The Kansas City Star Co.

J In the Matter of THE KANSAS CITY STAR COM PANY and GREATER KANSAS CITY NEWSPAPER GUILD, LOCAL 36, CHARTERED BY AMERICAN NEWSPAPER GUILD, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Case No. R-41714.-Decided February 8, 1943 Jurisdiction : newspaper publishing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : recog- 'riition refused on ground that unit sought-was inappropriate; consent elee- -tion held less than five months before in which two-thirds of votes cast were against the union held not to preclude present petition when union presented a substantial number of authorizations; election necessary Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of company's radio sta- tion, with specified inclusions and exclusions, held an appropriate unit, not- withstanding' prior consent election agreement that a unit of editorial depart-, ment and radio station employees was appropriate. Mr. Carl E. Enggas, of Kansas City, Mo., for the Company. 'Mr. Harry C. Clark and Mr. Kenneth H. Clark, of Kansas City,. Mo., for the Union. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the, Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Greater Kansas City Newspaper Guild,, Local 36, chartered by American Newspaper Guild, affiliated With the C. I. 0., herein called the Union , alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Kansas City Star Company, Kansas City, Missouri , herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an, appropriate hearing upon due notice before Eugene R. Melson, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Kansas City , Missouri, on De- cember 30 and 31, 1942 ., The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and Were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to, examine and cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bear-' ,in-g on the issues. At various stages of the hearing , counsel for the. Company moved to dismiss the petition . The Trial- Examiner re- 47 N. L. R. B., No. 50. 386 THE KANSAS CITY STAR COMPANY 387 served rulings. The motions are hereby denied. The Trial Exam- iner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. On January 14 and 15, 1943, respectively, the Company and the Union filed briefs which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Kansas City Star Company is a Missouri corporation with its principal place of business at Kansas City, Missouri , where it is en- gaged in the business 'of publishing morning, evening, and weekly newspapers and operating a radio station known as IVDAF. During the 12-month period, preceding October 1, 1942, the monthly average daily circulation for the newspapers published, by the Company amounted to approximately 1,400,000 copies. The Company distrib- utes its newspapers principally in the States of Missouri and Kansas. Station AVDAF broadcasts 'Programs which are heard in the States of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Greater Kansas City Newspaper Guild, Local 36, chartered by American. Newspaper Guild, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership em- ployees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On October 10, 1942, the Union requested thesCompany to recog- nize it as exclusive representative of certain of the Company's em- ployees. The Company refused this request on the ground that the employees claimed ' by the Union do not constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. On April 6, 1942; the Company and the Union entered into a con- sent election agreement. Pursuant thereto an election was held re- sulting in a vote of 115 against the Union and 68 for the Union. On August 28, 1942, the Union filed its petition herein. The Com- pany contends that because of the short interval since the consent election, the Board should not now entertain a second petition filed by the same union. The record in this proceeding indicates that the Union has at tl present time secured authorizations of a substantial 388 . DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD number of the Company's employees 1 in the unit which we find to be appropriate hereinafter. For reasons appearing hereafter, we be- lieve that the policies of the Act will best be effectuated by holding an election without further delay in order that employees of the Com- pany may, if they so desire,, designate the Union as their epresenta- tive for purposes of collective bargaining. 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 Union contends that all employees of Radio Station WDAF of the Company, excluding the radio station manager, assistant man- ager, sales manager, technicians, musicians, and persons appearing on WDAF programs, constitute an appropriate unit., The Company con- tends that all the editorial department employees of the Company and employees of Radio Station WDAF constitute a single appropri- ate bargaining unit. In any event, the Company contends that the assistant manager and sales manager of Station WDAF should be included in any unit that might be found appropriate. As stated above, on April 6, 1942, the Company and the Union entered into a consent election agreement. The parties there agreed that all employees of the Company working in its editorial depart- ment and Radio Station WDAF, with specified exclusions, constituted an appropriate bargaining unit. The Company contends that such agreement is binding upon all parties at the present time and that the petition should be dismissed because the unit requested by the Union in the instant proceeding is therefore inappropriate. Radio Station WDAF is operated as a separate department of the Company and, although the employees of the radio station are carried on the same pay roll as the editorial employees, there is no interchange of personnel between the departments. The record in- dicates that the work of the employees of the editorial and radio de- partments is dissimilar. The commercial department employees of the Company, who are not involved herein, have more in common with the radio station employees than does the editorial department personnel: We are not convinced that the prior agreement of the parties upon a unit of editorial department and radio station employees precludes the Board from now finding that a unit confined to radio 1 A statement of it Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into evidence at the hearing, shows that the Union presented 8 membership application cards bearing apparently genuine signatures of persons whose' names appear on the Company's pay roll of October 1, 1942. There are approximately 18 employees in the appropriate unit. THE KANSAS CITY STAR COMPANY 389 station employees is appropriate. In order to make collective bargain- ing an immediate possibility and thereby effectuate the policies of the Act, we have frequently found that an appropriate unit may consist of employees in an identifiable group beyond which effective self- organization has not yet extended, without thereby precluding a later finding of a broader unit coextensive with subsequent organization. In the present case, it is clear that the radio station employees are an identifiable group with many interests in common. They have indicated their desire to have the Union represent them for purposes of collective bargaining. So far as appears, the Union' does not now have a substantial representation among the editorial department employees. Under these circumstances no hood purpose would be' served by requiring the radio station employees to forego their right to self-organization and collective bargaining through the Union merely because the Union at one time sought to include them with editorial department employees. We find that a unit limited to radio department employees of the Company is appropriate at this time. As stated above, the Union contends that the assistant manager and sales manager of the radio station should be excluded from the unit and the Company urges that they be included. The record in- dicates that neither the assistant manager not time sales manager exercise any supervisory authority and were included among the em- ployees eligible to vote in the election held pursuant to the consent 'election agreement. We find that the assistant manager and sales manager should be included in the unit. We find that all employees of Radio Station WDAF of the Com- pany, including the assistant manager and sales manager, but exclud- ing the manager, technicians, musicians, and all persons appearing on WDAF programs, constitute a unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation can best be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot. The Union contends that eligibility to vote should be determined by the pay roll imme- diately preceding August 28, 1942, the date of its petition. The Com- pany urges that a current pay roll be used for that, purpose. Inas- much as no reason appears why we should depart from our usual practice, we shall direct that the employees eligible to vote shall be- those within the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. 390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 2, as amended , it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Kansas City Star Company, Kansas City, Missouri, 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, acting ,in,this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll,period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including any such 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 any who have since quit or been discharged-for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Greater Kansas City Newspaper Guild, Local 36, chartered by American News- paper Guild, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. Wm. Al. LEISEI SON took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.