, office clerical employees, professional em-
ployees, guards, watchmen, and supervisors as defined in the Act.'
Case No. 10-RC-5806
We find, in accord with the parties' stipulation and the prior certi-
fication of the Board, that the following employees of the Employer
at its Kingsport, Tennessee, plant constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All journeymen and apprentice maintenance mechanics, journey-
men and apprentice machinists, knife grinders, laborers, helpers, and
tool crib attendants, excluding all technical, professional, research
5In the event the Employer wishes to take a position against including in the unit the
offset and dycril platemakers , it may raise such issue by challenging them at the election.
As to the unit placement issues raised concerning plate repair men, the 4-color proof
press operator , and the supervisory status of Hiram Hughes , Hobart Quillen , and Ivar
Steadman, and as to all other unit placement issues raised in this consolidated proceeding,
we shall not , for the reasons hereafter discussed , resolve them at this time but shall permit
any such individuals to cast challenged ballots.
8 There was no dispute as to the scope of the appropriate unit. Although the Employer
at the hearing initially opposed the inclusion of offset pressmen in the unit , it subse-
quently withdrew its opposition and stated that it took no position . In the event it
should wish to oppose their inclusion , we shall permit the Employer to raise such issue
by the challenge procedure . For reasons previously expressed, the issues as to the unit
placement of the 4 -color proof press operator , the plate repairmen , and the supervisory
status of B. J. Faulk, George Taylor, Hubert Horton, and Billy Cox, are deferred for
resolution , if necessary , by way of challenges to their ballots . It may be noted that the
4-color proof press operator and the plate repairmen are permitted to cast challenged
ballots in two elections.
264 DECISIONS OF. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and developmental and/or experimental employees, office and plant
clerical employees, guards, watchmen, leadmen with supervisory au-
thority and supervisors as defined in the Act, and all other employees.
Case No. 10-RC-5807
We find, in accord with the parties' stipulation and the Board's
prior certification, that the following employees of the Employer
at its Kingsport, Tennessee, plant, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All bindery journeymen, apprentices, and helpers`performing pro-
-cluction in folding, folded stock, machine and hand tipping, guard-
ing, gathering, sewing, mechanical binding, oilers of bindery equip-
ment, gluing off, cutting edge gilding, edge staining, round, backing
and lining up, machine and hand casing in bindery stock room stor-
age, stock cutting, cover making (both hand and machine), super-
.finish, stamping and dye storage, indexing, repairing, examining and
wrapping, bound stock storage, and shipping and receiving-opera-
tions, but excluding all employees performing research, develop-
mental and/or experimental work, quality control, office and plant
clerical employees, technical and professional employees, watchmen,
guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act, as amended, and all
other employees.
5. The petitions herein were filed during the pendency of an eco-
nomic strike involving the Petitioners and the Employer. The strike,
as previously indicated, commenced March 11, 1963, and is still in
progress. Under Section 9(c) (3) of the Act, as amended, "employ-
ees engaged in an economic strike who are not entitled to reinstate-
ment shall be eligible to vote under such regulations as the Board
shall find are consistent with the purposes and provisions of this
Act in any election conducted within twelve months after the, com-
mencement of the strike." [Emphasis supplied.] It may thus be
seen that unless the elections sought herein are held before the ex-
piration of the indicated 12-month period, those strikers who have
been replaced will be rendered ineligible to vote. Therefore, in order
to implement to the extent possible the congressional intent to en-
franchise replaced strikers during the first 12 months of an economic
strike, we have decided to direct an election to be held no later than
March 10, 1964, without awaiting any briefs which parties may file.
We believe that this procedure, although a departure from that nor-
mally followed, is warranted by the circumstances and-will effectuate
the purposes and policies of the Act. Further, as previously stated,
we have not precluded consideration of any arguments, or changes of
position, which the Employer, or any of the parties, may wish to
MEMPHIS MOLDINGS, INC. 265
advance with respect to the issues involved, for we have indicated
that we shall treat a brief filed by •a party as a motion for reconsid-
eration of any issue disposed of adversely to that party. Finally, to
insure that briefs will be considered before the results of any of the
elections hereinafter directed are known, the Regional Director is
hereby instructed to impound the ballots cast in all of the elections.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
Memphis Moldings, Inc. and District 50, United Mine Workers
of America. Case No. 926-CA-1598. March 6, 1964
DECISION AND ORDER
On December 11, 1963, Trial Examiner James F. Foley issued his
Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respond-
ent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor prac-
tices within the meaning of the Act and recommending that it cease
and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action, as set forth
in the attached Trial Examiner's Decision. Thereafter, the Respond-
ent filed exceptions to the Decision and a supporting brief.
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-member panel [Members Leedom, Fanning, and
Brown].
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner made
at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed.
The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Trial
Examiner's Decision, the exceptions and brief, and the entire record
in the case, and hereby adopts the findings, conclusions, and recom-
mendations of the Trial Examiner.
ORDER
The Board adopts as its Order the Recommended Order of the
Trial Examiner.'
1 The Recomended Order is hereby amended by substituting for the first paragraph
therein the following paragraph:
Upon the entire record in this case , and pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended , the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders
that Respondent , Memphis Moldings , Inc., its officers , agents , successors , and assigns,
shall :
TRIAL EXAMINER'S DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This case , Case No . 26-CA-1598 , was brought under Section 10(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended ( 61 Stat. 136 , 73 Stat . 519), herein called
146 NLRB No. 3-0.