Worcester Telegram Publishing Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 11, 1945

61 N.L.R.B. 1118 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of WORCESTER i E.,EGRAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. and
NEWSPAPER GUILD OF WORCESr1A, -JfFILIATED WITH AMERICAN NEWS-
PAPER GUILD
Case No. 1-R-241.-Decided May 11, 1945,
Thayer, Smith and Gaskill, by Miss Irene Gowetz, and Mr. Frank E.
Phillips, of Worcester, Mass., for the Company.
Grant and Angoff, by Mr. Samuel E. Angoff, of Boston, Mass., for
the Guild.
Air. Julius Kirle, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by' Newspaper Guild of
Worcester, affiliated with American Newspaper Guild, herein called
the Guild, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of Worcester Telegram Pub-
lishing Company, Inc., Worcester, Massachusetts, herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap-
propriate hearing upon due notice before, Robert E. Greene, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Worcester, Massachusetts, on
February 14, 16, and 17, 1945. The Company and the Guild appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Worcester Telegram Publishing Company, Inc., a Massachusetts
corporation, is engaged at Worcester, Massachusetts, in the publish-
ing, sale, and distribution of the Worcester Telegram and the Worces-
61 N. L. R. B., No. 186.
1X18
WORCESTER TELEGRAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1119
ter Evening Gazette, daily newspapers, and the Worcester Sunday
Telegram, a Sunday newspaper. The Company's annual purchases of
raw materials, consisting principally of newsprint, are valued in excess
of $500,000, substantially all of which comes from points outside the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Company's net paid daily cir-
culation of the Worcester Telegram and the Worcester Evening Gazette
is approximately 135,000, of which in excess of 1 percent is shipped to
points outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Company's
weekly circulation of the Worcester Sunday Telegram is approximately
90,000, of which in excess of 1 percent is shipped to points outside the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Company is a member of the
Associated Press and subscribes to the services of the United Press.
As such a member, it receives the services of the Association consisting
of news from all of its members, and in return it supplies to the Asso-
ciation news of Worcester and vicinity. The Company purchases
various syndicated articles such as comic strips, from sources, outside
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Newspaper Guild of Worcester, affiliated with the American News-
paper Guild, is a labor organization admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Guild as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's em-
ployees until the Guild has been certified by the Board in an appro-
priate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Guild represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties are generally agreed that all employees of the Com-
pany's editorial and promotion departments, including full-time
correspondents, but excluding the managing editor, promotion depart-
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Guild submitted 60 cards, and that the names
of all persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll of December
30, 1944, which contained the names of 125 employees in the claimed appropriate unit ; and
that the cards were all dated December 1944.
1120 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ment manager, and so-called casual or temporary county correspond-
ents,' constitute an appropriate unit. They are in disagreement,
however, concerning the categories discussed below.
The Guild would exclude the county editor, editor of the women's
page, Sunday magazine editor, news editors, city editors, sports edi-
tors, editorial writers, and assistant night city editor, as supervisory
employees. The Company would include them in keeping with the
alleged custom in the newspaper industry. The county editor, James
Edward Croak, oversees the collection of out-of-town news and super-
vises all the correspondents and copy readers. The editor of the
women's page, Mrs. Agnes M. Drummond, sometimes referred to as
the society editor, directs eight employees, makes assignments, grants
time off, and is consulted with reference to salary increases. The
Sunday magazine editor, Frederick L. Rushton, directs the work of
three employees, supervises office details, and has absolute control over
the purchase of manuscripts. The record reveals that his predecessor,
as Sunday magazine editor, had authority to hire. The news editors,
Francis P. Murphy and Ayton F. Smith, direct the work of the repor-
torial staffs of the Telegram and Gazette, respectively. The city
editors, Kermit K. Kingsbury, Carl W. Erickson, and William F. Hol-
land, supervise the reportorial staffs under the direction of the news
editors. The sports editors, Leroy J. Munipton and Edward W. Scan-
nell, direct the work of employees in the sports departments of the
Telegram and Gazette, respectively. All of the above employees have
authority to either hire, discharge, or effectively recommend changes
in the status of employees under their supervision. Although the
Company contends that they should be included in the unit in keeping
with the custom in the newspaper industry, the record does not sub-
stantiate such contention.' We shall exclude them 4
The Company contends that if the Board should exclude the editors
liereinabove discussed, the Board should also exclude approximately
16 employees who substitute for them. With the exception of the
assistant night city editor, A. Alfred Marcello, whom it would exclude
as a supervisory employee, the Guild is opposed to such exclusion.
Although these employees substitute on occasion for the editors, they
do not do so with any degree of regularity and inasmuch as any super-
visory authority exercised by them is of a sporadic and temporary
7 Not to be confused with the so-called part -time county correspondents hereinafter
discussed.
3 The record reveals that out of 189 contracts surveyed by the executive secretary of
the New England District Council of the American Newspaper Guild, 81 excluded editors,
66 excluded city editors, 54 excluded editorial waiters, 41 excluded sports editors, 34 ex-
cluded society editors, and 36 excluded Sunday editors
' See Matter of The Chicago Daily News, Inc , 56 N L R B 274 , Matter of The Times
Publishing Company, 49 N L R B 506 , Matter of The Telegram Publishing Company, 44
N L R B 461
WORCESTER TELEGRAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1121
nature, we shall include them.,, Although A. Alfred Marcello is car-
ried on the Telegram pay roll as an assistant city editor, maintains the
time book, and substitutes for the night city editor, his supervisory
status does not appear to differ sufficiently from that of the other sub-
stitute editors to warrant his exclusion from the unit; we shall include
him.
The Guild would exclude the editorial writers as managerial em-
ployees; the Company would include them. The editorial writers,
Edward L. Chamberlayne, Richard H. Cunningham, George Foxhall,
Myron M. Johnson, Leslie Moore, and Joseph C. DeWolf, work on the
same floor with and under the direct supervision of the publisher.
They sit in daily conferences with the publisher on questions of edi-
torial policy, and reflect his views in their editorials. Some of them
also act as dramatic critics, music critics, and periodical columnists.
Joseph C. DeWolf, in addition to his editorial writing duties,,inter-
views people whom the publisher is too busy to see, relays the latter's
orders to other employees, and suggests courses of action to the pub-
lisher. However, there is nothing in the evidence to indicate that these
employees have authority to hire, discharge, or effectively recommend
changes in the status of any employee. We are of the opinion that the
responsibilities of the editorial writers are not substantially different
from those of the other employees in the editorial and promotion
departments. We shall include theme
The Guild would exclude the so-called part-time county corre-
spondents; 7 the Company would include them. The so-called part-
time county correspondents work in small towns or cities where
they gather news and forward it to the editorial department by
mail, teletype, or telephone. They seldom, if ever, come into the
Company's main office and have no specified hours of employment,
although they receive a fixed weekly salary for such work. With
the exception of Mrs. Elizabeth H. Preston, whom the parties agree
should be excluded, and Mrs. Alice E. Olney, who is a housewife,
they are regularly engaged in various other full-time employment
distinct and apart from newspaper work. Included among the so-
called part-time county correspondents are a chief of police, proba-
tion officer, clerk of court who is also a lawyer, post office clerk, per-
sonnel manager for a shoe company, an insurance broker who also
S See Matter of Ahlberq Bearing Company , 56 N L R B 1794.
6 See Matter of The Chicago Daily News, Inc, 56 N L R B , 274 Matter of The Times
Publishing Co , 49 N L R B 506 Matter of The Telegram Publishing Company, 44 N I.
R B 461, Matter of The Telegram Publishing Company, 41 N L R B 662. Matter of
The New York Times Company, 32 N L R B 928 , Matter of Globe Newspaper Company, 15
N L R B. 953, Matter of Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 13 N L R B 974
° J P Kennedy, H L Mulligan, T E. Sweeney. Mrs Alice E Olney, J B Waldron,
W. C. Webster, T W. Humphrey, R. H, McCauley, and Mrs Elizabeth H Preston.
1122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
works in a machine shop, and others employed full-time at work
equally diverse from their reportorial duties. Since the interests
and working conditions of the so-called part-time county correspond-
ents differ substantially from those of the regular full-time reporters,
we shall exclude them.
The Guild would exclude Bertha E. Knowlton and Dorothy L.
McMurray as confidential employees; the Company would include
them. The former takes care of routine correspondence and pay-roll
memoranda for the managing editor for approximately 21/2 hours a
day; the latter takes dictation from the editorial writers and various
other correspondents for part of the day. The remainder of their
time is spent working at the files in the office of the publisher's private
secretary. Since it does not appear that their duties relate directly
to the problem of labor relations, we shall include them .9
The Company would exclude the librarian in the editorial depart-
ment on the ground that his status is the same as that of the other
supervisory employees whom we have hereinabove excluded; the Guild
would include him. The librarian, Albert A. Mason, files material
which conies into the office, gets out material wanted by reporters and
editors, and supplies information to the public. Although he leaves
instructions for two night library clerks, he does not have super-
visory authority under, the Board's customary definition thereof. We
shall include him.
The Company would exclude the Retail Ad-Viser editor on the
ground that she is an employee of the advertising department rather
than of the promotion department; the Guild would include her.
The Retail Ad-Viser editor, Mary E. Putnam, works in the promo-
tion department under the supervision of the promotion department
manager, writes free publicity as distinguished from paid advertis-
ing, and her name appears in the time book of the promotion depart-
ment rather than in that of the advertising department. Her only
contact with the advertising department is 'when she is consulted
with reference to a publicity story after an advertising contract has
been signed. Inasmuch as she appears to be an employee of the
promotion department and has no supervisory authority under the
Board's customary definition thereof, we shall include her.
We find that all employees of the Company's editorial and promo-
tion departments,10 including full-time correspondents, the librarian,
Retail Ad-Viser editor, editorial writers, and employees who substi-
8 See Matter of East Shore Newspapers , Inc., 55 N L R B 992
° See Matter of The Chicago Daily News , Inc, 56 N L R. B 274,
11 Including Bertha E Knowlton and Doi othy L. McMurra; ,
WORCESTER TELEGRAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1123
tute for the various editors,ll but excluding the county editor, women's
page editor, Sunday magazine editor, news editors, city editorb,
sports editors, so-called part-time county correspondents, temporary
or casual county correspondents, and all other supervisory employ'
with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise
effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively 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 among the em-
ployees in.the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
The Company employs a part-time library clerk on the night shift
whom the Guild would exclude and the Company include. This em-
ployee works at least three full shifts per week (24 hours), week in and
week out, and spends the remainder of his time as an employee of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Unlike the part-time county
correspondents whom we have hereinabove excluded, he has regular
hours of employment and is subject to the same general working
conditions as are the other employees who are included in the appro-
priate unit. Inasmuch as he is regularly employed, we are of the
opinion that he has a sufficient interest in the results of the election to
justify his participation therein. Accordingly, we find him eligible
to vote.
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 Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby,
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Worcester Tele-
gram Publishing Company, Inc., Worcester, Massachusetts, an election
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 direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the First Region,
acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board,
"A. Alfred Marcello, Joseph P Clough, Robert Creighton, Frank P. Crotty, Ernest E.
LaBranche, Paul W. Larkin, Walter M. Merkel, William H. Moiles, Jr., Florence Newfield,
Charles H . Chambers , Joseph H Gauthier , Louis Kurzman , James E. Lee , Oscar Silver-
man, Kenneth J. Smith, and Lorraine P. Thibodeau
1124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regu-
lations, 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 Direcfaon, including the part-time library
clerk, 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 them-
selves in person at the polls, 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, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by Newspaper Guild of Worcester,
affiliated with American Newspaper Guild, for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining. o