Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' UnionDownload PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsNov 30, 1970186 N.L.R.B. 981 (N.L.R.B. 1970) Copy Citation NEWSPAPER AND MAIL DELIVERERS' UNION Newspaper and Mail Deliverers ' Union of New York and Vicinity and Dow Jones and Company , Inc. and I)onson's Express , Inc. and Newark Mailers' Local 11, International Typographical Union , AFL-CIO. Case 22-CD-167 November 30, 1970 DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING AND JENKINS This is a proceeding pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, following charges filed on May 18, 1970, by Dow Jones and Company, Inc., herein called the Employer, alleging that Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' Union of New York and Vicinity, herein called the Deliverers, had violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act by engaging in certain proscribed activity with an object of forcing or requiring the Employer to assign certain work in dispute to employees represented by the Deliverers, rather than to employees represented by Newark Mailers' Local 11, International Typographical Un- ion, AFL-CIO, herein called the Mailers. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Gerald Kobell on July 20, 21, and 22, 1970. All parties appeared at the hearing and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross- examine witnesses, and to adduce evidence bearing on the issues. The rulings of the Hearing Officer made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer and the Deliverers have filed briefs which have been duly considered. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following findings: 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Dow Jones and Company, Inc., is engaged, inter aha, in the publication of the Wall Street Journal, a financial newspaper. It has gross annual revenue in excess of $1 million, holds membership in interstate news services, and advertises nationally sold prod- ucts. We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert junsdiction herein. ii. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 981 The parties stipulated, and we find, that the Mailers and the Deliverers are labor organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. III. THE DISPUTE This proceeding arises out of a dispute concerning work assignments made by the Employer at a new publishing plant in South Brunswick, New Jersey, with regard to: (1) operating automatic wire-tying machines for newspapers destined for delivery to wholesalers and newsstands, but not when destined for mail delivery; (2) all work in the mailroom once copies either for newsstand or mail subscription leave the tying machines and pass on conveyors to the loading platform; and (3) the delivery of newspapers from the plant, including deliveries to the United States Post Office. A. Background Until about the middle of 1963, the Employer operated a plant in New York City for the printing of the Wall Street Journal. During the time it published in that city, the Employer divided jurisdiction in its mailroom between employees represented by the Mailers and the Deliverers, respectively. For example, if newspapers were destined for bulk delivery to the post office, mailers handtied the bundles with twine; if the newspapers were intended for delivery to wholesale or retail outlets, deliverers did the tying work. Mailers wrapped and addressed copies intend- ed for individual subscribers, placed them in a bag, and then handed over the bag to deliverers who tightened a rope on the bag and placed the bag on a chute leading to the loading platform. From the loading dock deliverers transported the bags to designated terminals, depots, or post offices. When the Employer discontinued its printing plant in New York City, it received copies of the Wall Street Journal from its Chicopee, Massachusetts, plant for distribution in the New York area. As a result of the new situation, the Employer and Mailers entered into a collective-bargaining contract in 1963 which con- tains a clause providing as follows: It is agreed that with the cessation of printing in the publisher's New York, N.Y., plant on or about July 1, 1963, the jurisdiction of the Union shall be limited to the transfer and delivery of papers to wholesalers or news companies which are intended for newsstand sales distribution within the geo- graphic limits of the Union's territorial coverage as set forth in Section I for deliveries to buildings in Manhattan. Such transfers and deliveries shall be made as directed by the publisher from a point or 186 NLRB No. 144 982 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD points within the metropolitan area to selected destinations. The Union further agrees it has no claim to the handling of subscription copies of the publisher's publications entered as mail through the United States Post Office. This clause has been continued in all subsequent collective-bargaining contracts between the same two parties, including the most recent contract which expired prior to the hearing herein. In accordance with this contract provision, newspa- pers intended for newsstand distribution in the New York area are transported by contract carrier from the Chicopee plant to various drop points in New York and environs, where they are picked up by employees of the Employer represented by the Deliverers and transported to wholesalers for further distribution. Early in 1970, the Employer opened a new regional publishing plant in South Brunswick, New Jersey, which was intended initially to supply newspapers for mail distribution within the greater New York and Philadelphia areas. As part of the new plant, the Employer installed a mailroom which contains stacking machines which automatically arrange pa- pers in piles, tying machines which encircle stacks of paper with wire by an automatic process, and conveyors which move the papers from the presses to the various machines and ultimately to the loading platform. To man the mailroom the Employer hired nine employees whom it trained to operate and maintain the mailroom equipment. In order to make mail deliveries, the Employer entered into an arrangement with the United States Post Office for delivery under a procedure known as an "honorary star route." Under this arrangement, the Post Office secures bids from private trucking companies and selects the lowest responsible bidder. This bidder then contracts with the Post Office patron for the receipt of newspapers at the patron's place of business and delivery to appropriate post offices. In accordance with the foregoing, the Employer con- tracted with Donson's Express, Inc., to operate the required star routes and assigned the mail delivery work to the approximately five drivers employed by Donson's. These men began their work on May 17, 1970.i About May 12, 1970, the Employer received a demand from the Mailers for recognition as bargain- ing representative of the mailroom employees. Fol- lowing a check of the authorization cards which showed that the Mailers represented a majority of the mailroom employees, the Employer extended recogni- tion to that organization. On May 15, 1970, Carl Levy, president of the 1 On June 29 , 1970, the Employer entered into a similar arrangement with another trucker , Puskus & Reed 2 The Deliverers contention that there is no jurisdictional dispute Deliverers, met with officials of the Employer and demanded that members of his union perform all work at the South Brunswick plant which they had formerly performed at the New York City plant. Levy threatened a strike unless his demand was met. The Employer refused the demand at another meeting held on May 17. The Deliverers then established a picket line at the South Brunswick plant and its members employed to deliver the newspapers in New York City did not report for duty at their customary places of work. The picketing and work stoppage ended on May 27, after a petition seeking injunctive relief pursuant to Section 10(1) of the Act was filed in the United States District Court. The parties agreed to preserve the status quo pending resolution of the issues in the present proceeding, whereupon the petition for an injunction was held in abeyance. B. Contentions of the Parties The Employer contends that its assignment of work in the mailroom to employees represented by the Mailers and of the delivery work to employees employed by Donson 's and Puskus & Reed are in accord with established Board criteria and should be affirmed. The Mailers agrees with the Employer's contention that the work in the mailroom should be assigned to its members. The Deliverers contends that the dispute with the Employer is not jurisdictional, and, if it is, the work in dispute should be assigned to employees whom it represents by reason of long- established practice under a collective -bargaining relationship. C. Applicability of the Statute The charges herein allege a violation of Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act. The record shows that on or about May 17, 1970, the Deliverers picketed the South Brunswick plant with an object of forcing the assignment of certain mailroom and delivery work to employees whom it represents. We therefore find that there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of Section 8(b)(4)(D) has occurred, and that the dispute is properly before the Board for determination.2 D. Merits of the Dispute Section 10(k) of the Act requires the Board to make an affirmative award of the disputed work after giving due consideration to all relevant factors. The Board has held that its determination in jurisdictional dispute cases is an act of judgment based upon because the Employer is not a neutral and its difficulty if self-created is without merit NEWSPAPER AND MAIL DELIVERERS' UNION common sense and experience in balancing various factors.3 The South Brunswick plant is a new, highly automated plant. The Deliverers does not now nor has it ever represented employees performing the disputed work at this plant. Its claim to such work is based principally on the practice in the New York plant under long-established collective-bargaining agreements prior to the plant's closing in 1963. This stale practice and bargaining history at another and abandoned plant are not sufficient to outweigh other factors favoring assignment of the disputed work to the employees presently performing such work at the South Brunswick plant. These are: (1) The present employees are as competent as members of the Deliverers in performing the mail- room and delivery work; in fact, no special skill is required to do such work. (2) It is more rational, efficient, and economical to have one set of employees perform all the mailroom work, rather than divide it up among employees represented by two different unions. (3) The general practice among newspapers in the State of New Jersey is for one labor organization to have jurisdiction of all employees in the mailroom; in most cases, the Mailers represents such employees. (4) The assignment of delivery work to employees of Donson's Express and Puskus & Reed relates only to delivery of newspapers to the United States Post Office and not to delivery of such papers to wholesal- ers or newsstand distributors. Since 1963, the collec- tive-bargaining contracts between the Deliverers and the Employer have contained a specific disclaimer by that union of any claim "to the handling of subscrip- tion copies of the publisher's publications entered as mail through the United States Post Office." Thus, the Deliverers has neither a current contract claim to the delivery work nor a recent history of representing employees trucking newspaper copies to the Post Office. Since the preponderant factors favor the Employ- er's present assignment of the disputed work, we shall award such work in accordance with that assignment. 983 Our present determination is limited to the particular controversy which gave rise to this proceeding. In making this determination, we are assigning the disputed work to employees in the mailroom who are represented by the Mailers, and to the employees of Donson's and Puskus & Reed engaged in delivery of newspapers to the United States Post Office whether or not represented by a labor organization, and not to the Mailers or to any other labor organizations. 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 proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board hereby makes the following determination of dispute: 1. Employees employed as mailers, currently represented by Newark Mailers' Local 11, Interna- tional Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, are entitled to perform the work of operating, maintaining, and servicing the automatic wire-tying machines and related conveyor equipment in the mailroom of the Employer's South Brunswick, New Jersey, plant. 2. Employees employed by Donson's Express and by Puskus & Reed are entitled to perform the work of transporting the papers from the Employer's South Brunswick, New Jersey, plant to the United States Post Office. 3. Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' Union of New York and Vicinity is not entitled, by means proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act, to force or require Dow Jones and Company, Inc., to assign the work awarded in paragraphs I and 2 to employees represented by the Deliverers. 4. Within 10 days of the date of this Decision and Determination of Dispute, the Deliverers shall notify the Regional Director for Region 22, in writing, whether it will refrain from forcing or requiring the Employer, by means proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act, to assign the work awarded above in a manner inconsistent with the Board's determination herein. 3 International Association of Machinists, Lodge No 1743 (J A Jones Construction Company), 135 NLRB 1402, 1411 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation