News & Observer Publishing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 24, 1953

106 N.L.R.B. 1145 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

NEWS & OBSERVER PUBLISHING CO. 1145
The Employer, a California corporation, is engaged in
receiving and distributing to homes and businesses in Palm
Springs, California, television signals transmitted by certain
Los Angeles television stations which are affiliated with CBS
and NBC. The Employer receives the signals on a master
antenna erected by it, and delivers them to its subscribers
by a system of coaxial cables. The Employer operates under
a 50-year franchise from the city of Palm Springs, which
confers on the Employer the exclusive right to distribute
television signals within Palm Springs, and requires the Em-
ployer to provide service to all applicants in order of applica-
tion, to maintain adequate and efficient facilities and service,
and to submit its rates to the city council for approval. i
So far as appears from the record, during the year ending
May 31, 1953, the Employer made no direct or indirect in-
terstate purchases or sales, except for an item of $750 paid
to an out-of-State law firm.2 During this period, the Employer
received from International Telemeter Corporation, which
owns all the Employer's stock, supplies in the value of
$125,000. The record does not show what part, if any, of this
amount originated out of State, except that an unspecified por-
tion of these supplies consisted of coaxial cable, which was
bought by Telemeter out of State.
Upon the basis of the above facts, we find that the Employer
does not have a sufficient volume of interstate commerce to
warrant the Board's assertion of jurisdiction.' Indeed, the
impact of its operations on such commerce is so negligible as
to be de minimis. Accordingly, we will dismiss the petition.`
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
Member Murdock took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Order.
'The Employer has no license from the Federal Communications Commission.
2 The Employer makes no payments to the broadcasting stations whose signals it receives.
3 This would be true even if we treated the Employer and its parent company, International
Telemeter Corporation, as a single employer for jurisdictional purposes. Telemeter's annual
interstate purchases, direct and indirect, did not exceed $240,000, and its annual out-of-State
sales amounted only to $600, during the period ending May 31, 1953.
4Because of our finding based on the insubstantial nature of its operations in commerce,
we find it unnecessary to determine the nature of the Employer's enterprise, more particularly
whether or not it is a public utility or channel of interstate commerce.
NEWS & OBSERVER PUBLISHING CO. and STEREOTYPERS
& ELECTROTYPERS UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL,
Petitioner. Case No. 11-RC-532. September 24, 1953
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Robert Cohn,
106 NLRB No. 186.
1146 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
hearing officer . The hearing officer ' s rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby af-
firmed.
Upon the entire record in this case , the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce withinthe meaning
of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act , for the
following reasons:
The Employer publishes a daily newspaper, The News and
Observer , in Raleigh , North Carolina . The Petitioner seeks a
unit of all the stereotypers employed by the Employer. In-
ternational Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union, of North
America, Local 120, AFL, herein called the Intervenor, which
was permitted to intervene on the basis of its current contract,
and the Employer contend that only the historical unit of com-
bined pressmen-stereotypers is appropriate.
The Intervenor has represented a combined unit of pres smen-
stereotypers since 1907, the first written agreement having
been entered into in 1922 . At present there are 23 journeymen
and apprentices employed by the Employer in the press-
stereotype department . Of this number approximately 8 journey-
men are classified as being principally engaged in stereotype
work . Two to four of these stereotypers work regularly in the
composing room, which is on the third floor of the Employer's
building . They prepare mats by flat casting . The page size
mats are then sent to the pressroom directly , or after they
have been morticed by the composing room employees, who
are represented by another union. The pressroom is located
on the first floor. It is here that the paper is actually printed.
The stereotypers who work in the pressroom in what is
referred to as the "foundry " complete the stereotyping
process.
The contract between the Intervenor and the Employer
expressly provides that all the employees of the press-
stereotype department shall perform all the work "pertaining
to the operation , maintenance , cleaning and upkeep of the press -
stereotype room equipment ." It further provides for the inter-
change of employees between press and stereotypers' work.
The record reveals that during peak periods, of one-half to
three-quarters of an hour duration, the journeymen engaged
principally in presswork assist the stereotypers in their work
in the composing room on the third floor, and in the "foundry"
in the pressroom . Moreover] in cases of emergency , such as
when the web breaks, the stereotypers will help the pressmen
to get the presses rolling . In addition , the pressmen now do
routing work , a function usually performed by stereotypers.
The record further discloses that all of the employees within
the press - stereotype department are under the same super-
ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY (LANCASTER FLOOR PLANT) 1 147
vision. They receive the same rate of pay as journeymen. It is
also clear that the apprentices are trained in both press and
stereotype work so that when they achieve the status of journey-
men they are competent to perform both types of work. More-
over, it is evident from the record that there has been an
interchange between journeymen doing primarily press or
stereotyper's work either on a long term basis, or for such
periods as are necessitated by vacation schedules and emer-
gencies.
In view of the foregoing, particularly the close integration and
interchangeability of functions of the Employer's stereotypers
and pressmen and the long history of bargaining on the basis
of a unit of stereotypers and pressmen , we are of the opinion
that the limited unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate 1
for the purposes of collective bargaining. We shall, therefore,
dismiss the petition.
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
1Cf. Piedmont Publishing Company, 100 NLRB 246.
ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY (LANCASTER FLOOR PLANT),
and LOCAL NO. 928, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MACHINISTS, AFL and LOCAL NO. 285, UNITED RUBBER,
CORK, LINOLEUM & PLASTIC WORKERS OF AMERICA,
CIO. Case No. 4-RM-140. September 24, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Joseph A.
Weston, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce withinthe meaning
of the Act.
2. Local No. 928, International Association of Machinists,
AFL, referred to herein as IAM, and Local No. 285, United
Rubber, Cork, Linoleum & Plastic Workers of America, CIO,
referred to herein as Rubber Workers, are labor organizations
within the meaning of the Act and claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. The Employer-Petitioner asserts that the employees at
its Shell Shop constitute an appropriate unit, separate from
those presently represented by the lAMand the Rubber Workers.
Each Union contends that its contract with the Employer bars
an election for employees of the Shell Shop.
The Employer is primarily engaged at its floor plant at
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the manufacture of hard surface
106 NLRB No. 191.