Grand Rapids Typographical Union No. 39

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 29, 1973

204 N.L.R.B. 692 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

692 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Grand Rapids Typographical Union No. 39, affiliated
with International Typographical Union , AFL-CIO
and Grand Rapids Press, Division of Booth Newspa-
pers, Inc. Case 7-CD-278
June 29, 1973
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF
DISPUTE
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING AND
JENKINS
This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, following
charges filed by Grand Rapids Press, Division of
Booth Newspapers, Inc., alleging that Grand Rapids
Typographical Union No. 39, affiliated with Interna-
tional Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, herein called
the Typographers, has violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of
the Act. A duly scheduled hearing was held before
Hearing Officer James P. Lewis on March 26 and 27,
1973.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
All parties, including the Employer, the Typogra-
phers, and Grand Rapids Stereotypers' Union No.
101, affiliated with International Stereotypers' and
Electrotypers' Union, AFL-CIO, herein called the
Stereotypers, which was permitted to intervene, ap-
peared at the hearing and were afforded a full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses , and to adduce evidence on the issues.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Hearing
Officer made at the hearing and finds that no prejudi-
cial error was committed. The rulings are hereby af-
firmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, including the
briefs of the Typographers and the Stereotypers, the
Board makes the following findings:
I THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer, Grand Rapids Press, is a Division of
Booth Newspapers , Inc., a Michigan corporation en-
gaged in the printing and publication of newspapers,
including the Grand Rapids Press . During the calen-
dar year ending December 31, 1972 , the Employer's
gross annual receipts from all sources exceeded
$200,000 . Booth Newspapers , Inc., subscribes to In-
ternational News Services , including the Associated
Press and the United Press International . During the
calendar year ending December 31, 1972, the Em-
ployer purchased paper valued in excess of $50,000
and caused such paper to be shipped directly to its
Michigan location from points located outside the
State of Michigan. The parties stipulated, and we find,
that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act and that
it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert juris-
diction herein.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The parties stipulated, and we find, that Grand
Rapids Typographical Union No. 39, affiliated with
International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, and
Grand Rapids Stereotypers' Union No. 101, affiliated
with International Stereotypers' and Electrotypers'
Union, AFL-CIO, are labor organizations within the
meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III THE DISPUTE
A. Background and Facts of the Dispute
For a considerable period of time prior to the in-
stant dispute, the Employer was engaged in the pro-
cess of changing over from its traditional "hot-metal"
process of newspaper production to a new "cold-met-
al" photocomposition process known as the Meri-
graph, or Merigraph platemaker. The actual changes
in production methods commenced in October 1972.
On December 29, 1972, the Employer notified the
Typographers that it was installing the equipment in-
volved in this new process, and that it had determined
to award the operation thereof, together with the asso-
ciated camera work, as of January 1, 1973 to compos-
ing room employees covered by the current
collective-bargaining agreement between the Employ-
er and the Typographers, effective from April 1, 1971,
to March 31, 1974. The award was by amendment to
that contract. The Employer notified the Stereotypers
of that decision.
Between January 24 and February 6, 1973, the Em-
ployer met with the Typographers scale committee to
advise them that there was a dispute pending involv-
ing the jurisdiction over the camera and Merigraph
process which had been installed at its plant, which
the Employer had awarded to the Typographers and
that, as a result, the Stereotypers had filed a grievance
and demanded an arbitration of the dispute over this
work. On or about February 6, the Employer received
a letter from the Typographers president, informing
the Employer that if it proceeded with the arbitration
there would be a strike, and that the Typographers
would close the Employer's operation. No arbitration
proceeding occurred.
204 NLRB No. 116
GRAND RAPIDS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 39
In the composing room manned by typographers,
the old hot-metal process involved the operation of a
line of hot-metal typesetting machines, some of which
were operated by employees who punched type on
keyboards, and some of which were fed by tapes and
controlled by a monitor between each of the two ma-
chines. The amount of work produced in any given
time depended on the skill of the individual operator.
The composing room employees were responsible for
producing the full-plate pattern plate in metal, locking
it in a metal frame, or chase, and transmitting it to the
stereotypers. The pattern plate might include zinc en-
gravings from a newpaper engraving company or a
plastic mat from a national advertiser. There might
also be a paper mat, also known as a standard matrix,
which the printers would first send to the stereotypers
for the production of a flat cast, of smaller than news-
paper size, and then have returned to the printers for
insertion into the full-page plate.
Under the hot-metal system, the stereotypers were
responsible for casting the full-page pattern plate sent
them by the composing room and shaping it into a
curve for insertion on the presses in the pressroom. In
making a cast, they ran the plate through a molder
with a mat on the top, together with other materials,
so as to produce an image of the plate on the mat. The
mat was then made into a flat casting. On occasion,
newspaper customers submitted full-page mats with
advertisements, in which case the stereotypers would
submit them to the composing room employees for
the insertion of newspaper titles and dates.
The primary purpose of new cold-type system cur-
rently being phased into the Employer's plant is to
produce a pattern plate by means of a photocomposi-
tion process that can be reproduced through the ex-
isting stereotype process. In this cold-type process, the
type characters are punched, without regard to lines
or paragraphs, on a keyboard programmed with two
or three key signals, which in turn produces a tape.
The tape is fed into a photographic instrument known
as a Linotron 505, which places the tape on photo-
graphic paper. The photographic paper is then pasted
up on a full-page paste-out sheet and is then ready for
the camera in making a negative plate of the full
composed newspaper page. The negative is then
transferred to the Merigraph process, which although
in two sections, is considered a single machine. The
first section of Merigraph, through a photocomposi-
tion process, uses the negative plate to produce a
polymer plastic pattern plate, while the second section
washes out the excess polymer from the plate. The
polymer plate is then sent to the stereotypers for cast-
ing. The casting operations for making a base for the
plate remain as before from this point on.
693
B. Work in Dispute
The work presently in dispute concerns the opera-
tion of the new cold-type Merigraph process for pat-
tern platemaking, together with its associated came' a
opeartion.
C. Contentions of the Parties
The Employer and the Typographers contend that
the Employer 's assignment of the disputed work to
employees represented by the Typographers should
be upheld . In that regard, the Typographers urge the
following factors : employer preference , efficiency
and economy of operations , the effect on the crafts
involved , contract provisions , loss of typographers
jobs in the event of an award to employees repre-
sented by the stereotypers, and area practice.
The Stereotypers contends that the work should be
assigned to employees which it represents because of
the following factors: area practice , the effect on the
crafts involved , and contract provisions.
D. Applicability of the Statute
The charge, which was duly investigated by the
Regional Director, alleges a violation of Section
8(b)(4)(D) of the Act. The Regional Director was sa-
tisfied on the basis of such investigation that there was
reasonable cause to believe that a violation had been
committed and therefore directed that a hearing be
held in accordance with Section 10(k) of the Act. On
the basis of the entire record, including the Typogra-
phers threat to picket unless its work assignment de-
mand was met, we find that there is reasonable cause
to believe that a violation of the Act occurred and that
the dispute is properly before us for determination.
E. The Merits of the Dispute
As the Board stated in J. A. Jones Construction
Company,' we shall determine the appropriate assign-
ment of disputed work in each case presented for
resolution under Section 10(k) of the Act only after
taking into account and balancing all relevant factors.
1. Employer preference
The Employer assigned the work, and prefers an
award, to employees represented by the Typogra-
phers. This factor favors an award to employees rep-
resented by the Typographers.
'International Association of Machinists, Local No 1743, AFL-CIO (J A
Jones Construction Company), 135 NLRB 1402
694 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. Job losses
The impact of the substitution of the new cold-type
Merigraph and camera process in terms of job loss
will be felt mostly in the composing room by employ-
ees represented by the Typographers, while the em-
ployees represented by the Stereotypers will be
relatively unaffected. The institution of the new cam-
era and Merigraph system eliminates the hot-metal
hand punch press operations of the typesetters and
would appear to require a reduction in the total Ty-
pographers typesetter force by 50 percent, while an
award of the work to the Stereotypers would further
substantially reduce the typesetter work force. Under
the new process there will be no fundamental change
in the work done by the stereotypers, although it is
expected that the flat cast work they currently per-
form will soon be eliminated. However, by virtue of
an attrition agreement negotiated between the Em-
ployer and the Stereotypers all regular Stereotyper-
represented employees are guaranteed lifetime jobs,
regardless of any technological reduction in the work
they traditionally perform. This factor favors an
award to employees represented by the Typographers.
3. Industry and area practice
Evidence was introduced to establish that the seven
other Booth Newspapers in Michigan have reserved
jurisdiction over the production of direct printing
plates by means of the Merigraph process to the em-
ployees represented by the Stereotypers. However, it
appears that the Employer alone, of all the eight
Booth newspapers, will use the Merigraph process
only to make pattern plates, to be supplied to the
stereotypers for their use in making the traditional
metal printing plate which is installed on the presses.
On the other hand, at the other Booth newspapers the
Merigraph process results in a direct printing for use
on the presses, thus eliminating some of the work
normally required by the Stereotypers in making such
plates. Camera work at all of the other seven Booth
newspapers has been reserved for employees repre-
sented by the Typographers. Inasmuch as the Em-
ployer, unlike the other seven Booth newspapers, has
no present plans for expanding the Merigraph process
to the extent of obtaining additional equipment for
producing direct printing plates, and inasmuch as the
production of direct printing plates has been entirely
a traditional function of employees represented by the
Stereotypers, this factor, by reinforcing the respective
traditional roles of the Typographers and the Stereo-
typers, would tend to favor an award of Merigraph
pattern plate work to employees represented by the
Typographers.
4. Efficiency and economy of operation
The Employer has set up the Merigraph and associ-
ated equipment in the area where the typographers
perform their duties. By having the typographers per-
forming the disputed work, the Employer is able to
use employees on any of the various typographic
functions as they are needed, rather than have some
employees restricted to working solely on other com-
posing room operations. Thus, if the work is assigned
to employees represented by the Typographers, the
Employer is able to shift employees back and forth
among the Linotron 505, other composing work, and
the camera and Merigraph machines. However, if the
work is assigned to employees represented by the Ste-
reotypers, there would be some interruption in the
flow of the work because of the need to send work
from the typographic department to the stereotyping
department and back, decreasing the efficiency of the
operation. This factor favors assignment of the work
to employees represented by the Typographers.
5. Contracts
Although both the Typographers and the Stereo-
typers contend that the language of their contracts
with the Employer requires assignment of the disput-
ed work to employees represented by it, we find, and
the parties agree, that neither the Stereotypers nor the
Typographers contract clearly covers the disputed
Merigraph and associated camera work.'
Conclusions
We have found that in each instance where a factor
favored the assignment of the work in dispute to em-
2 Section S2-012 of the Typographers current contract provides.
In the event any cold type of photoengraving processes are introduced
in the newspaper signatory of this agreement, the Union's jurisdiction
shall include all camera and post camera work including color separa-
tion (excluding the making of separation prints from editorial illustra-
tions), development, opaguing, stripping with negatives , masking and all
other work necessary to process type or other material (whether in the
form of metal , film or other material ) until the job is made up , imposed
or ready for the actual burning in or making of the printing plates. It
is agreed that the making of stereotype cuts or any printing plates for
the press is not included in the Union's Jurisdiction
The January 8, 1973, amendment to the Typographers contract reads in
part as follows- "2-O1 I-The Jurisdiction of the Union is defined as includ-
ing typesetting , makeup, proofing , proof reading and maintenance of all
composing equipment (including any substitute for, or evolution of compos-
ing work , whether in the form of metal , film, paper or any other material)
11
The Stereotypers rely on art 7 of their current contract, which states, in
part , that "The casting, finishing and mounting of all such plates , including
plastic, rubber and electrotype plates . shall be done by journeymen and
apprentice Stereotypers " The Stereotypers contend, and the Typographers
deny, that this language covers the use of plastic plates, whether used as
punting plates or pattern plates, and contains no limitation as to the use to
which they may be applied.
GRAND RAPIDS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 39
ployees represented by one of the parties, it favored
the assignment of the work to employees represented
by the Typographers. Absent any compelling reason,
therefore, for disturbing the Employer's assignment of
the work to employees represented by the Typogra-
phers, we shall therefore determine the instant dispute
by awarding the Merigraph and associated camera
work to employees represented by the Typographers
rather than to employees represented by the Stereo-
typers.3 In making this determination, we are assign-
ing the disputed work to employees who are
represented by the Typographers and not to the Ty-
pographers or its members. Our present determina-
7
Local 9 International Stereolypers' and Electrotypers' Union of North Amer-
ica, AFL-CIO (Detroit Free Press Knight Newspapers, Inc.), 189 NLRB 895
695
tion is limited to the particular dispute which gave rise
to this proceeding.
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, and upon the basis of the
foregoing findings and the entire record in this pro-
ceeding, the National Labor Relations Board hereby
makes the following Determination of Dispute:
Employees employed by the Employer who are rep-
resented by Local 18, International Typographical
Union, are entitled to perform the camera and Meri-
graph work which is performed in connection with the
Employer's operation at its plant in Grand Rapids,
Michigan.