Triangle Publications, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 27, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 1478 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of AMERICAN RACING RECORD, DIVISION OF TRIANGLE
PUBLICATIONS, INC. and CINCINNATI NEWSPAPER GUILD, LOCAL
No. 9
Case No. 9-R-1945.Decided February 27, 1946
Mr. Stewart Hooker, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Stephen Ripley, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Guild.
Mr. S. Roy Remar, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, Local
No. 9, C. I. 0., herein called the Guild, alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of American Racing Record, Division of Triangle Publications, Inc.,
Cincinnati, Ohio, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Herbert J. Hester, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held
at Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 13, 1945. The Company and the
Union appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full
opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs
with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
American Racing Record is a Division of Triangle Publica-
tions, Inc., a Delaware corporation, operating plants in the cities of
New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California;
Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Miami, Florida; Philadelphia,
65 N. L. R. B., No. 242.
1478
AMERICAN RACING RECORD 1479
Pennsylvania; and Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cincinnati plant alone is
concerned in the instant proceeding. The Company is engaged in the
printing and distribution of a periodical devoted exclusively to racing
news and the development and advancement of horse breeding and
horse racing. In the calendar year of 1945, the raw materials pur-
chased at the Company's plant were valued in excess of $25,000, all
of which originated from sources outside the State of Ohio. The
total sales by the Cincinnati plant for that year exceeded $50,000.
Over 35 percent of the materials sold was shipped to points outside
the State of Ohio.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations lct.
11. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, Local No. 9, is a labor organization,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Orgaluzations, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Guild as
the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees
until the Guild has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Guild represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate?
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Guild seeks a unit of all employees of the Editorial and Main-
tenance Department of the Cincinnati plant, excluding the plant
manager and business manager. The Company agrees generally as to
the foregoing unit, but would also exclude the "editor" and the "asso-
ciate editor." -
The Company employs 11 persons in the Editorial and Maintenance
Department, 2 "copy readers," the "handicapper," 6 clerical employees,
and 2 maintenance employees. The Company contends that 1 "copy-
reader," Mr. Silver, is the editor; that the "handicapper," Mr.
Schroeder, is the associate editor; and that they are vested with super-
I The Field Examiner reported that the Guild submitted cards, bearing the names of
10 employees , listed on the Company 's pay roll . There are approximately 11 employees
in the appropriate unit
1480 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
visory authority. The record reveals that the duties of the so-called
editor consist principally of proofreading data and information re-
ceived over leased wire facilities and reassembling such information for
publication, as-well as arranging the physical make-up of each edition.
Judging from the past performance of horses, the "associate editor"
figures the prospective odds for the races in which the horses are en-
tered, and correlates such information. The record reveals that
neither of these employees exercises any supervision over the employ-
ees of the Editorial Department; that all matters pertaining to hiring,
discharging, wage increases, vacations, promotions, and policies are
exclusively under the control of the Business Manager, Mr. Epstein.
We find that neither the "editor" nor the "associate editor" exercises
supervisory authority within the Board's customary definition thereof;
accordingly, we shall include them in the unit.
We find that all employees of the Editorial and Maintenance De-
partment, including the "editor" and "associate editor," but exclud-
ing the plant manager and business manager, and all or any other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein,
subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with American Racing
Record, Division of Triangle Publications, Inc., an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV,
AMERICAN RACING RECORD 1481
above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces
of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls,
but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date
of the election , to determine whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, Local No. 9, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
Mit. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.