The Cincinatti Times-Star Co.

In the Matter of THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR Co. and CINCINNATI NEWSPAPER GuiLD Case No. R-34-57.-Decided February 20, 1942 Jurisdiction : newspaper publishing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re- fusal of Company to accord union recognition until it is certified by the Board, election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all'employees of the commercial departments at Company's two offices, including miscellaneous composing-room help, telephone operators, and drivers of supply cars, but excluding the business manager, the advertising director, department heads, assistant department heads, sub-department heads in the circulation department, the general ex- pense or maintenance employees, the secretaries to the business manager, ad- vertising director, and publisher, and the secretaries of the national and local advertising departments ; over Company's objection miscellaneous composing- room help, telephone operators at one of Company's offices, and drivers of supply trucks are included and general expense or maintenance employees excluded; secretaries of the national and local advertising departments who in the course of their work occasionally handle work relating to personnel matters are excluded over union's objection. Mr. John H. Clippinger, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Company. Mr. Julius Holzberg, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Guild. Mr. Ralph Holbert, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On November 27, 1941, Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the Guild, filed with the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Cincinnati Times-Star Co.; Cincinnati, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur- suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On December 22, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section' 39 N. L. R. B., No. 10. 39 40 , DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Re- lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing on due notice. On December 30, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Guild. Pursuant to notice a hearing was held on January 10, 1942, at Cincinnati, Ohio, before Karl Filter, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Guild 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 par- ties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made sev- eral rulings on motions and on objection's to the admission of evi- dence. The Board ' has reviewed the .rulings of the Trial Examiner and-finds that no prejudicial errors were commited. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Cincinnati Times-Star Co. is an Ohio corporation engaged in the publication, distribution, and sale of a daily afternoon news- paper. Its principal offices are in Cincinnati, Ohio, but the Com- pany also maintains advertising, news, and circulation offices in Cov- ington, Kentucky. The Company has an estimated daily circula- tion of 154,000 copies, and, of this, ;amount approximately 30,000 copies are circulated and distributed in States other than the State of Ohio, principally in the States of Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The Company utilizes the full leased wire services of, and furnishes news to, the Associated Press and International News Service. The Company uses approximately 15,000 tons of news- print per year, the cost price of which, based on current- figures, is in excess of $750,000. All the newsprint paper purchased by the Company is received, from manufacturers outside of the State of Ohio., Other purchases of the Company include printing ink, metal, mats, wrapping paper, and twine. The Company carries national, advertising in its newspaper columns. The Company admits that it, is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 11 , i I THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR CO. 41 II. THE ORGANIZATION 'INVOLVED Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, affiliated with the Congress of ' In- dustrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem- bership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to recognize the Guild as the bargain- ing agent for its employees until such time as the Guild is certified by' the Board. - From a report prepared by the Regional Director and introduced into evidence, it appears that the Guild represents a substantial number of employees in the unit claimed appropriate.' We find that a question has arisen concerning the 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 com- merce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Guild requests a unit composed of all employees of the com- mercial departments 2 at the Cincinnati and Covington offices-of the Company, including the miscellaneous composing-room help, but ex- cluding the business manager, the advertising director, department )heads, assistant department heads, sub-department heads in the cir- culation department, telephone operators at Cincinnati but not at Covington, the secretaries to the business manager, advertising di- rector, and publisher, and the general expense or maintenance em- ployees. The Company contends that (1) the telephone operators at Cincinnati and, (2) the general expense or maintenance employees 1 The Regional Director's statement shows that the Guild submitted 91 signed application cards for membership in the Guild These application cards were dated between June and December 1941 and purported to be signed by employees of the Company . Of the 91 cards submitted, 90 appeared to have genuine, original signatures , and 1 appeared to have an orig- inal printed signature Eighty-six of the signatures were of persons whose names appeared on the Company's list of persons within the unit claimed by the Guild to be appropriate. This list bore a total of approximately 175 names. ' R The commercial departments include three main departments-advertising (which has local, national , classified , and display divisions ), circulation, and business office. , ' 42 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD should be included in the unit, but that (1) the secretaries of the_ national and local advertising departments, (2) the miscellaneous composing-room help, and (3) the drivers of the supply cars, who are in the circulation department, should be excluded. In other respects, it agrees with the unit sought by the Guild. A. Telephone Operators The Company' has three telephone operators at the Cincinnati office. The Guild seeks to exclude these employees from the unit because of the allegedly confidential nature of their work. The Guild contends that "we have noticed many times that we were cut in on and we have had reports . . . that the operators were listening in on our conversations" with Guild members. Telephone operators, as a group, are eligible to membership in the Guild and the Guild seeks to include the telephone operators at Covington. We shall include all telephone operators in the unit.3 B. General Expense or Maintenance Employees General expense or maintenance employees include elevator opera- tors, firemen, janitors, and other employees whose work is not charge- able to any particular department of the Company. This group consists of approximately 52 employees. Many of these employees service the entire building, which is occupied only in part by the Company.4 These employees are eligible to membership in the Guild but the Guild seeks to exclude them in favor of existing unions in Cincinnati for maintenance workers., We shall exclude these employees from the,unit. - C. Secretaries of National and Local Advertising Departments The Company seeks to exclude the secretaries of the national and local advertising departments because of the confidential nature of their work. The major portion of their time is devoted to work connected with the head of the department to which they are assigned and in the course of their duties they occasionally handle work re- lating to personnel matters. We shall exclude these secretaries from the unit. i Cf Matter of Chrysler Detroit Company, and Chrysler Corporation and International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, affils- ated wsth the C I. 0, 38 N L R B 313 4 The total available space in the 13-story Tower building including the news room is approximately 100,000 square feet , and of this amount approximately 70,000 square feet is occupied by the Company ' The Company leases the remaining space to tenants It was brought out at the bearing that there are two unions in Cincinnati to represent maintenance workers : the Building Service Employees Union , A. F. of L, and the United Construction Workers , C. I. O. THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR CO. 43 D. Miscellaneous Composing-Room Help Seven men make up the group known as,the miscellaneous com- posing-room help. Their duties include swe ping the floors to sal- vage all metal scrap which they melt for use again , some cleaning work, conveying forms out of the composing and stereotype rooms, filing cuts and mats, handling cuts for stereotypers and printers, and filing corrected copy. One of the men receives and sends copy over the carrier. The Guild seeks to include these employees. No other labor organization is now seeking to represent them. We shall include them within the unit. ' E. Drivers of Supply Cars The drivers of the supply cars, four in number, are classified as part of the circulation department of the Company. Their wori, consists of delivering papers in four light trucks. The Company seeks to exclude them inasmuch as the hours and working conditions of these employees are substantially different from the hours and working conditions of the employees who work in the Tower Build- ing. The Guild seeks to include these employees . No other labor organization is now seeking to represent them. We are of the opinion that they should be included in the unit. We find that all employees of the commercial departments at the Cincinnati and Covington offices of the Company, including miscel- laneous composing-room help, telephone operators , and drivers of supply cars, but excluding the business manager, the advertising director, department heads, assistant department heads, sub -depart- ment heads in the circulation department , the general expense or maintenance employees , the secretaries to the business manager, ad- vertising director, and publisher, and the secretaries of the national and local advertising departments , constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining . We further find 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 will effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. We shall direct that all the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction, shall be eligible to vote. 44 -DECISIONS OF, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 J. A question affecting commerce, has arisen concerning the repre- sentation'of employees of The Cincinnati Times-Star Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, within the meaning of.Section.9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. ,All employees of the commercial departments at the Cincinnati, and Covington offices of the Company including miscellaneous com- posing-room help, telephone operators, and drivers of supply cars, but excluding the business manager, the advertising director, depart- ment heads, assistant department heads, sub-department heads in the circulation department, the general expense or maintenance em- ployees, the secretaries to the business manager, advertising director, and publisher, and the secretaries of the national and local advertis- ing departments,' constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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 Rela- tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and, pursuant to Article III, Section 8,, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Cincinnati Times-Star Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible butt 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, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, in the -commercial departments at the Cincinnati and Covington offices of the Company including miscellaneous compos- ing-room help, telephone operators, and drivers of supply cars, and employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military, service or train- ing of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding the business manager, the advertising director, department heads, assis- L THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR CO. 45 tant department heads, sub-department heads in the circulation department, the general expense or maintenance employees, the secretaries to the business manager, advertising director, and pub- lisher, and the secretaries of the national and local advertising de- partments, and those employees who have since quit or been dis- charged for cause, to determine, whether or not they desire to be represented by Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, affiliated with the Con- gress of Industrial Organizations for the purposes of collective bargaining. . In the Matter of THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR Co. and CINCINNATI NEWSPAPER GUILD Case No. R-3457 CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES March 19, 194. On February 20, 1942, the National Labor Relations Board issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceed- ings? Pursuant to the Direction of Election, an election by secret ballot was conducted on March 4, 1942, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cin- cinnati, Ohio). On March 5, 1942, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, issued and duly served upon the parties an Election Report. No objections to the conduct of the ballot or to the Election Report have been filed by any of the parties. As to the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported as follows : Total on eligibility list------------------------------------- 165 Total ballots cast------------------------------------------ 157 Total ballots challenged ------------------------------------ 5 Total blank ballots - ---------------------------------------- 0 Total void ballots ------------------------------------------ 0 Total valid ballots counted -------------------------- 152 Votes cast for Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, C. I. 0 ---------- 88 Votes cast against Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, C I. 0 ------ 64 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 Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, has been designated and selected by a majority of all employees in the commercial de- 1 39 N L R B 39. 39 N. L. R. B., No. 10a. 46 THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR CO. 47 partments at the Cincinnati and Covington offices of The Cincin- nati Times-Star Co., including miscellaneous composing-room help, telephone operators, and- drivers of supply cars, but excluding the business manager, the advertising director, department heads, as- sistant department heads, sub-department heads in the .circulation department, the general expense or maintenance employees, the secretaries to the business manager, advertising director, and pub- lisher, and the secretaries of the national and local advertising de- partments, as their representative for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act,,Cincinnati Newspaper Guild, affiliated with the Con- gress of Industrial Organizations, is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in re- spect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. 448105-42-vol 39-5