McCall Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 14, 1938

8 N.L.R.B. 1087 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter Of MCCALL CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL BROTHER-
HOOD OF BOOK-BINDERS, LOCAL #199
Case No. R-958.-D.ecided September 141, 1938
P,intinq and Publishing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: contro-
versy concerning representation of employees: controversy as to appropriate
unit-Unit Appi opraate for Collective Ban gatining: mailing and shipping, and
addressograph employees, both male and female, excluding supervisory em-
ployees ; functional coherence ; only difference between work performed by male
and female employees based on degree of physical difficulty involved ; organiza-
tion of business-Representatives: stipulation by all parties as to majority-
Cemtiflcatwn of Rep)esentatives: upon basis of stipulation.
Mr. Robert E. Green, for the Board.
Mr. Joseph Bradford Coolidge, of Dayton, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. Joseph 0. Case, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Brotherhood.
Mr. Richard H. Meigs, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On July 6, 1937, International Brotherhood of Book-Binders, Local
#199, herein called the Brotherhood, filed with the Regional Director
for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio) a petition alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of McCall Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, herein called
the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act,- 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On June 16, 1938,
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 Regulations-Series 1,
as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice.
On July 13, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon the
S N L R. B., No 136
1087
1088 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Brotherhood, and upon a group of 14 female employees, herein called
the Female Employees, a labor organization claiming to represent
employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to the
notice, a hearing was held on July 21, 1938, at Dayton, Ohio, before
Webster Powell, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board
The Board, the Company, and the Brotherhood were represented by
counsel' and participated 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 committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company, a Delaware corporation having its principal offices
iii New York City and its manufacturing plant.in Dayton, Ohio, is
engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of dress patterns
and of the following magazines : McCall, Red Book, Blue Book, and
other fashion periodicals. Approximately 1,000 persons are employed
at the Company's Dayton, Ohio, plant.
The principal materials used by the Company in its business are
paper, ink, and plates. For the year ending December 31, 1937, the
Company's purchases aggregated approximately $3,541,600. At least
55 per cent of these materials were shipped to the Company from
points outside the State of Ohio. The value of the products manu-
factured by the Company for the same year amounted to approxi-
mately $8,975,000. Approximately 93 per cent of this amount was
shipped to purchasers in States other than Ohio.
The Company admits that it is engaged in interstate commerce.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Book-Binders, Local #199, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, ad-
mitting to its membership all the employees in the mailing and ship-
ping, and addressograph departments of the Company.
The Female Employees is an independent labor organization con-
sisting of the 14 female employees employed by the Company in its
'The Female Employees did not formally file an appearance. However, three members,
constituting a committee chosen by that organization for the purpose, were present and
testified at the hearing.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1089
mailing and shipping department. These employees are known as
"single wrappers," i. e. employees engaged in the light work of
wrapping magazines in bundles of less than eight.
Ill. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Shortly prior to April 7, 1937, the Brotherhood hetd a meeting
of all the mailing, shipping, and addressograph employees of the
Company. The female employees, however, deemed the proffered
inducements to join the Brotherhood insufficient and determined to
establish themselves as an independent organization for the purposes
of collective bargaining with their employer.
On April 27 , 1937, a committee representing the Female Employees,
presented a petition to the Company and requested it to negotiate a
wage contract covering the employees it represented. The Company
acceded to this request and entered into an agreement pertaining to the
hours and wages of the said employees. The contract by its terms
was to become effective on April 29, 1937, and to remain in effect
until April 26, 1939. Thereafter, the Brotherhood approached the
management and requested that it be recognized as the sole bargain-
ing agent for all employees in the mailing and shipping, and addresso-
graph departments. The management, having previously entered
into a contract with the Female Employees, informed the Brother-
hood that it could not accede completely to its request. During the
negotiations, the management expressed its willingness to recognize
the Brotherhood as the sole bargaining agent for all the employees
in the mailing and shipping, and addressograph departments if a vote
taken among such employees unanimously indicated a preference for
the Brotherhood. Such a vote was taken on several occasions and in-
dicated in each instance that the female single wrappers did not
desire to be represented by the Brotherhood. Subsequent to the last
vote, the Brotherhood, deeming it expedient to hold the question
concerning the inclusion of the female single wrappers in abeyance
for future determination, proceeded in its negotiations with the
Company, and on May 28, 1937, the Company signed a memorandum
agreement in which it recognized the Brotherhood as the sole
bargaining agent for the male employees in the mailing and ship-
ping, and addressograph departments. On June 24, 1937, a further
agreement, in the nature of a closed -shop contract , was entered into
between the Brotherhood and the Company pertaining to wages and
working conditions of the male employees in the aforesaid three de-
partments . By its terms , this latter contract was to be effective from
June 24, 1937 , to April 26, 1939.
1090 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Brotherhood filed the petition in this proceeding for the pur-
pose of finally determining the appropriate unit and the collective
bargaining representative of the employees therein.
We find that a question has arisen concerning 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
In the mailing and shipping and addressograph departments of
the Company there are approximately 90 employees. Approximately
76 of the employees therein are male and are members of the Brother-
hood. The remainder of the employees are the female single wrappers
sought by the Brotherhood to be included in a single unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
The duties performed by the employees, both male and female, are
similar. Magazines received from the bindery are fed into addresso-
graph or stencil machines, taken off, and wrapped. Where the work
is of a strenuous nature requiring physical strength, as in the case
of handling heavy magazines, the operations of feeding and removing
the magazines are performed by men. On smaller publications, how-
ever, such as the Newsweek, women are employed to feed and remove
the magazines. A similar distinction is made in the wrapping process.
Bundles consisting of more than eight copies are wrapped by men,
while the wrapping of bundles of less than eight copies, the process
known as single wrapping, is performed by the women. Occasionally,
however, the male employees also assist in single wrapping. In gen-
eral, the only difference between the work performed by the male and
female employees in these three departments is based upon the degree
of physical difficulty involved, the women doing a lighter class of the
same type of work performed by the men. All are paid on an hourly
basis and all work 8 hours per day. The Company's mailing and
shipping department, which is one division, occupies a single room in
which employees of both sexes work side by side at tables. Physically,
the addressograph department is separate from the mailing and ship-
. DECISIONS AND ORDERS - 1091
ping department, being located in a different part of the same build-
ing. Functionally, however, the work performed there is closely
related to that performed in the latter department, and is a part of
the same continuous operation.
In general, the only reasons advanced by the Female Employees
for its desires that its members function as a separate unit were that
the Brotherhood "had nothing they could offer," and that the Brother-
hood was "unconstitutional and un-American." Obviously these as-
sertions cannot support a claim for a separate bargaining unit. Nor
can such a claim be founded solely on the distinction of sex, where
the interests and duties of both sexes are identical.
In view of all the circumstances of the case, we are unable to find
that the female single wrappers constitute a separate unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining although we have made a
contrary finding with respect to female bindery workers in Matter of
J. J. Little & Ives Company and Bindery Women's Union Local
No. 43.2 In that case we were impelled by considerations not present
in the instant case. There the International Brotherhood of Book-
Binders had recognized a distinction between the male and female
employees by organizing them into separate locals. Furthermore, the
International Brotherhood had made no claim to a single unit cover-,
mg both sexes of employees prior to negotiations with the employer.
The circumstances of that case clearly revealed that the parties had
precluded the adoption of a unit which under normal circumstances
would have been appropriate.
In this proceeding and throughout prior negotiations, however,
the Brotherhood always urged the appropriateness of a single unit as
broad as its eligibility requirements, which do not exclude female
employees. In addition, it attempted to bargain for both the men and
the women. On the basis of these facts we cannot conclude either from
the nature of the work involved or from the settled organization of
the employees, that the female single wrappers should be excluded
from the appropriate unit.
The record contains no indication as to whether or not the Brother-
hood admits supervisory employees to its membership. In accord-
ance with our usual practice in such cases, we will exclude supervisory
employees from the bargaining unit.
We find that the Company's mailing and shipping, and addresso-
graph employees, both male and female, excluding supervisory em-
ployees, constitute a single unit appropriate- for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining, and that said unit will insure to the employees
of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization
2G N I, R B. 411
117213-39-vol. 8-70
1092 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies
of the Act:
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
It was stipulated by the Company, the Brotherhood, and the Fe-
male Employees that the Brotherhood's members constitute a majority
of all the employees in the Company's mailing and shipping and
addressograph departments, including the female single wrappers.
We shall find accordingly.
We find that the Brotherhood has been designated and selected by
a majority of the employees in the unit which we have found appro-
priate as their representative for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing. It is, therefore, the exclusive representative of all the employees
in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, and we will
so certify.
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 McCall Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, within
the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Company's mailing and shipping, and addressograph em-
ployees, both male and female, excluding supervisory employees, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
3. International Brotherhood of Book-Binders, Local # 199, is
the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section
9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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 1, as amended,
IT Is HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Brotherhood of Book-
Binders, Local #199, has been designated and selected by a majority
of the mailing and shipping, and addressograph employees, exclud-
ing supervisory employees, of McCall Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, as
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1093
their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that,
pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act, International
Brotherhood of Book-Binders, Local #199, is the exclusive represent-
ative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining
in respect to rates of p iy, wages, hours of employment, and other
conditions of employment.
Mn. EDWIN S. SMITH took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Certification of Representatives.