The Sharon Herald Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 26, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 341 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of THE SHARON HERALD COMPANY , EMPLOYER and THE
YOUNGSTOWN PHOTO-ENGRAVERS' UNION, LOCAL 63, INTERNATIONAL
PHOTO-ENGRAVERS ' UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, A . F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 6-R-17441.-Decided April 26, 1948
Messrs. Brockway, McKay and Brockway, by Messrs. C. E. Brock-
way and Leo H. McKay, of Sharon, Pa., for the Employer.
Mr. Fred R. Ballbach, of Detroit, Mich., for the Petitioner.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Sharon,
Pennsylvania, on July 8, 1947, before Henry Shore, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed.
At the hearing, the hearing officer reserved for ruling by the National
Labor Relations Board the motion of the Employer to dismiss the
petition on the ground that because of the enactment of the Labor
Management Relations Act of 1947, to become effective on August 22,
1947, there was no legally effective law or agency to enforce the law in
existence at the time of the hearing. Section 104 of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, provides that the amendments take effect
60 days after the date of enactment. There is nothing in the amend-
ments which may be construed as suspending the operation of the
Board or the Act during this 60-day period. The Employer' s motion
is hereby denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE I USINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer is a Pennsylvania corporation, having its principal
office and place of business in Sharon, Pennsylvania, where it is en-
77N.L.R B., No 49 -
341
788586-49-x-01 7 7 23
342 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
gaged in publishing and printing a daily newspaper, known as "The
Sharon Herald." In addition, the Employer also produces at this
plant stainless steel etchings for sale to various manufacturing plants.
During the past 12-month period, the Employer purchased mate-
rials, valued in excess of $60,000, all of which came from outside the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Employer's circulation totals
19,500 copies daily, of which approximately 5 percent are distributed
outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Employer's annual
revenue from the printing of national advertising is in excess of $50,-
000. The Employer uses the facilities of the United Press and syndi-
cated material furnished by such national syndicates as United
Features.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
IT. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of journeyman photo-engrav-
ers and apprentices in the Employer's photo-engraving department,)
excluding all employees in the steel etching department 2 and all other
employees of the Employer. The Employer contends that the pro-
posed unit is inappropriate. It urges that the unit which includes the
photo-engraver and his apprentice should include all employees in the
combined photo-engraving and steel etching departments or, at least,
the four employees in the steel etching department who can and do
work in the photo-engraving process.
The Employer has a photo-engraving department and a steel etch-
ing department, separate for cost purposes, but which operate as a
single department under the supervision of one supervisor. The two
departments are located in one room, the photo-engraving operations
being confined to a section at one end of the room. The steel etching
work constitutes the major portion of the work 'of the combined de-
partment.
Two employees, Vincent Smith, a journeyman photo-engraver, and
Frank Ross, an apprentice, are carried on the pay roll of the photo-
engraving department. There are approximately eight employees
carried on the pay roll of the steel etching department. The photo-
i There are only two employees in the photo- engraving department.
' There ate eight employees in the steel etching department.
THE SHARON HERALD COMPANY 343
engraving work is confined entirely to the publication of the Employ-
er's newspaper , while the steel etching department is a commercial en-
terprise operated to produce steel etchings for sale to outside cus-
tomers.
The record reveals that the two engraving processes are essentially
the same, differing only in matters of detail and refinement , and that
production of engravings on stainless steel plates is a function of the
photo-engraving craft. Photo-engraving consists of photographing
an image, developing a negative, preparing a print, the use of chemical
processes , and the production of an etching on a zinc plate. Steel
etching consists of photographing an image, developing a negative
and positive, preparing the prints , the use of chemical processes, and
the production of an etching on a stainless steel plate. Up to and in-
cluding the stage of the printing frame, the work involved in the two
processes is substantially the same. A number of steel etchings can
be produced in a single operation, whereas the zinc etching produced in
photo-engraving requires more individual treatment.
The record discloses that the men in the two departments are not
classified on a craft basis but are classified as skilled and semi -skilled
workmen. Smith is the only employee in the combined department
who has a skilled classification . He receives a "skilled rate " of pay,
which is 30 cents per hour more than the wage paid to an employee
in the next highest classification. The pay of Ross, the apprentice,
is based upon a percentage of Smith's rate of pay. The working
conditions , such as hours, vacations , etc., are the same for all the
employees of the two departments.'
Under the Petitioner 's eligibility rules, 6 years ' experience at the
photo-engraving trade is required before a person can be admitted
to membership as a journeyman. Apprentices can be admitted only
if they are registered with the Petitioner as apprentices. Both Smith
and Ross are members of the Petitioner.
Smith and Ross, the journeyman photo-engraver and his apprentice,
are primarily responsible for such photo -engraving work as is done
on the newspaper . However, inasmuch as there is not a great deal of
this work required , these two men frequently help out with the steel
etching work. The eight employees in the steel etching department
devote their time chiefly to steel etchings . At least four of the eight
steel etchers , however , have sufficient skill to do the photo -engraving
work required by the Employer and, in cases of emergency , perform
this work.
" Thole aie 10 employees in the combined dep.iitneent , mnd the Petitioner claims to
represent only 2
344 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The record reveals that the quality of photo-engraving required
by this Employer is not of the highest type. A witness for the Peti-
tioner admitted at the hearing that he had, while working for the
Employer, become sufficiently proficient at the craft of photo-en-
graving in 6 months' time to produce the kind of work required for
its newspaper. The Employer concedes that Smith and Ross are
regularly assigned to photo-engraving work, but contends that such
an arrangement is maintained for the purpose of efficiency only and
urges that four of the steel etching department employees are not
only capable of doing the work performed by Smith and Ross, but, in
fact, have done so.
There is no history of collective bargaining with respect to the
employees in question. The only collective bargaining agreement
covering any of the Employer's employees is one with the Typo-
graphical Union involving employees in the composing room.
By reason of the close similarity of the work of the photo-engravers
and the steel etchers at the Employer's plant, and the fact that all six
employees can and do perform both types of work, the two employees
regularly assigned to photo-engraving work do not alone constitute a
clearly defined craft group with interests sufficiently separable from
those of the four steel engraving employees. Accordingly, we find
that the unit urged by the Petitioner is inappropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
Since there is no appropriate unit within the scope of the petition,
we find that no question exists concerning the representation of em-
ployees of the Employer in an appropriate bargaining unit, and we
shall dismiss the petition for investigation and certification of repre-
sentatives filed herein.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and the entire record
in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that
the petition for investigation and certification of representatives of
employees of The Sharon Herald Company, Sharon, Pennsylvania,
filed by The Youngstown Photo-Engravers' Union, Local 63, Inter-
national Photo-Engravers' Union of North America, A. F. L., be, and
it hereby is, dismissed.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.