McDonald Printing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 7, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 481 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of MCDONALD PRINTING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
AMALGAMATED LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA, AND AMALGAMATED
LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 74, CIO,1 PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-371.-Decided February 7,1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing officer
of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 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 Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion 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 Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all the Employer's
employees engaged in the lithographic printing process including the
employees in the offset pressroom department, the camera and plate-
room department, and art department. The Employer opposes the
establishment of the unit proposed by the Petitioner and contends
that the only appropriate unit for its employees is one that embraces
all its employees.
The Employer operates what is known in the printing industry as
a "combination" shop : that is, a shop utilizing both letterpress and
lithographic printing processes. Its plant is divided into the follow-
' The name of Petitioner appears as amended at the hearing.
* Houston , Reynolds , and Murdock.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 88.
481
482 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing 6 departments which are all on the same floor: composing, letter-
press, offset press, camera and plate room, art, and bindery. The
employees engaged in the lithographic printing process are all assigned
to the offset press, the camera and plateroom, and art departments.
These 3 departments adjoin each other and together occupy the entire
east portion of the Employer's floor space. There are a total of 10
employees in these 3 departments, whose classifications include plate-
makers, offset pressmen, artists, cameramen, and their apprentices and
helpers. These are the employees the Petitioner seeks to represent.
While the record shows a degree of integration between the operations
of the Employer's various departments, there is virtually no inter-
change between the employees engaged in the lithographic process and
the other employees. Furthermore, the requested employees do not
share common supervision with other employees.2
The Board has frequently considered the skills and techniques in-
cident to the lithographic process and has held that, absent unusual
circumstances, all employees engaged in the lithographic printing proc-
ess form a cohesive unit appropriate for purposes of collective bar-
gaining. The facts in this case are much like those present in other
proceedings involving "combination" shops, where the Board has
established lithographic employees in a separate unit apart from
other employees.3 Accordingly, we conclude that the unit sought by
the Petitioner is an appropriate one.
The Employer and the Petitioner disagree with respect to the unit
placement of the following employees :
George Falcon: This employee was hired by the Employer 10 days
before the hearing and since that time he has been working in the letter-
press department. The Employer contends that Falcon should be
included because he will shortly be transferred to the offset press de-
partment. The record shows that the Employer engaged Falcon to
work as an apprentice in the offset press department but because of an
unexpected delay in the processing of certain jobs in that department,
lie was temporarily assigned to the letterpress department. At the
hearing, the Employer's superintendent testified that there was a job
open for Falcon in the offset press department and that there was a
possibility that his transfer would be effected that day. Under these
circumstances, we shall include Falcon. However, if his transfer is
not effected before the pay-roll date for determining voting eligibility,
he shall be deemed to be excluded.
2 Although a foreman is normally in charge of each department , at the present time
there is no foreman employed in the camera and plateroom department and the art depart-
ment These 2 departments are currently being supervised by the plant superintendent.
3 Matter of Lord Baltimore Press Company , Inc., 73 N. L. It. B. 811; Matter of Foote
and Davies , 66 N. L. R B 416; Matter of Roberts and Son, 71 N. L. It. B. 294.
McDONALD PRINTING COMPANY 483
Elmo Weeks: The Petitioner contends that Weeks is a supervisor
and should be excluded. Weeks works as a platemaker in the plate-
room department. There is nothing in the record to indicate that
Weeks exercises supervisory powers over other employees. So far
as appears, he devotes all his time to his duties as platemaker. We
shall include Weeks.
Henry Swenson: Swenson is a cameraman who the Employer con-
tends should be excluded because he is a temporary employee.
Although Swenson was hired as a temporary employee and he is
regularly granted leave 1 or 2 days a week to attend to personal busi-
ness, it does not appear that his employment with the Employer is
for a limited time. We are of the opinion that Swenson has an in-
terest in the outcome of the election and we shall therefore include
him.4
We find that all the Employer's employees engaged in the litho-
graphic printing process including all the employees in the camera
and plateroom department, the offset press department, the art de-
partment, George Falcon,-' Elmo Weeks, and Henry Swenson, but
excluding office and clerical employees, the janitor, the deliveryman,
and all supervisors, 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 pur-
poses 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 supervi-
sion of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, and subject to Sec-
tions 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the unit
found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were em-
ployed 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 Amalgamated Lithographers of America, and Amalgam-
ated Lithographers of America, Local No. 74, CIO.
"matter of Bank of America, 71 N. L R B 342
5 Provided Falcon is transferred to the offset pressroom department before the eligibility
date
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