The Daily Review, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 21, 1955

111 N.L.R.B. 763 (N.L.R.B. 1955)

THE DAILY REVIEW, INC. 763
overruled and that their ballots be opened and counted. As no ex-
ceptions were filed to this recommendation,' it is hereby adopted.
[The Board directed that the Regional Director for the Twentieth
Region shall, pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the Board,
within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction, open and count
these ballots and serve upon the parties to this proceeding a supple-
mental tally of ballots, including therein the count of said ballots.]
5 The Regional Director also recommended that the challenge to the ballot of Albert York
be overruled on the ground that he is not a supervisor The Intervenor's exceptions raise
a substantial and material issue as to whether York is a supervisor We shall make no
disposition of his ballot pending the counting of the ballots herein directed to be opened
and counted. If York's ballot then becomes determinative of the election, we shall direct
a hearing to determine his supervisory status.
THE DAILY REVIEW, INC. and SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND NEWSPAPER
GUILD, LOCAL No. 52, AMERICAN NEWSPAPER GUILD, CIO, PETI-
TIONER. Case No. 20-RC-2653. February 01, 1955
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National La-
bor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Robert V. Magor, 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 this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged at Hayward, California, in the publi-
cation of a daily newspaper, called The Daily Review, and of two
weekly newspapers. It is a member of United Press and Interna-
tional News Service; it also publishes nationally syndicated features
and advertises nationally sold products. During the past year the
Employer's gross revenue from The Daily Review alone was in excess
of $590,000. We find, in accord with the Employer and contrary to
the Petitioner, that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act
to assert jurisdiction herein.'
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties agree that a unit consisting of the editorial depart-
ment of The Daily Review, excluding the editor, part-time out-of-
town correspondents, and free-lance writers, is appropriate. The par-
ties disagree, however, as to the supervisory status of the associate edi-
1 The Daily Press, Incorporated, 110 NLRB 573.
111 NLRB No. 122.
764 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tor, the city editor, and the news editor. The Employer contends, con-
trary to the Petitioner, that the associate editor is not a supervisor
and that the city and news editors are supervisors.
Associate Editor: The position of associate editor was created in
March 1954, and was given to Leona Ward in recognition of her senior-
ity and service to the paper. She works directly under the editor, and
performs primarily reportorial duties. She covers an established beat
and writes special articles, apparently with little supervision. She
also occasionally suggests subjects for editorials. No employees Work
under her and she has no authority over any other employees of the
paper.
In addition to her position as associate editor of The Daily Review,
Mrs. Ward.holds the title of "editor" of The Castro Valley Reporter,
one of the weekly papers published by the Employer. Sparks, the
publisher of the papers, testified that Mrs. Ward was given this title
because her "beat" covers the Castro Valley area and she has contact
with the people who reside there. The Castro Valley Reporter has no
employees of its own, as it is put out by the staff of The Daily Re-
view and consists largely of news which has previously appeared in
The Daily Review. There is thus no indication that Mrs. Ward en-
gages in any special duties or supervises any employees by reason of
this title.
We find that Mrs. Ward is not a supervisor within the meaning of
the Act, as she has no authority over any other employees, nor does
she make policy decisions for either paper of such a nature as would
constitute her a managerial employee. 'Accordingly, as it appears
that her interests and working conditions' are similar to those of the
other employees in the editorial department, we will include her in the
unit.'
City Editor: The city editor, Roy Grimm, has held that position
since March 1954, when the Employer reorganized its supervisory
structure. In addition to performing general reportorial duties,
Grimm is in charge of three reporters .3 He schedules regular assign-
ments for them and also assigns special news stories to them. He
may direct a reporter to drop one assignment and take up another, as
he sees fit. He edits stories written by the reporters and discusses
the quality of their work with them, making suggestions for its im-
provement. He also makes some determinations as to their hours,
grants compensatory time off to reporters who have worked overtime,
and approves timecards and expense accounts which they submit.
2 We have often included variously designated editors in editorial department units when
it has appeared from the facts that their duties were neither supervisory nor managerial.
See e. g., A S Abell Company, 81 NLRB 82; Greensboro News Company, Inc., 85 NLRB
54 ; The Daily Press, Inc., supra
In the past as ninny as 5 reporters have worked under the city editor , but it appears
that 2 have left since Grimm became city editor
THE DAILY REVIEW, INC. 765
We find that the record in this case clearly establishes that Grimm
responsibly directs the work of the reporters under him and that such
responsible direction requires the use of independent judgment. Ac-
cordingly, we will exclude him from the unit as a supervisor.'
News Editor: The news editor, William Keller, is responsible for
clearing the paper from the news office to the printers. Each day he
is given a number of pages to fill, and he selects material for it from
the wire services and the city desk, determines the layout, and writes-
headlines, consistent with established forlns and policies.' He is also
directly in charge of the sports reporter and the society reporter and
is directly above the city editor in the Employer's table of or-
ganization. In addition, Keller is vice president of the employer
corporation.6
Sparks testified that, during the 4 years that Keller has been news
editor, Keller's subordinates have been hired either on Keller's rec-
ommendation or by Keller himself, that Keller's recommendations
were sought in matters of promotions and pay raises, and that Keller
has discharged employees. Sparks also testified, in substance, that he
himself had no experience in the reporting and editorial aspects of
newspaper publishing and accordingly relied on Keller in judging
the qualifications and performance of employees under him.
Although Keller took issue with much of Sparks' testimony, he ad-
mitted hiring one part-time employee and consulting with Sparks
as to a number of others who were hired. In most of these cases,
although not all of them, it appears that the opinion he gave Sparks
was consistent with the action taken. Keller also admitted that when
job applicants came to him he did not refer them to Sparks if he
thought them unqualified.
On the basis of the entire record, we find that Keller has the au-
thority effectively to recommend as to hire, discharge, and other per-
sonnel actions and, accordingly, is a supervisor within the meaning of
the Act.
We find that the following employees of the Employer constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All editorial department employees, including the associate editor,
but excluding out-of-town part-time correspondents, free-lance writ-
ers, the editor, the news editor, the city editor, all other employees,
guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
4 The Daily Press, Incorporated, supra
6 From time to time he may also receive specific instructions from Sparks or from the
editor, Lower , as to the treatment to be given particular items.
6 The record indicates that the corporation is wholly owned by the publisher and his
wife Keller receives no pay as vice president and has never been called upon to perform
any function as such.