St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 15, 1970

187 N.L.R.B. 277 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

ST. LOUIS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 8 277
St. Louis Typographical Union No . 8, affiliated with
International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO,'
and Pulitzer Publishing Company 2 and Internation-
al Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO,
Local No. 13 and International Typographers
Union , AFL-CIO 4 Case 14-CD-346
December 15, 1970
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF
DISPUTE
broadcasting at 1111 Olive Street, St. Louis, Missouri.
The Pulitzer Publishing Company subscribes to
interstate news services, publishes nationally syndi-
cated features, advertises nationally sold products,
and annually has a gross volume of business in excess
of $200,000. The parties stipulated, and we find, that
the Pulitzer Publishing Company is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7)
of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the
Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND JENKINS
This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, following
the filing of charges by the Pulitzer Publishing
Company, alleging that St. Louis Typographical
Union No. 8, affiliated with International Typograph-
ical Union, AFL-CIO, has violated Section 8(b)(4)(d)
of the Act by threatening, coercing, or restraining the
Employer with an object of forcing or requiring the
Employer to assign certain work to employees
represented by St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8,
rather than to employees represented by International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Local
No. 1. A hearing was held before Hearing Officer
David F. Yates on July 22 and 23, 1970. All parties
appeared at the hearing and were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-
examine witnesses, and to adduce evidence bearing
upon the issues. The rulings of the Hearing Officer
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed. Briefs were filed by ITU
Local 8 and IBEW Local 1. Thereafter, IBEW Local I
filed with the Board a Motion to Reopen Hearing, or,
in the alternative, for permission to file copy of
arbitration award, and ITU Local 8 filed its opposi-
tion thereto.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes
the following findings:
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Pulitzer Publishing Company, a Missouri
corporation, is engaged in the publication and
printing of a daily newspaper, The St. Louis Post-
Dispatch, and the printing of another daily newspa-
per, The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, at its facility at
1133 Franklin Avenue, and in television and radio
Herein called ITU Local 8 or Respondent
2 Herein called Employer or Company
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The parties stipulated , and we find , that ITU Local
8 and IBEW Local I are labor organizations within
the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE DISPUTE
A. The Work in Dispute
The work in dispute is the maintenance and testing
of the fototronic 1200 typesetting machine, located in
the composing room of the Pulitzer Publishing
Company.
B. Facts as to the Dispute
For many years, the Company has had contracts
with both ITU Local 8 and IBEW Local 1 for
bargaining units covering, respectively, its composing
room and maintenance department at its facility. The
jurisdiction of each unit and the work to be performed
by them raises no conflict except for the performance
of maintenance work in the composing room. For
many years the ITU machine tenders did all the
maintenance, repairs, and testing of the typesetting
machines in the composing room. These machines
include mechanical line casters and mixers, which
have a keyboard and circulating matrix and produce a
slug of metal type. In 1959 the Company purchased a
fotosetter electronic machine and several years ago
another. These machines, like the earlier typesetting
machines, have a keyboard and circulating matrix
which instead of producing metal slugs produces an
end product of photosensitive paper or film contain-
ing type image from which a photoengraving plate is
made. All the maintenance, testing, and repair of the
fotosetter machine was performed by machine tend-
ers. However, in 1966 or early 1967, at the insistence
of the electricians, the strobe lights and electrical
replacement parts for the fotosetter were removed
from the composing room on the fourth floor
and stored in the maintenance department lo-
cated in the sub-basement of the building. The ITU
3 Herein called IBEW Local I or IBEW.
4 The Intervenor
187 NLRB No. 35
278 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
alleges that the arbitrary demand by the IBEW and
the inefficiencies resulting from the removal of parts
and denial of work formerly and regularly done by the
machine tenders caused ITU Local 8 to insist upon
including in its current agreement the parenthetical
clause appearing in the jurisdiction section of the
collective-bargaining contract.
On March 19, 1970, the Employer received a
fototronic 1200 typesetting machine, which is a high
speed typesetter, more sophisticated than the fotoset-
ter and designed to perform the function of three or
four conventional typesetters. The Employer's direc-
tor of labor relations, William Trent, attempted
through meetings and correspondence to achieve an
agreement between the ITU and the IBEW as to who
would perform the maintenance and testing on the
fototronic 1200. Because the parties could not agree as
to who was to perform the work, the Employer's
director of labor relations issued a letter of assignment
on June 19, 1970. The Employer assigned to the ITU
the operation, maintenance, and testing of the
fototronic 1200 with the exception of specific items
which were listed and those specific items were
assigned to the IBEW.5 On June 23, 1970, Raymond
Nelke, president of the ITU Local 8, sent a letter to
Trent in which Nelke took exception to the specific
work assignments to the IBEW and in which he
claimed the additional work related to the mainte-
nance and repair of the fototronic 1200, including the
storing and handling of necessary parts and materials.
Nelke requested that the work be performed in
accordance with his request and stated that the
Employer's failure to do so would cause the ITU to
use all necessary means to enforce its demands,
"including cessation of work by its members until
such time as the company has complied with our
request." On June 24, 1970, the Company filed the
charge in this case . There has been no work stoppage,
and up until the time of the hearing in the instant
dispute the fototronic 1200 has not been in operation.
C. Contentions of the Parties
The IBEW contends that its contract and the
Company's past practice give it jurisdiction over all
electrical maintenance work in the plant, including all
the electrical maintenance on the Company's compos-
ing room machines. The ITU, on the other hand,
contends that it has historically possessed jurisdiction
over all the maintenance work on typesetting ma-
chines, and that both its contract and past practice
give it jurisdiction. The ITU further contends that
based on skills, training, and efficiency of operations
5 IBEW Local I was assigned the following removal, repair, and
replacement of toggle switches, removal, repair, and replacement of
selector switches, removal, repair, and replacement of circuit breaker to the
the entire maintenance on those machines, electroni-
cal as well as mechanical, belongs, and should be
assigned, to the machine tenders.
During the hearing, the Company stated that it
agrees with the ITU claim and further stated that for
reasons of efficiency and economy it would prefer to
assign all the work in question to ITU machine
tenders. The Company further stated that its split
assignment of June 19, 1970, was primarily made in
order to avoid a work stoppage. In expressing its
preference, the Company points out that an electri-
cian must be called from some other area of the plant,
often remote from the composing room, to determine
the cause of the breakdown, and that frequently
unnecessary delays resulted because an electrician
had to be located and sometimes might have been
engaged in other equally important work. On the
other hand, ITU machine tenders work in the
composing room and because of their familiarity with
the machines, ability to read type, and skills are more
proficient to perform the work.
D. The Applicability of the Statute
Before making a determination of a dispute, the
Board is required to find that there is a reasonable
cause to believe that Section 8(b)(4)(d ) has been
violated . We are satisfied that there is adequate
support for such finding in this case , in light of the
ITU's letter dated June 23, 1970, rejecting the
Company's June 19 assignment of certain work on
typesetting machines in the composing room and
advising the Employer "that failure to comply with
the ITU request for the work to be performed would
cause the ITU to use all necessary means to enforce its
demands, including cessation of work by its members
until such time as your Company has complied with
our request."
In view of the conduct described above , we find that
there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of
Section 8(b)(4)(d) has occurred and that the dispute is
properly before the Board for determination under
Section 10(k) of the Act.
E. Merits of the Dispute
Section 10(k) of the Act requires the Board to make
an affirmative award of the disputed work, after
main switch , removal and replacement of pilot lights, repair of armature-
type motors
ST LOUIS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 8 279
giving due consideration to various relevant factors.
The factors hereinafter set forth bear on the issue of
the work assignment before us.
1. Background facts as to the machines and
operations involved
The earlier type of typesetting machine was a
complex machine designed to mold lines of type in
metal . The various processes of these machines were
activated mechanically by cams, or by a lever moved
by the operator of the machine. With the advance-
ment of technology in the printing industry, electronic
machines such as the Elektron II and the fotosetter,
which eliminated much of the mechanical procedures,
were introduced and produced tapes and films rather
than metal type, from which a photoengraving plate is
made. As indicated previously, the removal and
storage of electronic parts remote from the composing
room resulted in a slowing down of maintenance and
the amount of such work that the machine tenders
could perform on the fotosetter machines. The ITU
filed a grievance under the terms of its contract but
never processed it to arbitration. Instead, it sought to
resolve the problem by the insertion of new language
in its 1969 contract.
2. The skills and training of the employees
The machine tenders have always maintained and
repaired the typesetting machines in the Employer's
composing room. They are required to bejourneymen
which means that they have completed their appren-
ticeship. The present contract provides that "The term
of the apprenticeship shall be four (4) years." Prior to
the current agreement the apprenticeship was 6 years.
The testimony of both the production manager and
composing room foreman is that the machine tenders
have the skills required to maintain, repair, and test
the fototronic 1200, that all of the machine tenders
have taken instruction in electronics, and have
attended technical school and received electronic
training. Furthermore, the skills required in the
maintenance and repair of the fototronic 1200 are
similar to the skills presently required in the mainte-
nance, repair, and testing of equipment now in the
composing room, particularly the fotosetter ma-
chines. Furthermore, by reason of their constant
exposure to typesetting they have the knowledge of
the printer's trade and the compositor's craft. Their
ability to read type is also necessary to facilitate the
adjustments which have to be made in conjunction
with the repair and the testing of the machines.6
The IBEW electricians also possess the ability to
perform maintenance upon the electrical components
involved in the functioning of this machine. However,
both the ITU and the Company assert, and the record
indicates, that the ITU machine tenders are better
prepared to perform the necessary maintenance work
on the electrical operating controls of the new
machine by virtue of their greater familiarity with the
mechanical processes involved and their general
training and ability to read type. Repairs of compo-
nents such as toggle switches, selector switches, circuit
breakers, pilot lights, and armature-type motors are
generally handled by replacement rather than repair.
The record further shows that on some occasions the
armature-type motors have been sent out for repairs.
Moreover, the replacement of malfunctioning compo-
nents with new parts prevents a greater amount of
"downtime" in the composing room. In addition, the
machine tenders' knowledge of the mechanical
features of typesetting machines enables them to more
quickly locate and replace a malfunctioning part. In
the case of typesetting machines operated by pre-
punched tape, which includes not only material to be
converted into type but also various operating
instructions to the machine, the machine tenders are
able more readily to read the tape and thereby acquire
information which is used to locate the source of the
malfunction. Upon the entire record, we conclude
that, because of their greater familiarity with the
operations of the machines and the reading of type
and tape, the factors of training and skill appear to
favor the ITU machine tenders.
3. Collective-bargaining agreements
The record shows that the Company has had
collective-bargaining contracts with both Unions for
a number of years, beginning before the introduction
of the electronically operated typesetting machines in
the plant. Both the ITU contract provisions7 and
those in the IBEW contract set forth below,H can be
said to be subject to an interpretation which would
include jurisdiction over the maintenance of the
electronic components of the newly acquired foto-
6 We note that their training and background is similar to that found in
International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge 162, AFL-CIO
(Cincinnati Enquirer, Inc) 172 NLRB No 226
280 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tronic 1200. Accordingly, we find that the factor of
contract provisions favors neither Union.
4. Company, area , industry practice, and
other pertinent decisions
In addition to the Company's use of machine
tenders on all maintenance and testing on its
typesetting machines, the record discloses that in the
St. Louis metropolitan area, machine tenders perform
all maintenance and testing on typesetting machines,
specifically at the St. Louis Countian, the St. Louis
Daily Record, and the Warwick Typographers Com-
pany. The record further shows that in various other
cities throughout the country, the fototronic 1200 is
maintained and tested by composing room employ-
ees, specifically, in the cities of South Bend, Indiana,
Seattle , Washington, Dallas, Texas, and Washington,
D.C.
IBEW Local 1 has filed with the Board a Motion to
Reopen Hearing, or, in the alternative, for permission
to file copy of an arbitration award in the instant
dispute. ITU Local 8 has filed an opposition thereto.
We note that ITU Local 8 did not appear at the
arbitration hearing conducted under the AFL-CIO
Internal Disputes Plan. Also, it is not clear whether
the Intervenor, International Typographical Union,
AFL-CIO, or the Employer appeared at the hearing.
In these circumstances , and as all parties have had an
opportunity to set forth their position, and as the
record already contains, in the form of IBEW
Exhibits I and 2, awards made by the AFL-CIO
Internal Disputes Board regarding the Kansas City
Star and the New York News, and as in the past under
similar circumstances we have not considered these
decisions to be controlling,9 we deny the Motion to
r In relation to teletypesetter equipment , the current ITU contract
provides that
25 Maintenance , repairs, distributor stops and other
mechanical failures (including maintenance of any future
electronic devices that replace the functions of present
mechanical devices ) shall be performed by employees in
the machine tenders' department (Art i, Sec 25)
Article VII of the current agreement , entitled "Machine Tenders,"
states that
I Machine Tenders shall do all the work necessary in the
erection , repair and maintenance of all mechanical equipment
and devices (including any future electronic devices that
replace the functions of present mechanical devices) described
in Article I of this contract
2. Machine Tenders may be required to make any repairs,
operations , or additions which may be necessary on such
mechanical equipment and devices (including any future
electronic devices that replace the functions of present
mechanical devices)
Except in cases of emergency or during the machine tender's
lunch period , a machine tender or machine tenders must be on
duty at all times while such mechanical or devices (including
any future electronic devices that replace the functions of
Reopen Hearing , and/or the admission of such
award , in the instant case.
However , we do take official notice of our decisions
in The Kansas City Star Company,10 McCall
Corporation, ii and Cincinnati Enquirer12 cases in
which we determined that the ITU machinists were
entitled to perform work like that in dispute here. In
the Kansas City Star case we concluded that the ITU
machinists were entitled to perform "mechanical and
electronic maintenance and repair" on certain pieces
of equipment in the composing room , including the
Elektron equipment , and mechanical maintenance on
all other line casting equipment in the composing
room . We held in the McCall case that the ITU
machinists were entitled to perform maintenance of
"electronic portions of electro -mechanically operated
Elektron and Monarch typesetting machines in the
composing room ." In the Cincinnati Enquirer case we
determined that the ITU machinists were entitled to
perform maintenance of the electronic portions on
typesetting machines located in the composing room.
5. Substitution of functions and job loss
As set forth above, for many years the ITU machine
tenders have performed all maintenance work relating
to mechanical operations of the Company's typeset-
ting machines. Also, both the ITU machine tenders
and the electricians represented by IBEW have
performed tasks in connection with replacement or
repair of electrical components in these typesetting
machines. It is clear that, until the 1966 or 1967
removal of the component parts for the fotosetter
from the composing room, the ITU machine tenders
had performed all work on the typesetting machines.
The newer electronic machines perform precisely the
present mechanical devices) are in operation
With the exception of the above parenthetical phrases in the
current agreement, the language relating to machine tenders and their job
has remained unchanged for many years
8 Section 1(a) of the current IBEW contract states
the Union is hereby recognized by the publisher as the sole and
exclusive bargaining agent for all the employees of the
publisher engaged to maintain, repair, extend , add to, replace,
run temporary circuits and care for the entire and complete
electrical systems, handle all electrical systems, electrical
equipment, electrical material (including that which is
necessary for installing all electrical equipment), and operation
and maintenance of air-conditioning on and in the property of
the publisher, including the fabrication of all frames and
supports exclusively for eectncal work . .
9 International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge 162, AFL-CIO
(Cincinnati Enquirer, Inc), 172 NLRB No 226
iU Local 124 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL-CIO (The Kansas City Star Company), 160 NLRB 1091.
11 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1527, AFL-CIO
(McCall Corporation), 161 NLRB 128
12 Supra
ST. LOUIS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 8
same functions as the earlier mechanical typesetting
machines and hence are merely a more efficient
substitute for the earlier mechanical devices.
6. Efficiency of operations
The Company, despite its prior written assignment,
at the hearing indicated that it desires assignment of
all of the disputed maintenance work to the ITU
machine tenders , asserting that such assignment
would promote efficiency in its operations. The
record discloses that in the newspaper printing
business , time is a prime factor, as there are constant
deadlines to be met. It is apparent that at least one
advantage in the use of the fototronic 1200 machine is
its probable contribution to speed in production. The
record shows that the fototronic 1200 because of its
speed will be replacing older machines, thus doing a
greater volume of the work. This indicates that
"downtime" will become a more critical factor when
maintenance tasks are required . The ITU machine
tenders working in the composing room are available
to give immediate attention to maintenance tasks. We
find that the factor of efficiency favors the ITU.
Conclusions as to the Merits of the Dispute
Upon consideration of all pertinent factors appear-
ing in the record, we shall assign the disputed work to
the ITU machine tenders, who possess sufficient skill,
are more effective in the performance of such work
because of their broader knowledge of the machines
and of the typesetting process, and have performed
the work in the past to the satisfaction of the
281
Company, which desires to assign them the work. The
assignment of the work in dispute to the machine
tenders is consistent with that of other employers in
the industry . Moreover , the assignment of the
disputed work to the electricians would not promote
the efficiency of the Company 's typesetting opera-
tions, and might result in delay and unnecessary cost.
We, accordingly , determine the instant jurisdictional
dispute by deciding that the ITU machine tenders,
rather than the IBEW electricians , are entitled to
perform the electronic maintenance work on the
Company's fototronic 1200 typesetting machine,
including the replacement of the electronic compo-
nents previously assigned to the IBEW electricians. In
making this determination, we are assigning the work
to the machine tenders who are represented by the
ITU but not to that Union or its members.
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, and upon the basis of the
foregoing findings and the entire record in this
proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board
makes the following determination of dispute:
The Machine tenders employed by the Pulitzer
Publishing Company, who are represented by the St.
Louis Typographical Union No. 8, affiliated with
International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, are
entitled to perform the disputed work of maintaining
and testing the fototronic 1200 typesetting machine
located in the composing room of the Pulitzer
Publishing Company, St. Louis, Missouri.