R. W. Page Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 7, 1975

216 N.L.R.B. 944 (N.L.R.B. 1975)

944 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
R. W. Page Corporation and International Mailers
Union, Petitioner. Case 10-RC-10147
March 7, 1975
DECISION ON REVIEW
BY MEMBERS FANNING, KENNEDY, AND
PENELLO
On November 4, 1974, the Regional Director for
Region 10 issued a Decision and Direction of
Election in the above-entitled proceeding, in which
he directed that an election be conducted in a unit
limited to all full-time mailroom employees, rejecting
the Petitioner's request that part-time inserters be
included. Thereafter, in accordance with Section
102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Petitioner
filed a timely request for review of the Regional
Director's Decision and a supporting brief, asserting
that his failure to include the part-time inserters in
the mailroom unit constituted a departure from
established Board precedent.
On November 27, 1974, the National Labor
Relations Board by telegraphic order granted the
request for review and stayed the election pending
decision on review. Thereafter, the Petitioner and the
Employer filed briefs on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in this
case with respect to the issues under review,
including the briefs on review, and makes the
following findings:
The Employer, publisher of the Ledger and
Inquirer daily newspapers, employs full-time mailer-
drivers and part-time inserters in its mailroom
operation. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit
composed of all mailroom employees.
The Employer argues that the part-time employees
employed as inserters are casual employees. Howev-
er, the record shows that the inserters have a
substantial history of employment with the Employer
and normally work 12-18 hours per week. In the
circumstances, we find that the inserters are regular
part-time employees.
As indicated, Petitioner contends that the Regional
I See The Bakersfield Californian, 152 NLRB 1683 (1965 ); TheJackson.
ville Journal Company, 116 NLRB 1136 (1956); Evening News Publishing
Company, 93 NLRB 1355 (1951); and The Post Printing and Publishing Co.,
59 NLRB 1115 (1944). The case of C. A. Scott, Individually and as
Administrator d/b/a Atlanta Daily Worl4 179 NLRB 999 (1%9), relied on
by the Regional Director to support his contrary conclusion , is inapposite.
There, part-time press helpers who performed mailroom tasks were held to
lack such a community of interest as to require their inclusion in a tequested
mechanical department unit. While the Board agreed with the Trial
Director erred by excluding the inserters from the
unit. We agree.
Both mailer-drivers and inserters perform func-
tions related to the operation of the Employer's
recently acquired inserting machine. While mailer-
drivers alone act as operators of the machine, they
and the inserters feed preprinted newspaper sections,
such as comics and advertising supplements, into the
machine for automatic insertion into previously
assembled portions of the newspaper. Inserting is
also performed manually, the only method which
was utilized prior to the installation of the inserting
machine in July 1974. The inserters also receive the
newspapers from the machine after the insertions are
made, straighten the newspapers, and stack them on
skids. The mailer-drivers also address, sort, and stack
newspapers, unload skids of preprinted materials
from delivery trucks, load papers onto trucks, and
make deliveries on assigned routes.
Both the mailer-drivers and the inserters earn $2
per hour and work under the supervision of the
mailroom foreman. The evening shift mailer-drivers
receive a 10-cent-per-hour night differential. The
mailer-drivers, like other full-time employees, are
entitled to such fringe benefits as holidays, vacations,
and medical, hospitalization, and life insurance; the
part-timers do riot receive these benefits.
Contrary to the Regional Director, we have
consistently included regular part-time employees
such as inserters in mailroom units .' We shall
therefore include the regular part-time inserters in
the appropriate unit which, as modified, is described
as follows:
All full-time and regular part-time mailroom
employees employed by the Employer at its
Columbus, Georgia, operation, excluding all
other employees, office clerical employees, profes-
sional employees, guards, and supervisors as
defined in the Act.
Accordingly, the case is remanded to the Regional
Director for Region 10 for the purpose of holding an
election pursuant to his Decision and Direction of
Election, as modified herein, except that the payroll
period for determining eligibility shall be that
immediately preceding the date of issuance of this
Decision. [Excelsior footnote omitted from publica-
tion.]
Examiner's determination to exclude the press helpers from the mechanical
department unit, it specifically disavowed his reliance on their part-time
status as a basis therefor . Knoxville News-Sentinel Company, Inc., 138 NLRB
782 (1%2), also relied on by the Regional Director, is likewise distinguisha-
ble as there , the part-timers, unlike the inserters in the jnstigit case , worked
only one weekend day per week , they were not carried on the same payroll
as regular employees , there was a long bargaining history for a unit of
mailroom employees which excluded the part-timers , and no labor
organization was seeking a broader unit.
216 NLRB No. 169