The New York Times Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 20, 1941

32 N.L.R.B. 928 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

in the Matter of THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY and AMERICAN
NEWSPAPER WRITERS ' ASSOCIATION , FEDERAL LOCAL No. 22397; AFFrLI-
ATED WITH THE AMERICAN EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION , NATIONAL COUNCIL,
AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
In the Matter of THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY and NEWSPAPFAt
GUILD OF NEW YORK , AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER
GUILD
Cases Nos. R-2278 and R-2279.-Decided June 20, 1941
Jurisdiction : newspaper publishing Industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: rival
claims for recognition and dispute as to scope of unit; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining
In the absence of history of self-organization and collective bargaining
demonstrating feasibility of proposed unit, held, unit consisting only of
so-called professional staff members in editorial department of newspaper
from which clerks, librarians, stenographers, messengers and the like would
be excluded is inappropriate, considering history of organization in industry,
and difficulty of defining proposed unit in terms of function or skill in the
light of numerous individual borderline cases.
Entire editorial department of newspaper held an appropriate unit, in view
of functional integration and pattern of organization in industry.
Mr. Alan Perl and Mr. D. R. Dimick, for the Board.
Cook, Nathan, Lehman & Greenman, by Mr. Louis M. Loeb and
Mr. Bernard Soman, of New York City, for the Company.
Mr. Joseph A. Padway, by Mr. Herbert S. Thatcher, of Washington,
D. C., and Mr. Joseph Shaplen, of New York City, for the Association.
Isserman, Isse7man d Kapelsohn, by Mr. Abraham J. Isserman, of
Newark, N. J., for the Guild.
Elizabeth W. Weston, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
ORDER
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On August 9 and September 19, 1940, respectively, American News-
paper Writers' Association, Federal Local No. 22397, affiliated with the
32 N. L. R B, No. 150.
928
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 929
American Editorial Association, National Council; affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, herein called the Association, and
Newspaper Guild of New York, affiliated with the American News-
paper Guild, herein called the Guild, filed with the Regional Director
for the Second Region (New York City) petitions alleging that ques-
tions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of The New York Times Company,' New York City, herein
called the Company, in its editorial and news department, herein called
the Editorial Department, and requesting investigation and certifi-
cation of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On October
28, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,
acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3,
of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice and further ordered, pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c)
(2), of said Rules and Regulations, that the cases be consolidated.
On November 4, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing
in,the consolidated cases, copies of which were duly served upon the
Company, the Association, and the Guild. Pursuant to the notice of
hearing and a notice of postponement thereof, duly issued and. served
upon the parties, a hearing was held from December 13, 1940, to Janu-
ary 29, 1941, in New York City, before Samuel H. Jaffee, the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Board,
the Company, the Association, and the Guild were represented by
counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing upon the issues was afforded all parties. During the
course of the hearing, the Trial Examiner made several rulings on
motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board
has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no
prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
After the hearing, pursuant to leave granted to all parties, the As-
sociation and the Guild filed briefs with the Board.
At the request of the Association, and upon notice to all parties, a
hearing was held before the Board in Washington, D. C., on March
25,1941, for the purpose of oral argument: The Company, the Associ-
1In its petition the Guild named wide world Photos, Inc ., a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Company , as an employer, party to the proceedings wide world Photos, Inc, entered
an appearance at the hearing , but on motion of the Guild , granted with the consent of
all parties , the Guild 's petition was amended to delele allegations respecting this com-
pany and its employees , and the caption of the case was amended to eliminate reference
to it as a party wide world Photos, Inc., took no further part in the proceedings and is
not a party theieto.
930 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ation, and the Guild appeared by counsel and. participated in the
argument. F
On June 16,1941, the Association filed a motion to reopen the record
for the purpose of introducing certain additional evidence., 'In its
motion the Association alleges that there is dissension among the
members of the Guild, stemming from disagreement as to 'the Guild's
position regarding recent events of national importance, which has
led to the resignation of leading Guild members; and that the Asso-
ciation "has reason to believe" that several witnesses who testified at
the hearing in these proceedings on behalf of the Guild, would now
testify on behalf of the Association.2 The Association also alleges,
both in said motion to -reopen the record and in its brief, that the
Guild actively participates in controversial political and non-trade
union activities. This, it is asserted, is an important factor for con-
sideration in this case. In the determination of the appropriate unit
and similar issues with which the Board is concerned in representation
cases it cannot give consideration to the supposed superiority of one
labor organization over another in respect to its political policies or
like matters. There is no authority for it in the Act. Had the
Board discretionary power it would be unwise to exercise ' it. ' The
Board cannot and should not become the judge of the policies of '
bona fide union organizations and favor one as against the other.
Nor do we find any warrant in the other allegations of the motion-for
reopening the'record. Accordingly, the motion is hereby denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT ,
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The New York Times Company, a New York corporation having-
its principal office and place of business in New York City, is engaged
in the newspaper, news-service, and publishing business. It prints
and publishes The New York Times, herein called the Times, a daily
and Sunday newspaper of general circulation, and publishes a period-
ical known as The New York Times Index. The' Company sells and
distributes these publications in a large number of States of the United
States and in some foreign countries. In 1939, a representative year,'
the net paid circulation of the daily edition of the Times amounted
to 483,394, of which approximately 416 per cent consisted of sales in
States other than New York and in foreign countries. In the same
year the net paid circulation of the Sunday edition'of the Times
2 In its'motion, the Association does not indh'ate to what witnesses It refers, nor does
it particularize with respect to the altered testimony which they might give if the record
were reopened.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 931
amounted to 801,485, of which approximately 48 percent consisted of
sales in States other than New York and in foreign countries.
The Company receives nearly all its newsprint from the Province
Iof Ontario, Canada. During the year 1939 the Company received
from Ontario shipments of newsprint having a value of approximately
$4,200,000. The Company purchases certain other supplies, includ-
ing substantial amounts of machinery, type and stereotype metal, ink,
and office equipment, from concerns located in States other than
New York.
During the year 1939 the Company published in the Times over
$10,000,000 worth of advertising, of which approximately 20 percent
was national advertising, including automotive advertising. For the
purpose of soliciting such national advertising the Company maintains
offices in several States and employs advertising salesmen to travel
throughout the United States.
The Company buys, sells, collects, transmits, and receives news,
photographs, and other intelligence in the State of New York, and,
to a substantial extent, in other States and foreign countries. From
its New York office it sells and transmits news and other intelligence
to newspapers located in Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Missouri,
Wisconsin, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, and Australia.
The Company is a member of the Associated Press and purchases
the news service of the North American Newspaper Alliance. It
directs and- controls the operations of Wide World Photos, Inc.,. a
wholly owned subsidiary which supplies news photographs to the
Times and other papers in the United States and Canada. The Com-
pany owns and operates at its New York plant a wireless sending and
receiving station for the transmission and receipt of news and mes-
sages to and from points outside the State of New York. It maintains
offices, agents, and representatives in 7 cities of the United States
outside the State of New York, in cities in 21 foreign countries, and
in the Philippine Islands and-the Canal Zone.
The Company employs approximately 600 employees in its Editorial
Department, with which these proceedings are concerned.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
American Newspaper Writers' Association Federal Local No. 22397,
affiliated with the American Editorial Association, National Council,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organiza-
tion chartered on July 22, 1940, by the American Federation of Labor,
herein called the A. F. of L., admitting to its membership Editorial
Department employees of the Company. In October 1940 the Associa-
tion joined with a number of other unions of newspaper editorial
employees chartered by the A. F. of L. in forming the American
448692-42-vol. 32-60
932 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LAI,OR RELATIONS BOARD
Editorial Association , National Council , herein called the Council,
a national organization created for the purpose of forming and advanc-
ing, under the direction' of the A. F. of L., additional local unions of
editorial workers. The ultimate purpose of the Council is to form an
international union of editorial workers, to be chartered by the A. F.
of L. - A constitution to govern the Council has been drafted and sub-
mitted to the member organizations for ratification , but this constitu-
tion has not yet become effective , nor has it been ratified by the Asso-
ciation. The Association has not yet adopted its local bylaws or
otherwise formally determined what occupational categories of news-
paper editorial workers shall be within its jurisdiction. At the hear-
ing it became apparent that the Association intends to take no further
steps toward completing its organization or defining its jurisdiction
until the Board has determined the issues as to an appropriate unit for
the purposes of collective bargaining , involved in these proceedings.
Newspaper Guild of New York, affiliated with the American News-
paper Guild, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations. The Guild admits to membership em
ployees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
At the present time the Company's Editorial Department ,is its
only major department in which the employees are not represented
by a labor organization for the purposes of collective bargaining.
For many years a majority of the Company 's employees in its me-
chanical departments as well as the mailers in the circulation depart-
ment have been employed under contracts between the Publishers'
Association of New York City, of which the Company is a member,
and various A. F. of L. unions. Since 1909 another group of em-
ployees in the circulation department has been covered by contracts
between the Company and Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' Union.
The remaining employees in the mechanical and circulation depart-
ments, together with those in the advertising and other commercial
departments , the commercial-art department , and the administrative
department, participated in a consent election conducted by the Re-
gional Director in August 1940, as a result of which the Guild is now
recognized by the Company as the exclusive representative of said em-
ployees, known as the commercial bargaining unit. Negotiations for
a contract between the Company and the Guild covering said
employees were in progress at the time of the hearing herein.
Prior to 1937 the Guild attempted on several occasions to bargain
with the Company for the employees in the Editorial Department,'
but it never secured a contract or formal recognition by the Company
as a bargaining representative of the Editorial Department employ
THE- NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 933
ees. In June and July 1940 the Guild sought to bargain with the
Company for its employees in both the Editorial and commercial
departments, in a single unit. Meanwhile the Association, which
was chartered on July 22, 1940, requested that the Company recognize'
it as the exclusive representative for-the purposes of collective bar-
gaining of a, group of, employees in the Editorial. Department com-
prising the unit herein claimed by the Association to be appropriate.
The Company and the Guild then agreed upon the consent election
among the employees in the commercial bargaining unit above re-
ferred to, but in view of the conflicting claims of the. Guild and the
Association with respect to the Editorial Department, the Company
declined to recognize either organization as the representative of its
employees in that department in the absence of Board determination
of the appropriate bargaining unit or units, and certification of it as
representative thereof.
From reports prepared by the Regional Director and the Trial
Examiner, which were received in evidence at the hearing, it appears
that the Association and the Guild each represents a substantial
number of employees in the bargaining unit which it claims to be
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining; and that the
Guild, which proposes a larger unit than that proposed by the Asso-
ciation, also represents a substantial number of employees in the
smaller unit advocated by the Association.3
I Thei e are approximately 551 employees in the departmental unit advocated by the
Guild, approximately 342 of these comprise the unit for which the Association contends
A report by the Regional Director dated December 17, 1940, and compiled as of October 21,
1940, states that the Association had exhibited to her 155 bargaining authorizations,
3 undated and 152 dated between July 1 and September 31, 1940, all hearing apparently
genuine, original signatures , of which 132 appeared to be the signatures of persons em-
ployed in the unit claimed by the Association who were listed on the Company's pay roll
of September 4, 1940 At the close of the hearing the Trial Examiner reported that the
Association had exhibited to him 17 additional bargaining authorizations, dated in Sep-
tember and December 1940 and January 1941, all beaiing apparently genuine, original
signatures of persons employed in the unit claimed by the Association, who were listed
on the Company's pay roll of November 30, 1940
At the hearing on January 29, 1941, the Guild submitted to the Trial Examiner an
affidavit, made by one of the Guild's officers in charge of its membership records , stating
that the Guild had exhibited to the Trial Examiner certain evidence that it has 249 members
employed by the Company in the unit which the Guild claims to be appropriate , and who
ale listed on the Company's pay roll of November 30, 1940 ; that it has recently been
designated as baigaining representative by 28 additional employees in said unit, listed on
the aforesaid pay roll; and that it has also been designated as bargaining representative
by 5 persons not listed on said pay ioll who, the Guild claims, are employees of the, Com-
pany in said unit. It is fun ther stated in this affidavit that of the 249 memberships and 3",
designations claimed by the Guild, 147 members and 7 of the persons who have signed
designation forms are employees of the Company within the unit clanned by the Associa-
tion The Guild's affidavit was copied into the record, togethei with a statement by the
Trial Examiner to the effect that lie had examined 249 original membership cards, a num-
her of bargaining authonzatiois, and other data exhibited by the Guild as evidence in
support of the statements made in the affidavit The Trial Examiner stated that said
membership cards bore sundry dates from 1943 to 1940, inclusive, and that all the data
submitted to hum by the Guild apparently conformed to the description thereof set forth
in the affidavit
934 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LA13OR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company,
described in Section I, above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Editorial Department of the Company consists of the following
principal subdivisions : the editorial, news, Sunday, Index, and art
departments. The editorial department determines editorial policy;
writes editorials, editorial comments, and "Topics of the Times";
selects letters to the editor for publication; and maintains a reference
library containing approximately 20,000 volumes, which furnishes
library service to all departments. The news and Sunday depart-
ments collect and prepare for publication all news stories, articles,
and special features which appear in the daily and Sunday issues of
the Times. Within these two subdivisions are a number of inde-
pendent functional units such as the rotogravure department, the
"morgue" or index, the radio and telegraph departments, the book
review, sports, and financial departments, and the Washington Bu-
reau, which are engaged either in the collection and preparation of a
particular type of news, or in rendering special services to other
departments. The art department maintains files of news pictures,
produces maps used to illustrate news stories, and performs the lay-
out, retouching, and other work incident to preparing pictorial matter
for publication. The Index department produces the New York
Times Index, a monthly publication cumulated annually, which con-
tains an index and digest of all news material published in the Times.
The Company employs approximately 600 employees in the various
subdivisions of the Editorial Department. These employees are classi-
fied on the Company's pay roll in approximately 40 occupational'
categories ranging from editors to office boys. The great majority
of them have their stations of work in the Times Annex Building
in New York City, although a number of reporters and others work
in the Company's Washington Bureau in the District of Columbia,
and certain correspondents appear to be stationed permanently in loca-
tions other than New York City, in the United States and in foreign
countries. Other reporters and special writers are frequently sent
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 935
away from New York City on special assignments. All the employees
,in the Editorial Department are salaried; all are employed upon the
basis of a 5-day, 40-hour week, although many reporters, due to the
nature of their assignments, have irregular working hours. The Guild
contends that a departmental unit of all these employees, with certain
exceptions hereinafter noted, is the unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining. The Association requests a narrower unit,
which it defines as a "craft or professional" unit, consisting of certain
categories of employees within the Editorial Department. The Com-
pany takes no position as to which of the proposed units is appropriate.
The Guild, the Association, and the Company agree that there
should be excluded from any bargaining unit of employees in the
Editorial Department the 54 individuals listed in Schedule A of the
Appendix hereto. These employees are (1) ranking executives, (2)
the confidential secretaries of ranking executives, and (3) employees 4
who are either members of or eligible to membership in craft unions
having long bargaining histories, and who are apparently not within
the jurisdiction of either the Guild or the Association. We find that
the employees in these three categories may properly be excluded from
the unit.
The unit proposed by the Association
In its petition as amended at the hearing the Association alleges
that the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
consists of those employees on the regular pay roll of the Company
"who regularly perform the work of reporters, district men, rewrite
men, copy readers, editorial writers, editors, feature and special writ-
ers, writers on drama, films, music, radio,, and books, make-up men,
cartoonists, and news photographers." In identifying the employees
listed on the Company's pay roll whom it regards as being within the
unit thus defined, the Association includes, in addition to all employees
designated as reporters, editors, writers, etc., the following individuals:
A. Castleman and E. A. Lyman, employees in the editorial department
designated on the pay roll as "letters to the editor"; T. S. Bosworth
and E. F. Hall, employees in the rotogravure department designated as
caption writers; W. Littlefield and H. T. Smith, employees in the news
department designated as "exchange desk"; E. H. Little and W. Spear,
employees in the Sunday department designated as "picture assist-
ants"; H. Felleman, an employee in the book-review department whose
pay-roll designation is "office duties"; D. B. Fitch, of the news depart-
ment, designated as "copy control"; Ward A. Howe, of the news de-
partment, designated as "bulletins"; L. A. Houston, designated as
assistant office manager of the Washington Bureau; Hal H. Smith,
4 These employees are telegraph , teletype, and radio operators.
936 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
also of the Washington Bureau, designated on the pay roll as a libra-
rian; and H. J. Cogan, H. Itesner, and G. C: Wright, all designated on
the pay roll as officestaff clerks in the news department.
The employees whom the Association would exclude from the unit,
and,who,would be included within the unit sought by the Guild are:
librarians, other than Smith ; the supervisors and indexers in the Index
.department; artists, map artists, photographers, and a photostatist
in the art department; lay-out artists and a photographic-printer in
the rotogravure department; statisticians in the financial-news bureau
of the news department; employees in the news department designated
on the pay roll as "arrival of buyers"; assistant managers of the news-
department morgue; clerks ^ in all departments other than Cogan,
Kesner, and Wright; stenographers and secretaries, office boys and mes-
sengers; L. Erdwurm, an employee in the Sunday department desig-
nated as "fashion assistant"; J. Fardon, an employee in the news
department whose pay-roll designation is "daily index"; a telephone
switchboard operator in the Washington Bureau; and three telephone
recording operators in the communications division of the news
department.
The Association's undertaking to organize and represent in collective
bargaining a "craft" group of editorial workers, excluding certain
groups of editorial-department employees, is without successful prece-
dent in the American newspaper industry, although British and Aus-
tralian journalists have been organized and have bargained collectively
for many years in -units. apparently similar to that here sought by
the Association. , -Between 1591 and 1922 the International Typo-
graphical Union, an affiliate of the A. F. of L., undertook to organize
editorial employees,' and chartered 59 local unions, apparently re-
stricted to editors and reporters. All except two of these organizations,
which are still in existence, became defunct by 1927; most of them
failed to secure collective bargaining contracts and lost their charters
or became dormant prior to 1923. The International Typographical
Union ceased issuing charters to such organizations in 1919, and in
1923 it surrendered to the A. F. of L. its jurisdiction over news writers.
Thereafter, between 1923 and 1935 the A. F. of L. chartered directly
10 local unions of editorial-department employees of inewspapers.
Five of these organizations lost their charters prior to July 1936,
when the American Newspaper Guild secured an international charter
from the A. F. of L. The remaining five were ordered by the president
of the A. F. of L., in August 1936, to affiliate with the American
Newspaper Guild. The American Newspaper Guild which, since its
inception in 1933, has organized newspaper workers on a departmental
or a broader basis, was virtually without a rival in the editorial field
until September 1937, when it transferred its, affiliation to the Com-
THE NEW YORK TIMES ' COMPANY 937
mittee for Industrial Organization and simultaneously expanded its
jurisdiction to cover commercial-department employees of newspapers
as well as those in editorial departments. Shortly after' this event
the A. F. of L. resumed the organization of newspaper editorial em-
ployees, and chartered a number of locals of such employees in Boston,
Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities. The Association is one of the
most recently created of such locals. These' local unions together with
four which apparently hold A. F. of L. charters issued prior to August
1936, are now associated in the Council, referred to in Section II, supra.
Although the A. F. of L. proposes to sponsor an effort on the part of the
members of the,Councll to organize an international union of editorial
workers, modeled along craft lines, those organizations affiliated with
the Council which have collective bargaining contracts with newspaper
publishers are presently functioning as representatives of editorial
employees in departmental units similar to that here advocated by the
Guild. The Association itself, in August and October 1940, filed with
the Board a petition and amended petitions in which it sought' certifi-
cation as the representative of the editorial-department employees of
another newspaper in New York City in a unit which included certain
categories of employees' which the Association would exclude from the
unit herein.5 Thus, it is evident that the Association's present en-
deavor to secure It "craft" unit from which various occupational groups
of editorial-department employees would be excluded is experimental
and is contrary to the trend toward departmental or industrial organi-
zation of white-collar workers in the newspaper industry which has
prevailed since 1933, if not earlier. Moreover; the record show`s that
prior to the creation of the Association in the summer of 1940 such
self-organization and efforts toward collective bargaining as there was
among the editorial-department employees of, the Company was on a
departmental basis.
The Association contends that despite the absence of a history
of self-organization and collective bargaining in the unit which it
proposes, said unit is appropriate because the employees therein con-
stitute a distinct craft or professional group, generally recognized
as such by employees in the newspaper industry, and having mutual
interests', divergent from the interests 'of other editorial-'and com-
mercial-department employees,4hich can best be served by organiz-
ing and bargaining separately. The'voluminous record made in these
proceedings consists principally of testimony bearing upon the ques-
e The Association ' s petition in that case , Case No 11-R-1818 ,, involving employees of
the New York Daily Mirror, was dismissed by the Board without a hearing, after pre-
liminary investigation, on November 6, 1940 At the hearing in these proceedings it was
explained by officers of the Association and its counsel that the inconsistency between the
Association 's claims as to the appropriate unit in that case and the instant case was due
to an "emeigency" situation affecting employees of the New York Daily Mirror , and to a
lack of coordination between the Association ' s organizer in New York and A F of L.
headquarters in Washington.
938 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATION BOARD
I
Lion of whether or not, in fact, the employees in the unit proposed by
the Association, as a group, are sufficiently homogeneous and distinct
from other employees in the Editorial Department to justify a con-
clusion that they may appropriately be separated from a unit normal
in the industry.
It is immediately apparent that these employees are not a pro-
fessional group in the strict sense. For the most part the reporters,
editors, and writers employed by the Company are college graduates
experienced in newspaper work, but neither college training nor a
particular term of experience is formally required by the Company
for employment in any of the occupational categories within the
Association's proposed unit. Neither do the employees in these cate-
gories hold licenses or certificates evidencing the completion of any
standardized academic or practical training requisite to the practice
of their calling. From the point of view of professional standing,
the librarians and indexers whom the Association would exclude from
the unit, have a more obvious claim to inclusion therein than have
many employees whom the Association selects for inclusion.
Nor do we find such similarity with respect to skill, training, and
function among the employees in the unit sought by the Association
as ordinarily distinguishes craft groups, despite the Association's
claim that all these employees are characterized, and differentiated
from other employees in the Editorial Department, by "special ability
creatively to write, portray, or edit news matter" and by their,
"creative participation in the making of the newspaper, as distin-
guished from the functional, mechanical, or manual participation."
The functions and skills of all employees in the Editorial Depart-
ment are various and specialized to a high degree. Even. among
employees classified by the Company in the same occupational category,
especially in such broad categories as reporters and clerks, there are
wide and significant disparities between individuals-with respect to
the operations in which they are engaged and the talent and skill
requisite to the performance of their duties. An example of such
heterogeneity within a single category is the Company's classification
of reporters, whose salaries range from $25 to $225 per week, in 20
subcategories. There are at least eight specialized groups of clerks.
Two additional factors create a large number of borderline .- cases
which tend to -obliterate the distinctions between occupational cate-
gories. It is the policy of the Company to promote its employees to
positions merited by their aspirations and ability, testing their capacity
by the gradual assignment of new duties.6 Thus, an employee desig-
9 Since -1937 it has been the Company 's policy to dismiss office boys after 3 years ' service
if they do not display sufficient ability to merit promotion to more responsible positions.
Approximately 80 persons now employed in the Editorial Department in the categories
claimed by the Association to constitute an arpropriate unit, or in executive positions,
were promoted from positions as clerks, stenogi aphers, secretaries , or office boys.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 939
nated as an office boy may be actually serving probationally as a clerk;
employees designated as clerks, "office duties," secretaries, and the like,
may be on the eve of formal promotion to positions as reporters or
editors. Moreover, it apears that there are numerous employees who
regularly divide, their time between disparate types of work. The
Company does not classify such employees as, for example, reporter-
clerks, or secretary-editors, although it would seem that such dual
classifications would be descriptive in many cases.' Under the circum-
stances, it is difficult to define any of the broader categories of em-
ployees in terms of a characteristic function or requisite skill. Recog-
nizing the generality and inexactness of the terminology used by the
Company in classifying its employees for pay-roll purposes, the Asso-
ciation takes the position that employees not designated as reporters,
editors, writers, make-up men, copyreaders, cartoonists, or news pho-
tographers, should nevertheless be included in the unit which it requests
if their principal work is essentially similar to that of the employees
in the enumerated categories. This leaves unanswered the question
by what criteria inclusion in the unit proposed by the Association is
to be determined. The criterion of "creative" ability and function
proposed by the Association in its brief must, for obvious reasons, be
rejected as impracticable for the purposes of defining a collective
bargaining unit."
Facts regarding various categories of employees in the Editorial
Department, both those included in the unit requested by the Asso-
ciation and those excluded therefrom, are summarized in Schedule B
of the Appendix hereto.9 In addition, this schedule contains digests
of evidence respecting the work of a number of individual employees,
some being classified in the categories concerning which there is evi-
dence of a general character, others being employees who have unique
pay-roll designations, or who are classified in categories as to which
there is no general evidence. The entire record shows that there is no
single attribute, functional or otherwise, which characterizes all the
employees whom the Association would include in its proposed unit.
We have already alluded to the fact that the employees in the proposed
unit do not possess uniform educational qualifications. The salary
range of reporters, mentioned above, is indicative of the differences
7 Harold Hall , assistant to the publisher of the Times , testified that it is the Company's
general practice to classify employees in categories indicative of the type of work to which
a major portion of their time is devoted. However, the Company does not make use of
NNork sheets or time studies which might serve as a means of determining the proper clas-
sification of individuals who perform miscellaneous tasks, and it is clear from the testimony
of Hall , as well as from that of Edwin L. James, managing editor of the Times , that the
Company gives but slight attention to the matter of classifying its employees scientifically
on the pay roll.
8Cf. Matter of Seattle Post-Intelligencer Department of Hearst Publications , Inc, and
Seattle Newspaper Guild, Local No. 82, 9 N L . R. 13. 1262.
8 For the most part these facts are derived from a stipulation between the Company
and both labor organizations , describing the functions of sundry categories of employees.
940 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
among them with respect to status and responsibility. Many reporters
work irregular hours, depending on the nature of their assignments,
and may be sent away from New York City on brief notice. Other
employees in the proposed unit, perhaps a majority, work regular hours
in the Times Annex building or in some prescribed district in or near
New York City. Not all these employees are writers; many are not
gatherers of news; many perform duties not involving to a significant
degree the exercise of judgment as to the content, style, or relative im-
portance of news stories. The reporters known as "district men," for
example, do not write news items. Make-up men ordinarily do no
writing. Copy readers do not gather news. Reporters and special
writers, generally, do not perform editorial functions.' While, gen-
erally speaking, each employee included within the unit proposed by
the Association either writes news stories-or depicts news events in
the form of cartoons or photographs-gathers news, or edits news
matter, these employees differ widely from each other with respect to
their talents, the type and importance of the news items yvhich they
produce, and the degree of originality and responsibility which they
exercise. Such disparities are illustrated by the evidence respecting
particular individuals and categories of employees within the unit
claimed by the Association, summarized infra and in Schedule B of
the Appendix. Particularly when we consider that the employees in
the Association's proposed unit perform such specialized tasks that
they are interchangeable only within very narrow limits, and that they
are segregated both physically and functionally, throughout the Edi-
torial Department, in autonomous working units engaged in producing
such dissimilar features of the paper as the general news pages, the
Sunday magazine and book review sections, the radio page, the
financial page, and the sports section, do we fail to perceive any obvious
basis of similarity among them.
It is even more difficult to discern a logical basis of distinction be-
tween the employees in the unit requested by the Association and other
employees in the Editorial Department whom the Association would
exclude therefrom. The absence of a clear line of demarcation is
best illustrated by a comparison of the following individuals, whom
the Association considers "editorial craftsmen" eligible to inclusion in
the unit and to membership in the Association, with the others next
described, who would be excluded from the proposed unit.
Alfred Clark, an employee in the news department designated as
"when room reporter," devotes a portion of his time each day to the
task of marking in the previous day's paper any items from the "when
room" or reserve-news department, which were published. His other
duties consist of writing short news items which are set up in type and
held in reserve for use as "fillers" in early editions of the paper.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 941
These items are based upon, and frequently are here adaptions of,
wire-service bulletins and press releases of secondary importance,
discarded by the principal news copy desks.
'L. Rasponi and G. A. Mooney, reporters in the radio-news depart-
ment, leave the Times Annex building to fulfill reportorial assign-
ments only about once each week, and spend a substantial portion of
their working time in the preparation of "agate" 10 tables of daily and
weekly radio programs. One of the broadcasting companies in New
York City furnishes the Company with tables of such programs set
up in the form in which they are published in the Times, and
Rasponi and Mooney merely check this table for accuracy and make
necessary late changes upon the basis of programs furnished by
other broadcasting companies.
Ward A. Howe, an employee in the news depaitment erroneously
designated on the pay roll as "bulletins," 11 assembles and prepares
for publication a number of routine "agate" items such as lists of
wills filed, notices of bankruptcy, service orders, civil-service appoint-
ments, and the like. Howe prepares this copy from releases of
various types and dispatches received from news services, many of
which are published with only minor alterations.
H. J. Cogan, designated on the pay roll as a clerk, who now per-
forms the task known as "bulletins," formerly performed by Howe,
composes bulletins concerning late news which are displayed each
evening upon a large electric sign on the Times Building in New
York City. So far as the evidence indicates, Cogan does not, as a
part of his regular duties, write, report, or edit any material pub-
lished in the Times itself.
G. C. Wright, an employee in the news department designated on
the pay roll as a clerk, acts as Cogan's substitute two nights per
week and substitutes for Howe a third night. There is no evidence
as to the work which he performs during the remaining two-fifths
of his work-week.
H. Kesner, a clerk in the news department, assists the news picture
editors who select and write captions for pictures to be used, if
approved by the assistant managing editor, to illustrate news stories.
On 3 days each week, Kesner substitutes for one or the other of the
news picture editors.
E. H. Little and W. Spear, employees in the Sunday department
designated as "picture assistants," assist certain editors in selecting
and writing captions for pictures used to illustrate the magazine and
fashion sections of the Sunday paper.
10 This term , derii ed from the name of a certain kind of small type , is applied to news
material of a ioutme nature Inch is printed in small type.
11 IIowe was formerly the "bulletins " employee, and his designation , on the Company's
pay roll was left unchanged when he was transferred , about 3 years ago, to his present
position.
942 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
H. Felleman, an employee in the book-review department desig-
nated as "office duties," conducts a department entitled "Queries and
Answers"' -which is a regular feature of the Sunday book-review
section. In this department the Times publishes letters from read-
ers, generally inquiries about poems or familiar quotations, together
with replies or appropriate comments. The evidence does not in-
dicate definitely whether Felleman spends all her time in work on
the "Queries and Answers" feature.
With the individuals above described are to be compared the fol-
lowing employees whom the Association would exclude from the unit :
Statisticians in the financial news bureau prepare for insertion in the
news columns of the paper various statistics covering foreign-ex-
change rates, tables of earnings, municipal bonds, out-of-town stock
and bond transactions, commodity cash prices, and other miscellane-
ous financial data.
•`Arrirval of buyers" employees in the news department prepare a
column listing the names of out-of-town buyers visiting New York
City, the name and location of the store represented by each buyer,
his field of merchandise, and his headquarters in New York City.
Some of the employees in this group obtain the information contained
in the column by visiting buying offices in New York City; others
procure the names of buyers from hotel registers. The arrival-of-
buyers employees also maintain a set of loose-leaf books in which
are listed the names of buyers and other information of the same
character as that appearing in the column, the books being used as
sources of reference. The column is published in the business news
section of the Times every day except Sunday.
Map artists, also called cartographers, employed in the art depart-
ment, draw the maps used to illustrate news stories published in the
Times. At the hearing it was stipulated by all parties that "the
particular map desired is often drawn directly from foreign desk
cablegrams"; and that "all signs and signals and special features of
these maps are worked out by the artists in consultation with editors
or their representatives, to enhance the news value of the maps."
Artists and "roto layout artists," in the art department and roto-
gravure department create picture lay-outs for the rotogravure sec-
tion and other daily and Sunday features of the Times. They work
in close collaboration with the editors, who apparently, as a rule,
indicate generally the form of lay-out desired. The artists assist
in the selection of pictures to be used, and after such selection is
made, they retouch and "work over" photographs, altering the effects
and eliminating, or "cropping," portions not desired for publication.
Ellen L. Buell, an employee in the book-review department desig-
nated as a secretary, serves as secretary to the book-review editor
and also, in alternate weeks, edits the page of the Sunday book-review
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 943
section devoted to reviews of juvenile books, and writes one or more
of the reviews which appear on that page. Her regular salary has
been adjusted to compensate her for her work on the juvenile-books
page.. The evidence does not indicate what proportion of her time
is devoted to editing this page and writing book reviews.
Theresa Kaufman, an employee in the music department designated
as a stenographer, acts as secretary to the music critic and also spends
a substantial portion of her time preparing for publication a feature
called "Programs of the' Week," based on releases, and a monthly
calendar of musical events. These tasks require a knowledge of
musical names and technical terms. In the absence of the reporter
who serves as manager of the music department, Kaufman writes
some reviews of musical events and makes up the music pages.
A. Weiler, an employee in the moving-picture department desig-
nated as a clerk, takes care of'mail and files and selects from the mail
items of interest from which he composes cinema notes which are
published in the daily paper. He also prepares a box published in
the Sunday paper called "New Films on Broadway" and secures the
information reported in this box from the cinema houses when nec-
essary. Occasionally he reviews pictures. The evidence does not
indicate definitely what proportion of his time Weiler devotes to these
reportorial and editorial functions.
A. H. Richter and J. Ryan, employees in the news department
designated as ship news clerks, are in charge of preparing for publi-
cation the "agate" material regularly published in the Times under
the heading "Shipping and Mails." The information reported in
'these columns is obtained by Richter and Ryan from the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey, the United States Post Office, and shipping
companies.
C. Castens and J. E. McCauley, clerks in the Sunday department,
assist employees like Little and Spear in selecting pictures from the
art department files to be used to illustrate special features of the
Sunday paper. A minority of their time is spent in writing captions
for pictures in the magazine and Review of the Week sections.
In summary, it appears that the group which the Association seeks
to represent in collective bargaining is heterogeneous with respect to
function, skill, and training; that among individual employees in
this group there exist disparities as wide as those which exist between
the group as a whole and the employee ; who are excluded from it;
and that in attempting to delineate a unit within the Editorial
Department consisting only of skilled employees engaged in particular
kindred occupations, the Association has indicated a number of ex-
clusions for which no persuasive justification appears. If the criterion
for inclusion in the unit proposed by the Association be educational
944 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
qualifications and professional standing, the indexers, whose work is
concededly "editorial," and the librarians should not be excluded. If
the criterion be ability to write and edit, the exclusion of employees
like Buell and Kaufman appears arbitrary. We perceive no reason-
able distinction between Howe, Rasponi, and Mooney, on the one hand,
and the ship news clerks, statisticians, and arrival-of-buyers employees
on the other. If Kesner, Little, and Spear are "editorial craftsmen,"
so also are Castens, McCauley, and the lay-out artists and map artists.
The mere fact that so many borderline cases exist points to the im-
practicability of establishing a "craft" or "professional" unit within
the Editorial Department. We think that the creation of the unit
proposed by the Association would lead to uncertainty as to the identity
of employees represented therein for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, and would engender jurisdictional disputes rather than sta-
bility of labor relations. Under the circumstances, and in view of
the absence of any history of self-organization and collective bar-
gaining which demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the
unit requested by the Association, we find that said unit is inappro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. We shall, therefore,
dismiss the Association's petition.
The unit proposed by the Guild
The considerations supporting our conclusion that the unit pro-
hosed by the Association is impracticable and inappropriate indicate
the appropriateness of the departmental unit requested by the Guild.
All the employees in the Editorial Department, in various capacities,
directly produce or assist in producing the editorial and news pages
of the Times and its adjunct, the Index. Although we have found,
in a number of cases, that such employees may appropriately be
combined in a unit for collective bargaining with commercial depart-
ment employees of the same newspaper,12 it is clear, as we have found
in other cases, that they are so segregated, functionally and admin-
istratively, from the employees in other departments, that they may
appropriately be considered as a separate unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining.13 As we indicated supra, the organizational
experience of editorial department employees of American news-
papers since 1933 has demonstrated the feasibility of the departmental
unit. Indeed, the Association virtually concedes that the unit re-
12 Matter of New York Evening Journal, Inc, and Newspaper Guild of New York, etc,
10 N. L R B 197; Matter of Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Newspaper Guild of New York,
13 N L. R. B. 947.
-Matter of Boston Daily Record (New England Newspaper Publishing Co ) and News-
paper Guild of Boston , American Newspaper Guild, etc, 8 N L. R. B 694; Matter of
American Newspapers, Inc., Illinois Publishing and Printing Company, Evening American
Publishing Company and Chicago Newspaper Guild, Local 71 of American Newspaper
Guild, 22 N L R B 899
TIIE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 945
quested by the Guild is appropriate, since it requests, merely, that
the-employees in the unit sought by it be permitted to determine for
themselves, in a separate election, whether they desire to be repre-
sented separately in collective bargaining or to be included in a single
unit with the other employees in the Editorial Department.,' Under
the circumstances it is unnecessary to refer to the evidence, other than
that already discussed, which indicates the broad functional integra-
tion and community of interest existing among all the employees in
the Editorial Department. We find that these employees constitute
an appropriate unit.
Mr. Leiserson's dissent cites the Twentieth Century Fox Film 15
case as authority for the propriety of a so-called professional unit
rather than the editorial-department unit which we find appropriate
upon the facts in this case. But in our view the Twentieth Century
Fox Film case is not apposite. In that case there was only one union
involved. That union sought a coherent unit consistent with the
extent of its organization of the Companies' employees and not in
conflict with the organizational pattern developed in the motion
picture industry generally. Here we have a wholly different situ-
ation. There are two unions seeking disparate units, one of which
neither comprises a coherent group nor conforms to the organizational
or collective bargaining pattern developed in the newspaper industry
over a period of years. For these reasons we do not find the consid-
erations which impelled us to the conclusion reached in the Twentieth
Century Fox Film case applicable in the instant case.
It appears that there are eight persons, listed and described in
Schedule C of the Appendix, who, though not listed on the Com-
pany's regular pay roll, are regular part-time employees in 'the Edi-
torial Department. Most of these individuals write columns weekly
for the Sunday paper; one furnishes editorial advice in connection
with the women's page. All but two, who contribute weekly articles
for the Sunday paper, have desks in the Editorial Department. The
Guild contends that these persons are employees of the Company
who-should, accordingly, be included within the unit. Neither the
Company nor the Association makes any specific contention regard-
ing them. We find that they are-employees of the' Company within
the unit herein found to be appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
We find that the Company's employees in the editorial and news
department, including those listed in Schedule C, but excluding the
14 At the oral argument . counsel for the Association stated that the organizations in the
Council of which lie A,snciafien is a member anticipate org•unlzng editorial -department
employees in rile c.rteaoncs excluded from the lout heiem iciluested by the Association in
auxiliary unions, "in some form or another." -
1,33NI. R13717
946 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
executives, confidential secretaries, and others listed in Schedule A,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the
full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective
bargaining , and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
In its petition the Guild requests that if, as a result of these pro-
ceedings , it is certified by the Board as the exclusive bargaining
representative of the employees in the Editorial Department unit
herein found appropriate , it be further certified as the representa-
tive . of the Company 's employees in a combined unit consisting of
the employees in the commercial bargaining unit, presently repre-
sented by the Guild as the result of the consent election referred to
in Section III, supra, and those in the Editorial Department as well.
Since no representative has yet been certified by the Board as the
result of this proceeding , we will deny the request of the Guild at
this time, and , in the event the Guild wins the election to be directed
hereinafter , certify it as the exclusive representative of the employees
in the Editorial Department . If after such certification the Com-
pany objects to bargaining upon a basis of a single unit consisting
of the Editorial Department and commercial bargaining unit em-
ployees, we will entertain for consideration at that time a motion
to combine in a single bargaining unit the employees in the Editorial
Department and the commercial -bargaining unit.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. We shall
direct that an election be conducted among the employees in the ap-
propriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Elec-
tion herein , subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth
in the Direction . The employees listed in Schedule C will be eligible
to vote in the election if they have continued , since the hearing, to
serve regularly in the Editorial Department in the manner described
in said Schedule , wherein are recited facts concerning the work of
said employees to which the Company and both labor organizations
stipulated at the hearing.
Since it appears that a number of the employees in the Editorial
Department are stationed elsewhere than in New York City, we au-
thorize the Regional Director to determine in her discretion the exact
times and places and the procedure for giving notice of the election
and for balloting.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following:
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 947
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of The New York Times Company, New York
City, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the Act.
2. The employees of the Company in the editorial and news de-
partment, including those listed in Schedule C, but excluding the
executives, confidential secretaries, and others listed in Schedule A,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions
of law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the
petition for investigation and certification filed by American News-
paper Writers' Association , Federal Local No. 22397, affiliated with
the American Editorial Association , National Council, affiliated with
the Americal Federation of Labor, in Case No. R-2278, be, and it
hereby is, dismissed.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECrED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing with The New York Times Company, New York City, an elec-
tion by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not
later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Elec-
tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director.
for the Second Region, acting in this matter as agent for the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of
said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the editorial
and news department of The New York Times Company, New York
City, who were employed by said Company during the pay-roll pe-
riod immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including the
employees listed in Schedule C of the Appendix hereof and employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the
United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding the executives,
448692--42-vol. 32-61.
948 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
confidential secretaries, and others listed in Schedule A of the Appen-
dix hereof and those who have since quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Ameri-
can Newspaper Writers' Association, Federal Local No. 22397, affili-
ated with the American Editorial Association, National Council,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or by Newspaper
Guild of New York, affiliated with the American Newspaper Guild
and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.
MR. WM. M. LETSERSON, dissenting :
I regret that. I cannot agree with the decision in this case in so far
as it finds a unit consisting of professional employees to be inappro-
priate and holds that a combination of the professional editors, copy
readers, cartoonists, reporters, news and editorial writers, together
with office boys, 'messengers, stenographers,, and clerks, is the only
appropriate unit.
I am of the opinion that two separate ballots should be taken, (1)
among the professional employees, and (2) among non-professional
employees, such as office boys, messengers, stenographers, clerks, and
secretaries. If the same organization is chosen to represent both
groups of employees, then the two could be combined into a single
bargaining unit; if each group should choose a different representative,
then the two would constitute separate bargaining units.
The Board has. often, in cases of this kind, found that either one
of two units may be appropriate, and under such circumstances it
usually orders two separate ballots to be taken." In this case there
are some employees on the borderline between the two groups whose
status as professional or non-professional employees is in dispute.
But such fringe groups are present in most of the Board's cases and
the Board determines on the basis of the facts in the record whether
they belong in one unit or another.
In the present case one of the petitioning organizations is including
in its membership only professional employees. It does not want to
represent non-professional employees such as office boys, messengers,
stenographers, and clerks. The other organization makes a practice
" Matter of Boston Daily Record ( New England Newspaper Publishing Co.) and News-
paper Guild of Boston. (American Newspaper Guild ), etc., 8 N. L. R. B . 694; Matter of
Milwaukee Publishing Company and Milwaukee Newspaper Guild (C. I. 0.), 10 N. L. R. B.
389; Matter of American Newspapers , Inc., Illinois Publishing and Printing Company, etc.,
and Chicago Newspaper Guild, Local 71 of the American Newspaper Guild, etc ., 22 N. L.
R. B. 899; Matter of Armstrong Cork Co. (Whitall-Tatum Division at Millville, New
Jersey ) and Glass Packers & Sorters Union Local #69 of Federation of Glass , Ceramics &
Silica Sand Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
etc., 28 N. L. R. B. 950; Matter of The Osborn Manufacturing Company and Local No. 217,
United Automobile Workers of America (C. I. 0.), 28 N. L. R. B. 906; Matter of Hussmano-
Ligonier Company and United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local No.
810, C. I. 0., 30 N. L. It. B. 121.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 949
of including in its membership all newspaper employees in the edi-
torial, news, commercial, and building-maintenance departments re-
gardless of occupation .717 I am of the opinion that the right of self-
organization guaranteed to employees by the Act permits them to
have any form of organization that they consider best for the purposes
of collective bargaining. If they desire a purely professional organ-
ization, that is their right; if they prefer a more inclusive organiza-
tion, that is also their right. It is neither good policy, nor should the
Board assert authority under the Act to deny to any employees the
right to organize and to represent only professional employees if they
so desire.
There is no history or established practice of collective bargaining
among the editorial and news department employees of the New York
Times. No organization has yet had any collective bargaining agree-
ment covering these employees; and no bargaining unit or contractual
rights have yet been established among them. In the absence of any
such collective bargaining history, custom, practice, or contract it, has
been the policy of the Board, where two organizations propose sub-
stantially different bargaining units, to permit the employees them-
selves to decide the matter by taking separate ballots in the two pro-
posed units. I think this is the soundest policy and should be followed
in the present case.
By directing an election in a single unit, combining non-professional
with professional employees, the Board is in effect saying to the
editors, copy readers, reporters, cartoonists, and news and editorial
writers that they may not have a purely professional organization for
the purposes of collective bargaining. While thus ruling in the pres-
ent case we are also deciding in the case of the Twentieth Century-
Fox Film Corporation, et al.,18 that the Screen Publicists Guild may
have a purely professional organization. In that case we are finding
a unit consisting of press-book editors and writers, publicity-feature
writers, and advertising copy writers is appropriate; and because the
petitioning organization is organized to include only such professional
employees, we are excluding from the bargaining unit all stenogra-
phers, secretaries, clerks, messenger boys, and delivery boys. For the
Board to take upon itself the right to permit representation by a purely
professional organization in the one case and to deny the same thing
in the other case seems to me an arbitrary use of the discretionary
authority vested in the Board by the Congress.
17 See Matter of Globe Newspaper Co. and Newspaper Guild of Boston, 15 N. L. R. B. 953.
is Cases Nos. R-2345-23W; R-2394-2395; 32 N. L. R. B. 717.
950 DECISIONS OF NATIONA L LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
APPENDIX
SCHEDULE A
Employees Excluded From the Unit Herein by Agreement Between
the Company, the Association, and the Guild
Naive Position
Merz, C___________ Editor.
James, E. L______ Managing Editor.
McCaw, R-------- Night Managing Editor.
Rae, B___________ Assistant to Managing Editor.
Getzloe, H. W_____ Do.
Howell, C-- ------- Do.
MacNeil, N________ Do.
Joseph, D. H______ City Editor.
Garst, R. E_______ Night City Editor.
Markel, L_________ Sunday Department Editor.
Adams, J__________ Book Review Editor.
Graves, C. M._____ Assistant Roto Editor.
Talley, V. W______ Do.
Forrest, J_________ Financial News Editor.
March, A_________ Telegraph. Editor-Day.
Kelly, It. J_______ Sports Editor.
Lincoln, C. M______ Cable Editor-Day.
Krock, A__________ Washington Correspondent.
Sherman, B_______ Secretary.
Clark, D. (Wash-
ington Bureau) - Office Manager.
Bracken, T. J_____ Manager Morgue.
Andree, H T______ Secretary.
Keenan, W. M_____ Do.
Molloy, F. B_______ Do.
Passant, G. J______ Do.
Richardson, I. S___ Do.
Broderick, T. A___ Clerk, Office Staff.
Meinholtz, F. E____ Manager Communications.
Fischer, E. E______ Superintendent Syndicate Dept.
Van Bibber, Manager Syndicate Sales.
Baker, L__________ Telegraph Operator.
Benton, J. R______ Do.
Cahall, R. S______ Do.
Cartwright, F_____ Do.
Goulette, J. R_____ Do.
Henry, W. B______ Do.
Moodnik, M_______ Do.
Neamy, N. J----- ----- Do.
Reeves, E. S______ Do.
Emanuele, B______ Teletype Operator.
Jacobs, A--------- Do.
Soules, C_________ Do.
Spiker, L. J_______ Assistant Sports Editor.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 951
Nance - 1'o8itioa
Bickford, I. M----- Radio Operator.
Iversen, R. J------ Do.
Murphy, B-------- Do.
Fenton, W-------- Assistant City Editor.
Hughes, C. F._-___ Reporter, Business (Head, Business News Dept.).
Hayward, W. B____ Assistant Sunday Dept. Editor.
Sheehy, A. E. ----- Secretary.
Simpson, E . B----- Do.
Dalgin, B---------- Art Department Director.
Burgess, A-------- Assistant to Art Director.
Baer, M. E-------- Supervisor Index.
SCHEDULE B
Summaries of Evidence Respecting Functions, etc., of Sundry Cate-
gories of Employees and Individual Employees in the Editorial
Department is
I
Employees within the unit requested by the Association
A
Categories as to which there is evidence of a general character
REPORTERS : The Company and both labor organizations stipu-
lated to the following facts with respect to reporters : those on general
news are assigned by the city editor to the stories lie may select, and
as a rule return to the office to write their stories. Reporters on courts
and City Hall are assigned from the general news staff, usually con-
tinuing in this work. The same applies in general to those in such
classifications as politics, ship news, real estate, society, etc. ; suburban
reporters are assigned to specified suburban areas, write their stories
and either wire. or telephone them in. District men are reporters
assigned to such posts as police districts; they telephone their material
to reporters on rewrite duty in the office. Reporters assigned to
"When Room" prepare reserve news, for use in early editions, to be
replaced by later news. As stated in the text of the Decision, the
salary range of reporters is from $25 to $225 per week.
Among the individual reporters employed by the Company concern-
ing whom there is evidence are the following :
William Laurence, a science reporter and Pulitzer prize winner,
whose educational qualifications include the study of law, has been
"The facts stated herein with respect to employees' compensation are derived from an
exhibit prepared by the Company which sets forth the high and low salaries of various
groups of employees . Many of these groups include more than one of the categories in
which employees are classified on the pay roll ; for example, a salary range of $18 to $75
per week is assigned to a group entitled "Sup(rvisors , Librarians, Indexers , etc., of the
Subject and Biographical Index, the Times Index the Reference Library and Picture Files."
Thus, it cannot be ascertained from this exhibit, in every instance , what is the salary
range of a particular category of employees.
952 DECISIONS OP NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employed as a newspaper reporter since 1913 and has worked for the
Company since 1930.
Joseph Shaplen, a general news reporter specializing in the labor
field, has been employed as a newspaper reporter since 1912 and has
worked for the Company since 1929. His career includes 6 years'
experience as a European correspondent.
Howard Taubman, a music reporter who described himself as "music
editor, in charge of all the detail of getting out the news for the daily
and * * * the Sunday music section," has worked for the Com-
pany as a reporter for over 11 years, having had brief reportorial
experience previously on another newspaper.
H. A. Stevens, a reporter in the book-review department, was first
employed by the Company as an office boy in about 1936. He re-
mained in this position for about 3 years, during which period lie
wrote a number of news items and feature articles which were pub-
lished in the Times, and for which he received extra compensation.
In September 1939 Stevens was promoted to a position as clerk, and
in November 1940 he became a reporter. Ever since the autumn of
1939 he has prepared for publication two regular features of the book-
review page entitled "Books-Authors" and "Books Published Today."
During the period of about 6 months prior to his promotion to the
position of reporter, Stevens devoted a major portion of his time to
improving the news sources of the "Books-Authors" column, thereto-
fore based largely upon publishers' releases. It was understood that
if he was successful in this project he would be made a reporter.
At the present time, in addition to his work on "Books-Authors" and
"Books Published Today," Stevens reports news relating to books
whenever he is assigned by the city desk to cover particular "stories"
in this field.
Thomas M. Prior, a moving-picture reporter, was first employed by
the Company as a copy boy, in about 1929. He became a clerk in
the moving-picture department about 3 years later; started reviewing
pictures and writing items for a daily feature called "News of the
Screen" in 1934 or 1935; and was made a reporter in 1937. For about
2 years after this last promotion, as well as prior thereto, he devoted
a substantial portion of his time to maintaining the special moving-
picture department file or "morgue." Early in 1940 he ceased to work
on the files and, as he testified, "took over most of the editing of the
copy and make-up of the Sunday section and picture layout for the
Sunday section."
Louis Caltagirone, a drama reporter, was first employed by the
Company as an office boy in 1928; became a clerk in the drama de-
partment in 1930; and was made a reporter in 1940. During his
period of service as a clerk he worked on the drama department
morgue, and later wrote occasional short news items for the drama
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 953
page. At present, since his promotion to a reportorial position, he
assists one of the other drama reporters in gathering news and writing
items for a column called "News of the Stage"; prepares a list of
hotels and night clubs which is published monthly; and occasionally
covers a news story on assignment from the city desk.
A. E. Clark, L. Rasponi, and G. A. Mooney, reporters, are described
in the text of the Decision.
COPYREADERS : Work at the "desks" in the news department,
at which news copy of various types (cable, telegraph, city, society,
financial, sports, suburban) is made ready for publication. The Sun-
day department has its own copy desk. The heads of the desks, who
are designated on the pay roll either as editors or head copyreaders,
are in charge of the copyreaders, assess the value of stories, and attend
to the preparation of headlines, and of the summaries that go to the
night managing editor for his use in making up the paper. The.
copyreaders read the stories handed them by the heads of the desks,
correct errors of style or fact, and reduce the material to the length
prescribed by the heads of the desks. Headlines may be written
either by copyreaders, heads of desks, or superior editors. The salary
range of copyreaders, including head copyreaders, is from $60 to $170
per week.
The only individual copyreader concerning whose qualifications and
work there is evidence is
John W.. Crawford, a copyreader on the telegraph desk, who was first
employed in newspaper work, as a reporter, in 1920. He has worked
for the Company since 1928, as a copyreader on the city, cable, and
telegraph desks. Crawford testified that he works entirely in the
Times Annex Building and that he regularly works 8 hours per day,
5 days per week.
WRITERS Editorial writers, it was stipulated, "write editorials.
editorial comments, and `Topics of the Times,' and assist in deter-
mination of the editorial policy." The salary range of a group
of employees including certain editorial writers, as well as the two
employees designated as "letters to the editor," special writers in
the Sunday department, and book reviewers, is from $30 to $150 per
week. Other editorial and special writers are listed on what is called
the "publisher's pay roll," which contains the names of ranking
executives and other employees, presumably high salaried, as to
whose compensation there is no evidence.
Among the employees classed as special writers is one, L. Bergman,
an employee in the Sunday department, who was .first employed by
the Company as an office boy in 1936 and was promoted to his present
position in 1940: Prior to his promotion Bergman made occasional
contributions to the Sunday sections of the paper, for which he re-
954 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ceived extra compensation. His present work consists of preparing
two pages called the "Summary" in the "Review of the Week" sec-
tion of the Sunday paper. Lester Markel, the Sunday editor, char-
acterizing this as "preliminary editorial work" testified that he does
not regard Bergman as a "full fledged" special writer.
EDITORS : Editors who are ranking executives are excluded from
the unit herein by stipulation. The functions of editors not so ex-
cluded are evidenced principally by their titles on the pay roll.
There are three designated as assistants to the Sunday department
editor, one of whom is the head Sunday copyreader; another is the
"day assistant sports editor"; another is the "assistant to the day
city editor"; and there are a number of editors, such as the automo-
bile editor, resort editor, garden editor, fashion editor, etc., whose
titles indicate that they are in charge of special pages of the daily
and Sunday paper. The salaries of the foregoing editors and as-
sistant editors range from $60 to $170 per week. Three editors listed
on the "publisher's pay roll" as to whose salaries there is no evidence,
are included in the unit. These are the financial editor, night tele-
graph editor, and "Watch Tower" editor.
MAKEUP MEN : According to a stipulation between the Com-
pany and both labor organizations these employees "work from
dummy sheets of front page and second front page as prepared by
the night managing editor; also direct the composing-room makeup
men * * * in placing type in the other pages." The salary range
of the group of employees in which they are included is from $40.50
to $140 per week.
CARTOONISTS AND NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS : The Com-
pany employs only one cartoonist. It obtains most of the photo-
graphs which it publishes from its wholly owned subsidiary, Wide
World Photos Inc., but employs one news photographer in the roto-
gravure department. The cartoonist and news photographer, to-
gether with other employees in the rotogravure and art departments,
have a salary range of from $27 to $90 per week.
B
Miscellaneous individual employees whom the Association would
include in the unit
A. Castleman and E. A. Lyman, "letters to the editor" employees
in the editorial department, select letters to the editor for publication.
Their salaries are within the range of $30 to $150 per week.
T. S. Bosworth and E. F. Hall: designated on the pay roll as
"caption writers" are assigned to the rotogravure department,. There
is no evidence as to their specific duties. Presumably they write
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 955
captions for the pictures published in the rotogravure section. These
employees are included in a group whose salary range is from $27
to $90 per week.
W. Littlefield and H. T. Smith: designated on the pay roll as
"exchange desk," are assigned to the office staff in the news depart-
ment. There is no evidence as to what the exchange desk is. Harold
Hall, assistant to the publisher of the Times, testified that he be-
lieves that Littlefield and Smith "have something to do" with the
writing and preparation of certain reading matter published in
the Times. It may be inferred from their titles that the material
written by them is based upon news stories carried in out-of-town
newspapers to which the Times has "exchange" subscriptions. There
is no evidence as to their salaries.
E. H. Little and W. Spear: "picture assistants" in the Sunday de-
partment, are described in the text of the Decision. Their salaries
appear to be within the range of $40.50 to $140 per week.
H. Felleman: the "office duties" employee in the book-review de-
partment, is described in the text of the Decision. The evidence
does not definitely indicate her salary, although it is probable that
she is considered one of the "office assistants"-a title not used on
the pay roll-whose salaries, according to a schedule prepared by the
Company, are within the range of $40.50 to $140 per week.
D. B. Fitch: designated on the pay roll as "copy control," is as-
signed to the office staff of the news department. On the five nights
a week when "control" functions, all copy from the news room, with
the possible exception of specialized copy to which certain space
is permanently assigned, passes over Fitch's desk before going to the
composing room. Assisted by a clerk, it is Fitch's duty to keep a
record of the amount of space filled by stories from the various
copy desks and to hold back the less important stories as the desks
approach their space limits prescribed by the night managing editor.
Hall testified that the final decision as to what stories may be held
out is made by the night managing editor, but John W. Crawford,
a Times copyreader, testified that Fitch first consults the night man-
aging editor after the second edition has gone to press, and may in
his discretion hold out stories from the first two editions. Fitch's
salary appears to be within the range of from $40.50 to $140 per
week.
Ward A. Howe: erroneously designated as "bulletins," whose cor-
rect pay-roll designation would apparently be "office duties," is
described in the text of the Decision. Edwin L. James, managing
editor of the Times, testified that Howe's salary is $60 per week.
L. A. Huston: designated on the pay roll as "assistant office man-
ager," is in the Washington Bureau. The only evidence respecting
956 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Huston is Hall's testimony that he "has certain functions in connec-
tion with the management of the [Washington Bureau] office" and
that he writes copy. There is no evidence as to his salary.
Hal H. Smith: designated on the pay roll as a librarian, is as-
signed to the Washington Bureau. He maintains in readily acces-
sible form, for the information of staff members, data as to the
progress of all bills in Congress and writes a feature published by
the Times at or near the end of each session of Congress, digesting
the provisions of all legislation passed during the session. Smith
is high-salaried former reporter who has been with the Times for
30 years.
H. J. Cogan, H. Kesner, and G. C. Wright: office staff clerks in the
news department, are described in the text of the Decision. Their
salaries appear to be within the range of from $18.50 to $50 per
week.
II
Employees excluded from the unit proposed by the Association
A
General categories
LIBRARIANS : The employees in the editorial-reference library
designated on the pay roll as librarians catalogue the books and peri-
odicals with which the library is stocked; and assist the editorial writ-
ers and others on the news and editorial staff by compiling information,
locating sources of reference, etc. Grouped with the indexers in the
Index department, the index clerks in the morgue, and others, they
have a salary range of from $18 to $75 per week.
INDEX DEPARTMENT SUPERVISORS AND INDEXERS :
They digest, index, and edit the New York Times Index. The indexers
are college graduates with experience in library or indexing work.
Their salaries are within the range of from $18 to $75 per week.
ART DEPARTMENT EMPLOY:EES : The functions of the art-
ists and map artists are described in the text of the Decision. Other
employees in this department are photographers, who, it was stipu-
lated, "mainly improve and copy photographs for newspaper repro-
duction"; and a photostatist, who copies documents and assists the
map artists. The salaries of these employees appear to be within a
range of from $27 to $90 per week.
STATISTICIANS and ARRIVAL-OF-BUYERS EMPLOY-
EES : are described in the text of the Decision. The employees in
these two categories together have a salary range of from $30 to $90
per week.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 957
ASSISTANT MANAGERS AND ^ INDEX CLERKS IN, THE
MORGUE : The morgue , which is part of the news department, main-
tains extensive files of clippings from the Times and other newspapers,
indexed by the names of 'persons who figure in the news , and, by sub-
ject matter . Under the supervision of the three assistant managers;
one of whom regularly writes obituaries of deceased residents of two
counties of, Greater New York, the index clerks -mark for clipping
and classify the news items in the Times ; select for clipping any
stories published in other newspapers which are not duplicated in the
Times; and maintain the files of such clippings , furnishing informa-
tion therefrom to members of the staff upon request . The salaries
of these employees , grouped with librarians and others , range from
$18 to $75 per week.
CLERKS : There are clerks in all divisions of the Editorial Depart-
ment. A number of them, like Weiler, who is described in the text of
the Decision , are attached to small functional units such as the moving-
picture, drama , and radio departments and the financial-news bureau,
where they maintain the departmental morgues and files of news
sources and , sometimes , write short , news items based on releases.
Officials of the Company and several of the Association's witnesses
testified , generally, that all clerks in the Editorial Department perform
"clerical" work similar to that performed by clerks in the commercial
departments of the Company and that none of them, as a part of his
regular duties , writes or edits news matter. That the latter assertion
is partly incorrect is demonstrated by the cases of Weiler and a num-
ber of other clerks like him, concerning whose work there is , specific
evidence . It was admitted by the same witnesses that , clerks in the
Editorial Department perform a number of specialized tasks; that
they are not ' assigned to a general "pool"; that-several of them are
engaged in work requiring a high degree of skill and experience; and
that only the file clerks and mail clerks perform tasks which are
strictly comparable to the tasks of clerks in the commercial 'depart-
ment. The following are clerks whose salaries are apparently in the
range of $18 to $75 per week:
Index clerks in the morgue; described supra.
File clerks in the art department : According to a stipulation entered
into by the Company and both labor organizations, these clerks are
engaged in the selection and maintenance of an extensive picture file
"by subject and classification ," as a service to the news and Sunday
departments.
File clerks in the Index department : They clip the paper after it has
been marked by indexers, distribute the clippings to designated index-
ers, and arrange ' alphabetically the cards containing digests of news
items, prepared by the indexers. I F .
958 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
M. P. Campanelli, "exchange" clerk in the reference library, is
responsible for publications to which the Times has "exchange" sub-
scriptions; types letters to persons seeking information from the li-
brary; and assists the poetry editor by typing and by interviewing
poets.
E.. M. Dosser, "information" clerk in the reference library, assists the
librarians in compiling data for members of the staff, and answers
inquiries received over the telephone.
The other clerks in the Editorial Department, numbering approxi-
mately 70, earn salaries ranging from $18.50 to $50 per week. Among
these are the following groups and individuals :
Clerks in the syndicate department: duplicate by machine process
dispatches received in the communications room, distribute the dupli-
cate sheets, and attend to the Associated Press, United Press, and
other tickers.
A. Weiler, who is described in the Decision, and several other clerks
whose functions are similar to his.
C. Castens and J. E. McCauley, clerks in the Sunday department,
described in the Decision, are apparently included among the clerks
who earn $18.50 to $50 per week.
R. Hays, clerk in the Sunday department, serves as secretary to the
art-section editor. One of her duties which Markel, the Sunday
editor, described in his testimony as a "minor" one, is to compile for
publication .art notes based upon releases from the galleries.
Richter and Ryan, ship-news clerks in the news department, de-
scribed in the Decision, and several other clerks who prepare "agate"
matter for publication.
D. Forman, a clerk in the news department, receives copy as it
comes through a chute from the communications division and routes
it to the various news copy desks. This work requires ability to work
fast, knowledge of what classes of news are handled at each desk,
and ability to identify various kinds of copy. Presumably, there are
several other clerks whose duties are similar to Forman's.
G. Passant, a clerk in the news department, assists the night city
desk. He receives the editor's telephone calls, which are usually
from reporters who have news events to report, communicates the
substance of these messages to the editor, and transmits the editor's
instructions to the reporters, transfers the calls to rewrite men, or
otherwise disposes of them.
H. Sohipp, a clerk in the news department, is stationed at the tele-
graph desk, where he assists the night telegraph editor. As copy is
received at the desk Schipp sorts the fragments of stories into sepa-
rate piles, combining different wire-service versions of each story
with the dispatches from Times correspondents, and hands the stories
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 959
to the editor as they are completed. He works fast, and must know
at any given moment what stories are being received from the com-
rnunications division and how near each one is to completion, to what
copyreaders completed stories have been assigned, and numerous other
details. Presumably, there are clerks at other desks whose duties are
similar to Schipp's.
I. Klein, a clerk in the news department, keeps a score sheet at the
copy-control desk and replaces Fitch, described in Section I, B, of
this Schedule, when the latter is absent from duty.
C. Friedman, a clerk in the news department, prepares summaries
of cable stories for the use of the editors. These summaries are not
published in the paper. About once each week Friedman writes "dash
matter," which is background information appearing below a
published in the paper at the end of news dispatches.
M. Caracappa, a clerk in the news department, maintains a card file
of newsworthy names in the paper; sends out form letters requesting
addresses, names of the officers of organizations, etc. ; and keeps his
file of this material up to date for the use of reporters.
J. Dowd, a clerk in the news department, receives incoming mail
for the Editorial Department and routes it to the proper persons or
departments. This mail consists in large part of news.material.
STENOGRAPHERS AND SECRETARIES : In general, these
employees perform the work which their designation implies. The
salaries of secretaries, a number of whom are excluded from the unit
by stipulation, range from $25 to $72.50 per week. Stenographers'
salaries are from $25 to $45 per week.
Among the stenographers and secretaries in the Editorial Depart-
ment are the following :
Ellen Buell and Theresa Kaufman, described in the text of the
Decision.
P. Brandwein, secretary to the sports editor, oversees office routine
in the sports department, keeps records of teams, prepares week-end
football schedules which are published in the paper and works on the
annual sports review, a feature published in the Times, which contains
lists of champions and "roundup" stories.
S. Tyno, a stenographer in the sports department, does secretarial
work for the motor-boat editor; compiles the "future book," a schedule
of future sports events used in the department as a means of making
assignments, determining space requirements, etc. ; prepares for pub-
lication the tide table which appears in connection with a column
entitled "Wood, Field, and Stream"; and performs other miscellaneous
duties.
OFFICE BOYS AND MESSENGERS : These employees, also
called "copy boys," are employed in all divisions and subdepartments
960 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the Editorial Department. They transport copy from place to
place in the news room, run errands inside and outside the Times
Annex building and perform a multitude of miscellaneous tasks.
Office boys who aspire to become reporters frequently are assigned
to reporting sermons, for which they are paid $3 and like all other
employees of the Company who are not members of the writing staff,
may submit contributions to the paper for which, if accepted, they
are compensated at space rates. Several' office boys have their con-
tributions accepted rather frequently. The salaries-of office boys
and messengers range from $15 to $25 per week.
Among the office boys is one, -
L. Roth, an office boy in the sports department, who prepares for
publication daily and weekly columns of scheduled sports events,,
and "agate" summaries of racing results reported by news services.
B
Miscellaneous individuals
L. Erdwurnz: An employee in the Sunday department designated
as "fashion assistant," assists the fashion editor by collecting ma-
terial for fashion articles, and occasionally reports fashion shows
which the editor is unable to attend. There, is no evidence as, to
her salary.
J. Fardon, an employee in the news department designated as
"daily index," prepares copy for the daily index or table of contents,
of the Times.- Index items indicating the content of important
stories are written by the copyreaders. Pardon ascertains the page
on which each story appears and assembles the items in their proper
places, a process apparently requiring the ability to classify the
news under certain headings, such as "European War," ",National
Defense," "Washington," "Metropolitan Area" etc. It is Fardon's
duty to, avoid duplication of, front-page cable summaries in the
index. He has the privilege of cutting out unimportant items, if, it
is discovered in the composing room that,the index exceeds its allotted
space. , In an emergency, he may compose an index item, based upon
the headline of a story which has been overlooked. Fardon's salary
is apparently in the range of $18 to $75 per week.
P. Burns, an employee .in the rotogravure department designated
as a printer, is a photographic printer. Occasionally he substitutes
for the, news photographer. He is apparently one of a group of
employees whose salaries range from $27 to $90 per week.
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
SCIIEDULE C
961
Part-time employees in the Editorial Department herein found to
be employees of the Company included in the appropriate unit
Charlotte Hughes: writes the Food Column which appears weekly
on Friday and the Shoppers Column which appears each Sunday in
the Society and Women's section. She receives a guarantee of a
certain amount per month; is paid for the columns and for any oc-
casional additional items which she is asked to write and which she
writes and which appear in the paper. If on the space basis she
earns more than the guarantee, she gets it, but she is assured of her
guarantee irrespective of the amount of material which she writes
for the paper. She has a desk in the fashion department, but is not
subject to any hour regulations and receives no benefits under any of
the employee-benefit plans of the Times. All she is required to do
is to furnish the material requested of her, and it makes no difference
when or where she writes it.
Kiley Taylor: writes the column on Victuals and Vitamins which
appears each Sunday in the Magazine section. She receives no
guarantee but is paid for what she contributes. She also has a desk
in the Times office, but has contributed only one other article which
has appeared in the paper, outside the column.
Katherine McKenzie: writes the column on Child and Parent
which appears each Sunday in the Magazine section and has con-
tributed a number of other articles. She receives no guarantee but
is paid on a space basis. She has a desk in the Times office.
Kent Stiles: writes the Stamp Notes which appear in the Travel
and Recreation section each Sunday. He is paid on a space basis; re-
ceives no guarantee; but does have a desk in the Times office.
Robert Brown: writes the column on Photography which appears
each Sunday in the Travel and Recreation section. He is paid on
a space basis and has no desk in the Times office.
Elizabeth Duval: furnishes advice and suggestions to the Sunday
department of items of interest to women, for which she is com-
pensated. She writes occasional articles which appear in the Sunday
paper for which she is likewise compensated. She has a desk in the
Times office.
Katherine Woods: is a regular contributor to the Book Review
section. but there are issues in which her reviews do not appear. She
is paid on a space basis and has a desk in the Times office.
Walter Randall Storey: contributes one article a week on interior
decorating, which appears each Sunday in the Society and Women's
section. He is paid on a space basis. He does not have a desk in
the Times office.