The New Haven Pulp & Board Co.

In the Matter of THE NEW HAVEN PULP & BOARD COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANTS OF NORTH AMERICA, (A. F. of L.), PETITIONER Case No. 1RC--67'5.Decided April 28,1949 DECISION A" DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Sidney A. Coven, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer referred to the. Board a motion of the Intervenor to dis- miss the petition. For reasons hereinafter stated, the motion is denied. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers' in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Membe'r`s Reynolds and Gray]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board" finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in' commerce within the' meaning of ,the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The Petitioner and United Pulp and Board Workers' of America, Local 457, of United Paper Workers' of America; CIO, and" United Paper Workers of America, CIO, hereinafter together called the' Inter- venor, are labor organizations' claiming to, represent employees' of they Employer.. 3. The Intervenor asserts that its current contract with the. Eni! ' ployer covering all the Employer's production and maintenance em= ployees''constitutes a bar to this proceeding. 1liis contract is dated September. 8,,1948;1 the. datei on, which= the Intervenor and Employes . reached an oral' agreement; but it was not signed by the parties until September 13, 1948. On September 8, 1948, the Petitioner by tele- gram notified the Employer of its claim to represent a majority of the Employer's employees, and on September 13, 1948, filed its petition in this case. As the Petitioner's notice to the Employer of its claim of representative status preceded the execution of the contract and was 83 N. L. R. B., No. 34. 268 THE NEW HAVEN PULP & BOARD COMPANY 269 followed within 10 days by the filing of a petition, we find that the contract does not bar a present determination of representatives.' ,A 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. 4. The, Petitioner seeks a unit of all printing pressmen, press as- sistants, feeders and apprentices, all cutting and creasing pressmen and their assistants and apprentices, all die makers and their ap- prentices and all stonemen, excluding all other classifications. The Intervenor contends that the employees sought by the Petitioner may not appropriately be severed from the existing production and main- tenance unit which it represents, because of the integration of the Employer's operations. It adds that the unit requested is, in any event, inappropriate because it comprises more than one distinct craft. The Employer assumes a neutral position. The Employer manufactures paperboard and paperboard cartons in two buildings separated by a railroad spur. In the building where cartons are manufactured, and where the employees sought by the Petitioner are employed, there are several departments; the printing, cutting and creasing, die making, ink mixing, stripping, finishing, and shipping departments. Each of the departments is physically sep- arated from the others, and is separately supervised. The paper- board for those cartons upon which printing is to be done 2 comes first into the printing department. After the printing is done by the print- ingpressmen, they are moved to the cutting and creasing department where experienced pressmen cut and crease the boards by a pressing machine to a certain size with the dies made in the die making depart- ment. From there they, go in turn to the stripping, finishing, and shipping departments. It is clear that the printing pressmen and their assistants and ap- prentices constitute a traditional craft group .3 The record discloses that the machines operated by the cutting and creasing pressmen are in general similar to those operated by the printing pressmen. These -machines are equipped to do -printing, and the cutting and creasing pressmen occasionally use them for that purpose. The cutting and creasing pressmen go through a period of training similar to that of the printing pressmen. We believe that the printing pressmen and ' , the cutting and creasing pressmen together constitute a homogeneous 2Matter of D. L. Bruce Company, 74 N: L. R. B.,1354;, Matter of French Manufacturing Company, 72 N. L. R. B. 1467 ; Matter of U. S. Rubber Co. (Scottsville Plant), 78 N. L. R. B. 632. 2 Not all cartons have printing done on them. Matter of Square D Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 713 ; Matter of Paterson Parchment Paper Company, 80 N. L. R. B. 1378. 270 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD craft group such that they may constitute a separate bargaining unit. In view, however, of their inclusion for several years in a plant-wide unit, we find that they also may appropriately continue as part of this broader unit. We shall therefore make no determination until we ascertain the desires of these employees. The stoneman and the die makers do not, however, appear to be members of the pressmen's craft. The stoneman makes up the forms for use in the printing presses. The die makers prepare the dies which are used in the cutting and creasing presses. As they work under separate supervision and 'are engaged in work which, although functionally related to that performed by the pressmen, nevertheless involves separate and distinct skills, we shall exclude them from the voting group hereinafter set forth. We shall direct that an election be held among all printing pressmen, press assistants, feeders and apprentices, all cutting and creasing pressmen and their assistants and apprentices, excluding all die makers and apprentices, all stonemen, and all supervisors as defined in the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the First Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the voting group described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein- stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Printing Pressmen and Assistants of North America, (A. F. of L.), or by United Pulp and Board Workers of America; Local 457 of United Paper Workers of America, CIO, and United Paper Workers of America, CIO, or by neither.