Neo-Gravure Co. of Chicago

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 10, 1940

24 N.L.R.B. 524 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of NEO-GRAVURE COMPANY OF CHICAGO and CHICAGO
PAPER HANDLERS' UNION, LOCAL NO. 2, AFFILIATED WITH INTER-
NATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN & ASSISTANTS' UNION (A. F. OF L.)
Case No. R-1852.-Decided June 10, 1940
Rotogravure Printing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy
concerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to recognize union
until definite proof of majority-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining:
all persons employed as paper handlers , including foremen, but excluding other
supervisory employees , clerical employees , and extra help; stipulation as to-
Representatives : proof of choice : employer conceded Union's claim of majority-
Certification of Representatives : upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Charles F. McErlean, for the Board.
Mr. Albert A. Port, for the Company.
Mr. William J. Granata, for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On February 16, 1940, Chicago Paper Handlers' Union, Local No.
2, affiliated with International Printing Pressmen & Assistants' Union,
herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Thir-
teenth Region (Chicago, Illinois), a petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Neo-Gravure Co. of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, herein called
the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of rep-
resentatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On April 13, 1940,
the Union filed an amended petition with the Regional Director. On
May 11, 1940, 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, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized
the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
24 N. L. R. B., No. 50.
524
NEO-GRAVURE COMPANY 525
On May 14, 1940, 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 May 22,1940, at Chicago,
Illinois, before Earl S. Bellman, the Trial Examiner duly designated
by the Board. The Board, the Company, and the Union were rep-
resented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full oppor-
tunity 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. 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 FACTS
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Neo-Gravure Co. of Chicago is an Illinois corporation having its
offices and plant in Chicago, Illinois, where it is engaged in the busi-
ness of rotogravure printing. The Company uses approximately 78
carloads of paper a month, approximately all of which is purchased
outside the State of Illinois by the Company's customers. Approxi-
mately 50 per cent of the Company's production is shipped by it to
points outside the State of Illinois. The Company employs approxi-
mately 266 employees, 23 of whom are paper handlers.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Chicago Paper Handlers' Union, Local No. 2, affiliated with Inter-
national Printing Pressmen & Assistants' Union, is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting
to membership all persons employed by the Company as paper han-
dlers including foremen, but excluding other supervisory employees,
clerical employees, and extra help.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Prior to the filing of the petition herein, the Union requested the
Company to bargain with it as the representative of a majority of
the Company's employees in the unit which the Union claims to be
appropriate. The Company and the Union could not agree upon a
method of resolving the Union's claim to a majority.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
526 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 Union and the Company agreed at the hearing, by stipulation,
that all persons employed as paper handlers at the Chicago plant of
the Company, including foremen, but excluding other supervisory em-
ployees, clerical employees, and extra help, constitute an appropriate
bargaining unit. We see no reason for departing from such unit.
We find that all persons employed as paper handlers at the Chi-
cago plant of the Company, including foremen, but excluding other
supervisory employees, clerical employees, and extra help, 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
At the hearing, the Union claimed to represent a majority of
the employees in the appropriate unit and submitted for inspection
12 membership cards in support of its claim. Counsel for the Com-
pany inspected the cards, satisfied himself as to their authenticity,
expressly conceded on behalf of the Company that the Union repre-
sented a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit, and stated
that the Company did not desire an election prior to certification of
the Union by the Board.
We find that the Union has been designated and selected by a ma-
jority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representa-
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the
exclusive representative of all 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 Neo-Gravure Co. of Chicago, Chicago, Illi-
NEO-GRAVURE COMPANY 527
nois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All persons employed as paper handlers at the Chicago plant of
the Company, including foremen, but excluding other supervisory
employees, clerical employees, and extra help, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Chicago Paper Handlers' Union, Local No. 2, affiliated with
International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union, is the ex-
clusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses 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 Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and
9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 2, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Chicago Paper Handlers' Union, Local
No. 2, affiliated with International Printing Pressmen & Assistants'
Union and the American Federation of Labor, has been designated
and selected by a majority of all persons employed as paper handlers
at the Chicago plant of Neo-Gravure Co. of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois,
including foremen, but excluding other supervisory employees, clerical
employees, and extra help, as their representative for the purposes of
collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act,
Chicago Paper Handlers' Union, Local No. 2, affiliated with Interna-
tional Printing Pressmen. & Assistants' Union and American Federa-
tion of Labor, is, the exclusive representative of all such employees
for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.