National Color Printing Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 11, 1946

69 N.L.R.B. 395 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of NATIONAL COLOR PRINTING COMPANY, INC. and
CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS and INTERNATIONAL PRINT-
ING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANT'S UNION OF N. A., LOCAL No. 61, and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOOKBINDERS, LOCALS No. 94 AND
No. 123
Vases Nos. 5-R-2330, 5-R-2337, and 5-R-2365.-Decided July 11, 1,946
Mr. Everett L. Buckmaster, of Baltimore, Md., for the Company.
Messrs. Frank J. Bender and Robert J. Brylke, both of Baltimore,
Md., for the C. 1. 0.
Messrs. John S. McLellan, C. V. Ernest, and Edward Meyer, all of
Baltimore, Md., for the Pressmen.
Mr. Joseph J. Wolfe, of Baltimore, Md., for the Bookbinders.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon separate petitions duly filed by Congress of Industrial
,Organizations, herein called the C. 1. 0., International Printing Press-
men and Assistant's Union of N. A., Local No. 61, herein called the
Pressmen, and International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, Locals No.
94 and No. 123, herein collectively called the Bookbinders, each alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of National Color Printing Company,
Baltimore, Maryland, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate consolidated hearing
upon due notice before Earle K. Shawe, Trial Examiner. The hearing
was held at Baltimore, Maryland, on May 16, 1946. The Company,
the C. I. 0., the Pressmen, and the Bookbinders appeared and partici-
pated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing 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 opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
69N L. R. B., No 45
395
396 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL _ LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF 1 HE COMPANY
National Color Printing Company, a Maryland corporation en-
gaged in the manufacture of labels, maintains its principal office and
sole plant in Baltimore, Maryland. Annually, the Company pur-
chases raw materials, consisting of paper and ink, valued in excess of
$250,000, of which approximately 90 percent is received from points
outside the State of Maryland. Annually, the Company sells finished
products valued in excess of $500,000, of which approximately 75 per-
cent is shipped to points outside the State of Maryland.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Congress of Industrial Organizations is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
International Printing Pressmen and Assistant's Union of N. A.,
Local No. 61, is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, Locals No. 94 and No.
123, are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the C. I. 0., the
Pressmen, or the Bookbinders, as the exclusive bargaining representa-
tive of the employees in the unit each of these labor organizations
claims is appropriate, until each has been certified by the Board.
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 UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The C. I. O. seeks a comprehensive unit of all employees engaged
in the Company's press room and varnish department, and the cutting
and wrapping department and box department (including the ship-
ping clerk), including the chauffeur, the laborers and the maintenance
man, but excluding employees in the lithographic department, office
clerical employees, foremen and all other supervisory employees.
The Pressmen seeks a craft unit of all employees in the press room and
NATIONAL COLOR PRINTING COMPANY, INC. 397
varnish department , including the maintenance men, foreman and
assistant foreman , but excluding office clerical workers , all employees
in the cutting and wrapping department and box department (includ-
ing the shipping clerk ), the chauffeur and the laborers , employees in
the lithographic department , and the superintendent . The Book-
binders seeks a craft unit of all employees in the cutting and wrapping
department and box department ( including the shipping clerk), in-
cluding the chauffeur , the laborers , the foreman and foreladies, but
excluding office clerical employees , employees sought by the Pressmen,
lithographic department employees , and the superintendent. The
Company takes no position with reference to the appropriate unit.
Except for the employees in the lithographic department , who are
not sougbt, by any of the unions involved in this proceeding , there has
been no previous history of bargaining at the Company 's plant. The
Company operates two 2 -story buildings in Baltimore . known as 916
and 930 East Monument Street, the second floors of which are con-
nected by an overhead causeway . The second floor of 930 East Monu-
ment Street houses the lithographic department . All the employees
sought by the Pressmen are housed in 916 East Monument Street.
One room on the first floor of 916 East Monument Street comprises
the box department , the employees of which are sought by the B ;ok-
bnnders . And the remainder of the employees whom the Bookbinders
seeks to represent are located on the first floor of 930 East Monument
Street.
Employees in the press room are engaged in the printing of labels
by the letter -press method. After the employees in the press room
perform their functions . the labels are sent to the varnish department,
where they are given their glossy finish by use of varnishing machines.
As noted above, the Pressmen seeks a unit basically comprised of the
employees in the press room and varnish department.
The labels , which are produced in large sheets , are then sent to the
cutting department , where they are first cut into strips and then into
individual labels . The individual labels are then assorted , wrapped,
piled on skids, and "pushers" then place them in containers , prepara-
tory to shipment . Employees engaged in the foregoing functions
comprise the bulk of the unit desired by the Bookbinders.
The technical training required before certain employees in the press
room desired by the Pressmen can satisfactorily perform their duties
varie, from 1 to 3 years for a hand feeder, to 3 to 6 years for the
pressmen who operate the 'Nliehle printing presses . And it is obvious
from the facts above set forth that the operations in the press room
and varnishing department are closely allied. Moreover , there is a
single foreman who supervises the activities of the press room and
varnish department.
398 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Employees in the cutting and wrapping department, who are sought
by the Bookbinders, are also required to have special skills. Further-
more, they, too, are separately supervised. In addition, the activities
of the box department are intimately related to the operations of the
cutting and wrapping department. There is no interchange of em-
ployees between the press room and varnish department on the one
hand, and the cutting and wrapping department and box department
on the other.
It is clear that the Company conducts its operations as an integrated
enterprise, and that the inclusive unit urged by the CIO would be,
feasible for collective bargaining purposes. But it also appears that
the employees sought by the Pressmen and the Bookbinders constitute
separate, functionally coherent, and homogeneous groups, capable of
bargaining in segregated units. Therefore, our determination of the
appropriate unit or units in these circumstances will depend, in part,
upon the desires of the employees themselves as expressed in the elec
tions which we hereinafter direct.
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among
the Company's employees in each of the following groups who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the hnntatlmns and
additions set forth in the Direction :
Group 1. All employees engaged by the Company in its press room
and varnish department, including the maintenance man,' and the
press room and varnish department foreman and assistant foreman,2
but excluding office clerical employees, employees in the cutting and
wrapping department and box department (including the shipping
clerk), the chauffeur and laborers, lithographic department employees,
and the superintendent.
Group 2. All employees engaged by the Company in its cutting and
wrapping department and box department (including the shipping
clerk), including the chauffeur and laborers,3 and the cutting and
wrapping department foreman and foreladies, but excluding office
clerical employees, the employees included in Group 1, above, of litho-
graphic department employees, and the superintendent.
The maintenance man spends the major portion of his working time in the press room,
and his interests are thus allied with those of the other employees sought by the Pressmen.
2 The Board has customarily included foremen in craft groupings in the printing industry.
See Matter of Master-Craft Corporation, 60 N. L R. B. 56.
3 The chauffeur and laborers spend the bulk of their working time in the cutting and
crapping department , and their interests are, therefore , related to those of the other
employees sought by the Bookbinders.
NATIONAL COLOR PRINTING COMPANY, INC.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
399
By virtue of and pursuant to 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 Relations
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 National Color
Printing Company, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, separate elections by
secret ballot shall be conducted 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 Fifth Region, acting
in, this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article lII, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among employees in the voting groups described 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 employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of
the election, (1) to determine whether the employees in Group 1, de-
scribed in Section IV, above, desire to be represented by International
Printing Pressmen and Assistant's Union of N. A., Local No. 61 or by
Congress of Industrial Organizations , for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither ; and (2 ) to determine whether the employees
in Group 2 , described in Section IV, above, desire to be represented by
International Brotherhood of Bookbinders , Locals No. 94 and No. 123,
or by Congress of Industrial Organizations , for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining , or by neither.