Southern Central Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 21, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 247 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of SOUTHERN CENTRAL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and MEM-
PHIS PRINTING PRESSMEN 'S UNION No. 18, INTERNATIONAL PRINTING
PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANTS UNION OF NORTH AMERICAS AFL, PETI-
TIONER
Case No. 30-RC-1.-Decided April °21,19.48
Mr. Clarence Clifton, of Memphis, Tenn., for the Employer-
Messrs. Robert A. Tillman and R. F. Brown, of Memphis, Tenn.,
for the Petitioner.
Messrs. W. A. Copeland and Joe Rinaldi, of Memphis, Tenn., for
the Intervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Memphis,
Tennessee, on January 20, 1948, before Anthony J. Sabella, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board 1 makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Southern Central Company, a Tennessee corporation, has its
principal office and plant at Memphis, Tennessee, where it is engaged
in the production of paper products including envelopes, stationery,
and writing tablets. During the past year, the Employer purchased
raw materials exceeding $100,000 in value, of which more than 80
percent came from sources outside the State of Tennessee. During
the same period, the value of the l mployer's finished products ex-
ceeded $100,000, of which more than 80 percent was sold and shipped
to points outside the State of Tennessee.
1 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned
Board Members [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds.
77 N. L H B, No. 29.
247
248 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
United Paper Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor, is a
labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as exclusive bar-
gaining representative of its employees until the Petitioner has been
certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit of printing pressmen , assistant pressmen,
platen and cylinder feeders, in the printing department of the Em-
ployer's plant . The Intervenor contends that only a comprehensive
plant-wide unit is appropriate , because of a long bargaining history
on this basis.2
The record indicates that the Employer 's pressmen are required to
serve an apprenticeship similar to pressmen in commercial shops and
newspapers and are generally qualified to cross industrial lines.
The printing pressmen sought herein constitute a highly skilled,
well-recognized craft group , employed in an industry in which craft
units of pressmen are frequently encountered . 3 Under these circum-
stances, we believe that the printing pressmen involved herein may, if
they so desire , constitute a separate unit notwithstanding the history
of bargaining on a more inclusive basis . However we shall make no
unit determination pending the outcome of the election hereinafter
directed . If the employees participating in this election select the
2 The Petitioner, through an affiliate, was the bargaining representative of the Employer's
plant-wide unit from 1940 to 1946, wherein the Pressmen weic represented as part of the
larger unit. In September 1946, the present plant-wide unit was set up by a consent-
election agreement between the Petitioner, the Intervenor, and the Employer. The Inter-
venor won the election, and thereafter entered into a contract, which was renewed on
November 1, 1947, but left the question of printing pressmen open pending the outcome
of the instant proceeding
3 See Matter of Wilson-Jones Company, 75 N. L R B 706.
SOUTHERN CENTRAL COMPANY 249
Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate unit.
We shall direct that an election be held among all the printing press-
men, assistant pressmen, platen and cylinder feeders, employed by the
Employer, excluding supervisors, as defined by the Act, subject to the
limitations and additions set forth in the Direction of Election.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Southern Central Company,
Memphis, Tennessee, an election 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 Fifteenth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61
and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 5, among the employees in the voting group 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, 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, and, also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to
determine whether they desire to be represented by Memphis Printing
Pressmen's Union No.'18, International Printing Pressmen and Assist-
ants Union of North America, AFL, or by United Paper Workers
of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.
* Any participant in the election directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.