W. H. Kistler Stationery Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 29, 1939

18 N.L.R.B. 948 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of W. H. KISTLER STATIONERY Co. and DENVER
PRINTING PRESSMEN & ASSISTANTS UNION No. 40
Case No. R-1654.-Decided December 29, 1939
Commercial Printing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy
concerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to recognize union
as exclusive representative of employees until certified by the Board-Unit
Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all printing pressmen and assistants in
the offset , job, and cylinder departments , including foremen and employees
classed as feeders by the employer ; agreement as to-Election Ordered
Mr. Marion A. Prowell, for the Board.
Lewis c6 Grant, by Mr. Irving Hale, Jr., of Denver, Colo., for the
Company.
Mr. S. W. Johnson, of Denver, Colo., for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 26, 1939, Denver Printing Pressmen & Assistants Union
No. 40, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for
the Twenty-second Region (Denver, Colorado) a petition alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of W. R. Kistler Stationery Co., Denver, Colo-
rado, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and
certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On
November 10, 1939, 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 Regula-
tions-Series 2, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice.
On November 19, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the
Union. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on December 4,
1939, at Denver, Colorado, before Berdon M. Bell, the Trial Examiner
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948
W. H. KISTLER STATIONERY COMPANY 949
duly designated by the Board. The Board and the Company were
represented by counsel, the Union by its representative, and all par-
ticipated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on 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 com-
mitted. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a Colorado corporation having its principal office
and place of business in Denver, Colorado. It is engaged in the
printing, furniture, mimeograph, and stationery business. The Com-
pany's gross sales amounted to approximately $984,000 in 1938, 30
per cent of which was derived from its printing department. The
Company shipped approximately 11.7 per cent of its printing pro-
duction directly out of the State of Colorado in 1938, and delivered
to companies directly engaged in interstate commerce over 25 per cent
of the total production of the printing department. Some of the
items delivered to these companies were in turn sent out of the State
by the companies to their branch offices. The Company spends ap-
proximately $100,000 annually for raw materials used in the printing
department, 90 per cent of which are secured from firms within the
State of Colorado. The Company purchases approximately 95 per
cent of the products used in the operation of its furniture, stationery,
and mimeograph departments from sources outside the State of Colo-
rado. The Company derives approximately 70 per cent of its total
annual income from the latter three departments. The Company
employs approximately 165 employees, 22 of whom are printing
pressmen and assistants.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Denver Printing Pressmen & Assistants Union No. 40 is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It
admits to membership all printing pressmen and assistants in the
Company's printing department.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On July 14, 1939, the Union requested the Company to bargain
with it as the representative of the majority of the employees in the
950 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
,printing department of the Company. The Company refused to
bargain with the Union prior to certification by this Board that it
had been designated as representative by a majority of the Company's
employees in an appropriate unit.
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 Company and the Union agreed at the hearing that the appro-
priate unit should consist of all printing pressmen and assistants in
the offset, job, and cylinder departments, including foremen and
employees classed as feeders by the Company. We see no reason
for departing from such unit.
We find that all printing pressmen and assistants in the offset,
job, and cylinder departments of the Company, including foremen
and employees classed as feeders by the Company, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining 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.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
According to the Company's pay roll as of December 1, 1939, there
were 22 employees in the appropriate unit. A representative of the
Union testified.that 16 of these employees had designated the Union
as their bargaining representative. However, the Union and the
Company agreed that an election by secret ballot is necessary to
resolve the question concerning representation. We will direct that
an election by secret ballot be held.
. The Union urges that a pay roll of the Company for any period
in June or July 1939, during which time its requests for bargaining
were first made, be used to determine eligibility to participate in the
election. The president of the Company testified that the pay roll
as of December 1, 1939, was a representative and normal one and
W. H. KIISTLER STATIONERY COMPANY 951
urged that it be adopted as a basis for determining eligibility . , There
appears to be no reason , however, why the pay roll immediately pre-
ceding the date of this Decision and Direction of Election should not
be used to determine the eligibility of employees to vote in the election.
There appears to be some question in the record whether two em-
ployees in the printing department , Robert Hiwassee and E. A.
Braithwaite , should be eligible to vote. At the time of the hearing,
Hiwassee had been in the employ of the Company for a period of
3 weeks. The president of the Company testified that Hiwassee's
work was satisfactory and that the Company did not know how long
lie would remain in its employ. Braithwaite had been working for
the Company on and off for a period of over a year and was employed
at the time of the hearing . Both are in the appropriate unit and we
find that they are eligible to vote on the same basis as the other em-
ployees in the unit. We find that those eligible to vote in the election
shall be employees in the appropriate unit whose names appear on
the pay roll immediately preceding the date of our Direction of
Election, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll
period because they were ill or on vacation and employees who were
then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those
employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of W. H . Kistler Stationery Co., Denver, Colo-
rado, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All printing pressmen and assistants in the offset , job, and
cylinder departments , including foremen and employees classed as
feeders by the Company , constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations , Series 2, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with W . H. Kistler Stationery Co., Denver , Colorado, an election
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952 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later
than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-
second Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules
and Regulations, among all printing pressmen and assistants in the
offset, job, and cylinder departments of the Company, who were
employed during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this
Direction, including the foremen, employees classed as feeders by the
Company, employees who did not work during such pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation, and employees who were then
or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding employees who
have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Denver Printing Pressmen &
Assistants Union, No. 40, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining.