Con P. Curran Printing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 11, 1944

57 N.L.R.B. 185 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of CON P. CURRAN PRINTING COMPANY and AMALGAM-
ATED LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 5, AFL
Case No. 14-R 905.Decided July 11, 1944
Messrs. F. M. Curlee and Richard F. Moll, of St. Louis, Mo., for
the Company.
Mr. Benjamin M. Robinson, of New York City, for the Amal-
gamated.
Mr. Anthony W. Daly, of Alton,'I11., for the,Photo- Engravers.
Mr. William R. Cameron, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
,STATEMENT OF THE 'CASE
"Upon petition duly, filed 'by 'Amalgamated, Lithographers of
America; Local No. 5, AFL; herein called the Amalgamated, alleging
that a question affecting 'commerce had arisen concerning representa-
tion of the employees of Corn P. Curran Printing Company, St. -Louis,
Missouri, -herein called the Company, the 'National',Labor Relations
,Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
'Keith W. Blinn, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was' held' at St. Louis,
Missouri, on April, 10 and, 11, 1944. ' The Company, the Amalgam-
ated, and St. Louis_ Photo-Engravers' Union No. 10,, of the Inter-
national Photo-Engravers' Union of North America,, A, F. of L.,
herein called the Photo-Engravers, appeared, participated, 'and 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 preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board. Pursuant to, notice, a hearing
Notice of Hearing was also served upon the Allied Printing Trades Council of St Louis
and Vicinity , an organization which includes as its affiliates the Photo-Engravers and other
unions respectively representing typesetters or compositors , electrotypers and stereotypers,
pressmen and assistants, and employees of binderies and finishing departments Repre-
sentatives of the Allied Printing Trades Council were present at the hearing but did not
participate. •
57N L R B,No 32. ,
185
186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
for the purpose of oral argument was held before the Board at
Washington, D. C., on June 13, 1944. • Counsel for the Amalgamated
and for the Photo-Engravers appeared and presented argument.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: '
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Con P. Curran Printing Company, a, Missouri corporation, is
'engaged 'in the general printing business at its plant located in St.
Louis, Missouri. During the year 1943, the Company purchased raw
materials, consisting principally of 'paper 'stock, ink, metal,` and
chemicals, amounting in value to substantially more than $100,000,
of which more than 50 percent was ,obtained from' points1'outside'the
State of Missouri. During the same period the Company's sales of
finished products exceeded $100,000; more than 70 percent of such
sales represented shipments .to points outside the State of Missouri.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED-
Amalgamated Lithographers of America, Local No. 5, and St.
Louis Photo-Engravers' Union No. 10, of the International Photo-
Engravers' Union of North America, are labor organizations affili-
ated with ,the American Federation of Labor, each admitting to mem-
bership certain employees 'of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letter dated December 28, 1943, the Amalgamated notified the
Company of its claim to represent the Company's employees engaged
in lithographic work, and requested a collective -bargaining con-
ference. The Company refuses to grant such recognition.
The record discloses that for 31 years the Amalgamated Lithog-
raphers of America has been engaged in a jurisdictional dispute
with the International Photo-Engravers' Union of North Ameriba
concerning lithographic platemakers, that this dispute has for a
number of years been before the American Federation of Labor, the
parent body with which both organizations are affiliated, and that
numerous conferences have been held and other attempts made to
settle it, but without success. It was stated at the 'hearing that at
the present time the dispute is being held "in status quo" for the
duration of the present emergency,. We have in numerous cases
refused to entertain 'a petition where the question at issue resolved
CON P. CURRAN PRINTING COMPANY 187'
itself into a jurisdictional dispute between unions both of which are
affiliated with the'same parent body.2 However, where, as in the
present case, the record indicates that the parent organization is
incapable of adjudicating the' controversy, and effective resolution
of the existing conflict cannot be had without resort to the adminis-
trative processes of the Act, we have accepted jurisdiction and pro-
ceeded' to a determination of the question concerning representation.8
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced in evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Amalgamated and the Photo-Engravers
each represents a substantial number of employees in the unit which
it claims, to be 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 Amalgamated seeks a unit composed of all the Company's em-
ployees who perform work in, connection with the lithographic, or
offset, printing process, including employees engaged-in the operation
of offset presses', in the preparation of lithographic plates, and-in the
preparation of copy for lithographic reproduction. The Photo-En-
gravers seeks a unit composed solely of the employees in the Company's
platemaking department. Both unions agree that the classifications
of file clerk, proofreader and lay-out, porters, clean-up men, and non-
working foremen should be excluded from, and that working fore-
men should be included in, the unit found appropriate. The Amalgam-
ated also would exclude, as not engaged in the lithographic process,
an employee in the platemaking department classified as a photo-
engraver, and an employee classified as an electiiotyper ; the Photo-
2 See Matter of Food Machinery Corporation , Anderson -Barngrover Division , 53 N, L. R B.
499; Matter of Timm Aircraft Company, 48 N L R. B 505; Matter of Weyerhaeuser
Timber Company, 16 N L R B'902
3 See Matter of The W H. Kistler Stationery Company , 51 N L. R . B 978 , in which the
jurisdictional dispute involved was that of the Amalgamated with the International Printing
Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, A F of L, concerning lithographic
employees See also Matter of Harbison - lValher Refractories Company, Lower Woodland
Plant, 44 N L. R . B. 343 ; Matter of Harbison -Walker Refractories - Company, 43
N.LBB936
4 The Field Examiner reported that the Amalgamated had submitted 24 authorizations,
2 being undated and the balance dated from November 1943 through February 1944, of
which 21 bore the names of employees on the Company's pay roll of February 28, 1944, in
the unit claimed by the Amalgamated to be appropriate, consisting of 41 names, and 1 bore
the name of an employee on said pay roll in the unit claimed by the Photo-Engravers to be
appropriate, consisting of 16 navies
The Field Examiner further reported that the Photo-Engravers had submitted 16
authorization cards and it petition signed by 10 persons Of the designations, 7 appeared
to be,by employees whose names appeared on the above-mentioned pay roll in the unit
claimed to be appropriate by the Amalgamated and 9 by employees xxhose names appeared
on said pay roll in the unit claimed to be appropriate by the Photo-Engravers.
188 DECISIONS • OF NATIONAL LABOR ,RELATIONS BOARD
Engravers would include-these employees; but would exclude!two em-
ployees in the platemaking department classified as drafting,artists.s
The Company, at the hearing, indicated its position to be that nothing
less than a single unit comprising all of the Company's production
employees, is appropriate.
The Company, as hereinbefore set forth, is engaged in the general
printing business .. Its operations include both letter press and lithos
graphic, or offset; printing, and consist of eight major departments
which, together with a stockroom, shipping room, and general office,
occupy a six-story building and warehouse, constituting the Company's
plant. The operations involved in, the lithographic process are • di-
vided, by reason of limitation of space, between two -floors of this
plant, the, offset presses being located on the second floor ,and the va-
rious steps in the making of lithographic -plates being performed on
the fifth floor . Also, on the fifth floor is a group of typists and proof-
readers, who,are engaged in-the preparation of lithographic copy and
are designated by,the Company as constituting the planograph de-
partment.
„The record discloses that printing by the lithographic process has
long been recognized as. a separate branch of the printing industry.
As distinguished from letter press printing,, which constitutes the
other principal branch, lithography involves printing from a plane
surface and depends for its operation upon a chemical.differei ce be-
tween various portions of the surface of the plate used in making the
impressions Except for the initial step of photographing the image
to be reproduced, each step in the, process of lithographic printing is
separate and distinct from that of letter press.? Throughout the proc-,
ess of preparing, lithographic plates and their use in lithographic, or
offset .presses, special skills, peculiar to the lithographic process, are
required. Likewise, plates prepared for lithographic. printing cannot
be used in letter press reproduction, nor can plates prepared by photo-
-engraving be used in lithographic presses.
By reason of the distinct and separate nature of'lithographic print-
ing, there exists a considerable history of separate bargaining by em-
ployees in the lithographic branch of the printing industry. Although
6 This classification is distinct from that of artists , concerning whose inclusion there is
no dispute.
6 Lithography involves a chemical process whereby ' the portion of the plate not bearing
the image or material to be printed , is made grease -repellant and water-receptive , and is'
first coated with a thin film of water The ink , which contains a greasy base, adheres only
to the remainder of the plate , 1. e., to the portion which is desired to be printed . In con-
tra-distinction to this, letter press printing consists of a mechanical process wherein the
portion of the surface to which the ink adheres is raised
T The record discloses that there are three major processes used in printing typographic
or letter press, lithography or offset, and gravure -or intaglio The latter is the least used
process ,' and is not engaged in by the Company, hence we aie here concerned with only'
the letter press and lithographic processes '
CON.P. CURRAN PRINTING COMPANY 189
in both the lithographic and the letter press divisions, of the industry,
bargaining was conducted originally by separate organizations-limited
to the, various crafts, for approximately 30 years employees engaged
in the lithographic process have been bargained for as a group by the
Amalgamated. The record discloses that throughout the printing in-
dustry as a whole, as well as in ,the St., Louis area, lithographic em-
ployees are now -organized almost exclusively upon an operational,
or so-called "industrial," basis, and are represented by the Amalgam-
ated, rather than by an organization which is limited in its jurisdic-,
tion to a portion of the lithographic process, such as the Photo-En,
gravers., Although the Photo-Engravers contended at the hearing
that for approximately 2 years the employees of the Company's plate-
making department have been bargained for by the Photo-Engravers
as a separate unit, the record discloses that no contract has ever been
executed with the Company as the result of such negotiations, nor
has the Company conceded the appropriateness of a separate `plate-
makers' unit. In view of the almost universal prevalence of the broader
type of organization for collective bargaining in the lithographic
branch of the printing industry, and the differences in skill and-duties
between lithographic employees and those engaged 'in otlier'types of
printing, it is, apparent that employees engaged in the lithographic
process, constitute a distinct group possessing a community of interest
such as to warrant our finding that they constitute a separate appro-
priatelunit for-the purposes of collective bargaining.
There remains for consideration the specific composition of, this
unit. As mentioned above,, question arose at the hearing concerning
inclusion or exclusion-of the following classifications of employees : i
- Photoengraver and electrotyper. One employee in each of these
classifications is engaged' at, work in the - platemakirig department.
The employee who is classified as a photoengraver testified that, al-
though -he is experienced in-most of the skills connected with the mak-
ing of either lithographic or photoengraved plates,, his present
employment is confined almost entirely to work-on photoengraved ma'=
terial, and consists principally of preparing negatives and preparing.
zinc plates and etching them.. The electrotyper's work consists prin
cipally of patching, routing, acid ,mounting' plates- which have been.
prepared by the photoengraver. , Inasmuch as their work is not-con-;
nected with the lithographic process, we shall exclude the photoen-
graver and electrotyper.- . ' • I ,
- Drafting , artists, These' employees; of whom there are two, are
unskilled arid are engaged principally at ruling lines on copy, being
prepared 'for reproduction. They are, however, engaged at work in"
connection with' the lithographic process.' We shall'include the draft-
ing artists in the unit.
190 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Working foremen. We have heretofore, when desired by the par-
ties, included foremen within appropriate units in the-printing trades,"
due to their traditional. representation in the printing' industry. We
shall, therefore, include working foremen 9 in the unit in the instant
case, but shall exclude non, working foremen and all other supervisors.
We find that all employees of the Company engaged at work in con-
nection with the lithographic process, including employees in the
lithographic press, platemakiiig, and planograph departments, and
including drafting artists and' working foremen, but excluding file
clerks, proofreader and lay-out, porters, clean-up men, the photoen-
graver, electrotyper, non-working foremen, and all other supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, -discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom-
mend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Sectioir 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.,amongthe em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Di-
rection.
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 Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it'is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with @on P. Curran
Printing Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 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 direction and super-
,vision of the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and sub-
ject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations,
among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
pr,gceding the date of this Direction,,including employees who did not
8 See Matter of Country Life Press Corporation, 51 N. L . R. B. 1362; Matter of TV. P.
,,all Printting Company, 51 N. L. R. B. 640. 1
The record indicates that this category is composed principally of assistant foremen.
CON P. CURRAN PRINTING COMPANY *1 191
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 any who have since quit or been discharged for cause
.and have not been rehired or•reinstated prior to the date of the elec-
tion, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Amal-
gamated Lithographers of America, Local No. 5, A. F. of L., or by
St. Louis Photo-Engravers Local No. 10 of the I. P. E. U. of N. A.
(A. F. of L.), for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.'