The Standard Printing Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 17, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 338 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of THE STANDARD PRINTING COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER
and AMALGAMATED LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 9-RC-192.-Decided November 17, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
1Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.z
'Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock.
1 The Employer moved that the Board set out in its findings the date as of which it was
determined that the Petitioner had made a sufficient showing of interest in support of its
petition , and that the petition be dismissed if, at any time between its filing and the date
of the hearing , a sufficient showing of interest was lacking . The motion is hereby denied.
We have repeatedly held that the question of whether or not a Petitioner has made a
prima facie showing of interest is an administrative matter not subject to direct or col-
lateral attack. Matter of Amos Molded Plastics Division of Amos Thompson Corpora-
tion, 79 N. L . R. B. 201. The Employer also moved to dismiss the petition for want
of prosecution , contending that, although the petition was filed on June 29, 1948, the
hearing was not held until September 7, 1948. This motion is likewise denied
2 The Employer ' s motion to dismiss the petition on the basis of Matter of Advance
Pattern Company, 79 N L R. B. 209 , is hereby denied. The Board recently recon-
sidered the Advance Pattern case and vacated the original decision . Matter of Advance
Pattern Company , 80 N. L . R. B. 29.
80 N. L. R. B., No. 74.
338
THE STANDARD PRINTING COMPANY, INC. 339
4. The appropriate unit:
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all lithographic employees
in the Employer's lithographic department,s excluding guards, pro-
fessional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Em-
ployer is in agreement with the Petitioner with respect to the unit
sought, with the exception of the multilith press operator, whom the
Petitioner would include in the unit and the Employer would exclude
therefrom.
The Board has frequently considered the peculiar skills and tech-
niques incident to the lithographic or offset process, and has held that,
absent unusual circumstances, all employees engaged in the litho-
graphic process form a cohesive unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining.4 The record in this case clearly indicates that
the multilith press, although apparently simpler to operate than most
offset presses, and although generally producing an inferior quality of
lithographic printing, is in every essential respect a lithographic press.5
It can be operated by an experienced offset pressman without any
additional training. It employs the same basic offset principle 6 com-
mon to the entire lithographic family and uses substantially the same
inks and acids in its operation. Recognizing these facts, the Board
has in the past included multilith press operators in the traditional
lithographic unit.7 Although it appears that the multilith press
operator is directly supervised by the plant superintendent, whereas
the other employees in the lithographic department are under the im-
mediate direction of the lithographic foreman, the record reveals
that the latter exercises little discretion and refers all but routine
matters to the plant superintendent.8 Thus, all employees engaged
8 The record discloses no previous bargaining history involving employees in the Em-
ployer's lithographic department.
4 Matter of Commercial Printing Co , 73 N. L . R. B. 159 ; Matter of Commercial Printers,
Inc., 74 N. L. R . B. 1135, Matter of Manz Corp ., 79 N. L . R. B. 211.
5 The limited extent to which the multilith press has apparently been integrated into
the Employer 's printing department and the physical separation of the multilith from
the lithographic department in no way alter the plain fact that the multilith is a litho-
graphic press . Moreover , it should be noted that although other unions representing
employees in the printing department have collective bargaining agreements with the
Employer , none of these unions has sought or is now seeking to represent the operator
of the multilith press.
For a detailed analysis of the offset or lithographic type of printing , see the discussion
contained in Matter of Con P. Curran Printing Co., 57 N. L. R. B. 185, at p. 188.
' Matter of Ross - Could Co., 56 N. L. R. B. 1176.
s At the hearing , the Petitioner contended that the working foreman in the lithographic
department be excluded from the requested unit on the ground that he is a supervisor
within the meaning of the Act. Petitioner later abandoned this contention. The record
shows that the foreman is essentially a working employee , carrying on his duties as
offset pressman on a full -time basis and under working conditions and privileges sub-
stantially similar to those applicable to all other employees in the lithographic depart-
817319-49-vol. 80-23
340 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
in the lithographic process at the Employer's plant, including the
multilith operator, are, in fact, under the common supervision of the
plant superintendent.
In view of the foregoing, we shall include the classification of mul-
tilith press operator in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
We find that all employees of the Employer's lithographic depart-
ment, including offset pressmen, assistant pressmen, plate maker, as-
sistant plate maker, multilith operator, and the lithographic foreman,
but excluding guards, professional employees, and supervisors as de-
fined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth Region and sub-
ject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees
in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on
vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who
have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding em-
ployees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, by Amalgamated Lithographers of America,
CIO.
ment. He has no authority to hire, discharge, promote, discipline, or lay off employees
in the lithographic department, or effectively to recommend any such action, and, at the
very most, is vested with only extremely limited powers of direction . In these circum-
stances, the foreman will be included in the unit herein found appropriate.