The Register & Tribune Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 30, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 728 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of THE REGISTER & TRIBUNE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and
AMERICAN NEWSPAPER GUILD, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 18-R-1700.-Decided April 30,19-117
Messrs. Vincent Staringer and Redo M. Zacherle, of Des Moines,
Iowa, for the Employer.
Isserman, Isserman & Kapelsohn, by Morris Issemnan, of Newark,
N. J., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Philip Licari, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Des
Moines, Iowa, on December 5, 1946, before Clarence A. Meter, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer moved to
dismiss the instant petition on the ground that the unit sought by the
Petitioner is inappropriate and on various other grounds. For reasons
stated, infra, the motion is denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Register L& Tribune Company, an Iowa corporation, is engaged
at Des Moines, Iowa, in the printing and publication of a daily and
Sunday newspaper. The daily and Sunday circulation of the news-
paper is in excess of 817,000 copies, of which one-half of 1 percent is
circulated outside the State of Iowa. In connection with its opera-
tions, the Employer uses approximately 18,000 tons of newsprint
annually, all of which is shipped from points outside the State of
Iowa. Furthermore, the Employer as a member of the Associated
Press, United Press, and the Chicago Daily News Foreign Service
receives a large percentage of its news from outside the State of Iowa.
Also, during the calendar year 1945, the Employer sold to customers
73 N. L. R. B., No. 139.
728
THE REGISTER & TRIBUNE COMPANY 729
located outside the State of Iowa advertising valued in excess of
$40,000.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.'
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit?
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all the employees of the Employer
working in the editorial, editorial writers, and promotion departments,
including part-time employees, but excluding the executive editor,
managing editor, news editor, city editor, sports editor, farm editor,
rotogravure (Sunday features) editor, chief photographer, head of
editorial writers department, head of promotion department, State
correspondents, Iowa poll employees who are stationed outside the
plant, secretaries to the executive editor, managing editor and the
head of the editorial writers department, and supervisory employees.
The Employer contends 'that the unit sought by the Petitioner is
inappropriate, asserting that the employees in each of these depart-
ments comprise separate appropriate units. The parties are also in
dispute with respect to the inclusion in any unit found appropriate
of certain categories of employees hereinafter discussed.
The employees in the editorial department are engaged under
the supervision of the executive editor, in the collection, editing, and
compiling of news and photographic matter. With the exception of
the sports, farm, rotogravure and Sunday features, society, art and
I See Matter of The Register it Tribune Company, 60 N. L R B. 360
2 The Employer moved to dismiss the petition herein on the following grounds • (1)
that the instant petition is defective on its face in that it does not contain sufficient facts
to raise a question concerning representation , and, (2 ) that the Petitioner did not properly
raise the question concerning representation prior to the filing of this petition. We find
no merit to these contentions. In any event, the Employer, at the hearing, refused to
recognize the Petitioner until such time as the Petitioner was certified by the Board in an
appropriate unit. See Matter of A. E. Nettleton Company, 64 N. L. R. B. 1249.
730 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
photographic sections of the editorial department , the employees
therein are all housed on the fourth floor of the Employer's plant. All
other employees of this department are located in the annex of the
third floor. The employees in the promotion department are en-
gaged in the writing of advertising copy for the newspaper. They
advertise feature articles and news prepared by the employees in the
editorial department. The employees in this department are also
under the general supervision of the executive editor and are located
on the same floor as the editorial department employees . The edito-
rial writers department is -composed of employees who are engagd in
writing editorials for the newspaper . They are under the immediate
supervision of the head of the editorial writers department, who is
in turn directly responsible to the publisher. The employees in this
department are separately located from the rest of the employees
sought by the Petitioner.3
Although it would appear that each of the above groups of em-
ployees may function autonomously in a specialized sense, it is never-
theless clear that these departments are integrated and interdependent
with respect to the task of preparing news for portrayal to the public.
Thus, the employees in the editorial department gather and write
news upon which those in the editorial writers department editorialize,
and those in the promotion department- write advertising which
dramatizes it for the purposes of increasing the newspaper 's circula-
tion. Hours of work and conditions of employment are generally the
same for all the employees sought by the Petitioner.
In view of the foregoing , we are of the opinion that although the
employees in each of these departments might function as a separate
unit, there is no cogent reason why the group sought by the Petitioner
may not also properly function as a single appropriate unit for col-
lective bargaining purposes , especially in the absence of any labor
organization seeking to represent these employees in separate units.
We find, therefore , that the employees in the editorial, editorial writers
and promotion departments together constitute a single unit appro-
prite for the purposes of collective bargaining.
The following categories of employees are in dispute :
City editor, sports editor, farm editor, rotogravene and Sunday
-feature editor, and chief photographer : The Employer seeks to in-
clude these employees in the unit; the Petitioner desires their exclu-
sion. Each of these employees is in complete charge of a section of
from 2 to 20 employees . The record is clear that they may effectively
recommend the hire, discharge, or change in status of employees under
their supervision . Accordingly , we shall exclude them from the unit
hereinafter found appropriate.
a The editorial writers department is located on the eleventh floor of the Employer's
plant.
THE REGISTER & TRIBUNE COMPANY 731
State correspondents: The Employer has from about 400 to 500
people located in various parts of the State of Iowa, who are engaged
in gathering news, which they forward to the editorial department by
mail, telegram or telephone. They are not part of the Employer's
regular force and are paid according to the amount of work performed.
Usually, they do newspaper work to obtain income to supplement that
derived from other full-time employment. The Petitioner desires,
their exclusion, whereas the Employer takes no position with respect
to them. Since it appears that their duties and interests differ sub-
stantially from the regular workers employed at the plant, we are of
the opinion that they should not be included in the appropriate unit.
We shall exclude them 4
Iowa poll employees: The Employer has several of these employees
engaged in polling residents of the State on various questions. All
these employees except four work outside the plant in various parts of
the State of Iowa. The four employees who work in the plant tabulate
and interpret data gathered by the other poll workers, and are con-
sidered regular employees, sharing in the same benefits as the other
employees in the plant. Except for these four, all other poll employees
are paid on the basis of work performed rather than on a regular
salary scale, and do not share in the Employer's benefits such as group
insurance, pensions, and hospitalization. The Petitioner desires the
exclusion of all these employees, except those working in the plant.
The Employer takes no position with respect to them. In view of the
foregoing, we are of the opinion that except for the four who work in
the plant, the interests and duties of the Iowa poll employees do not
warrant their inclusion in the appropriate unit. We shall, therefore,
exclude all employees in this category, except for those who work in
the plant.
Secretaries. There are three employees in this category whom the
Petitioner would exclude as confidential employees and the Employer
would include. The record shows that the executive editor stands
next to the publisher in the Employer's managerial hierarchy, and ap-
parently is in a position to formulate, determine, and effectuate poli-
cies in the field of labor relations. The secretary to the executive
editor handles all his secretarial work and acts in a confidential ca-
pacity with respect thereto. The managing editor appears to have a
comparable position to that if the executive editor and his secretary
also acts in a confidential capacity with respect to the work performed
by him. The head of the editorial writers department, unlike the
other two officials, appears to be engaged in the effectuation of edi-
torial policies laid down by the publisher rather than in the handling-
of labor relations matters. It is our opinion, therefore, that his secre-
tary does not have a confidential relationship to him within our
'See Matter of Worcester Telegram Publishing Company, Inc., 61 N. L. R. B. 1118.
732 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
usual definition thereof.-' Accordingly, we shall exclude the secre-
taries to the executive editor and to the managing editor, and include
the secretary to the head of the editorial writers department.
We find that all the employees of the Employer at its newspaper
plant in Des Moines, Iowa, working in the editorial, editorial writers
and promotion departments, including part-time employees in these
departments, Iowa poll employees who work in the plant, and the
secretary to the head of the editorial writers department, but exclud-
ing State correspondents, Iowa poll employees who work outside
the plant, secretaries to the executive editor and to the managing
and farm editors, the executive editor, managing editor, news editor,
city editor, reports editor, farm editor, rotogravure and Sunday fea-
tures editor, chief photographer, head of the editorial writers de-
partment, head of the promotion department, and all other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis-
cipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or ef-
fectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot, subject to the
limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
There are several part-time employees in the unit sought by the
Petitioner, who work regularly from 10 to 30 hours per week. The
Employer contends that they are ineligible to vote, whereas the Pe-
titioner asserts otherwise. Although these employees do not partici-
pate in the Employer's established benefits, such as group life in-
surance, pensions, and hospitalization, it is clear that they work under
the same conditions of employment and perform the same type of
work as full-time employees. Inasmuch as they are regular part-
time employees, and their interests are similar to those of full-time
employees, we shall, in accordance with our usual policy, find that
they are eligible to vote in the election hereinafter directed."
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with The Register & Tribune Com-
pany, Des Moines, Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) clays from
" See Matter of Ford Motor Company , 66 N. L. R. B. 1317.
See Matter of Wichita Eagle, 69 N . L. R. B. 1270.
THE REGISTER & TRIBUNE COMPANY 733
the date of this Direction , under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, includ-
ing employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because
they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including
employees in the armed forces of the United States who present
themselves in person at the polls , but excluding those employees who
have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been re-
hired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by American Newspaper
Guild, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.