Hollywood Citizen-News

In the Matter of HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN-NEWS ( CITIZEN-NEWS COMPANY, A CORPORATION ) and Los ANGELES NEWSPAPER GUILD, CIO Case No..'1-R--3055.Decided April 16, 1,946 O'Melveny and Myers, by Mr. Deane F. Johnson, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Katz, Gallagher, and Margolis, by Mr. Milton S. Tyre, of Los Angeles, Calif.; Messrs. J. G. Gladson and Robert Mellicoat, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Guild. Miss Helen Hart, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Los Angeles Newspaper Guild, CIO, -herein called the Guild, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Hollywood Citizen-News (Citizen-News Company, a corporation), Hollywood, California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before .David Aaron, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on October 10, 1945. The Company and the Guild appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to intro- duce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the Company moved to dismiss the Guild's petition because of the inappropriateness of the unit sought. The Trial Examiner referred the motion to the Board. For reasons stated in Section IV, infra, the motion is denied. All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. 67 N. L R. B., No. 51. 363 364 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Upon the entire record in the case,' the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMP ANY The Citizen-News Company, a California corporation, located in Hollywood, California, is engaged in publishing a daily newspaper, The Hollywood Citizen-News; a weekly newspaper circulating free, The Advertizer; and is also engaged in commercial printing and in the operation of a retail stationery store. The Hollywood Citizen- News has a circulation of 29,000, and 2 percent of the total copies printed is shipped outside the State of California. Both the Asso- ciated Press and the United Press maintain teletype machines at the Company's offices and about 15 percent of the reading matter in The Hollywood Citizen-News is collected outside of California and trans- mitted to the Company by these news services ; about 12 percent of the reading material in this paper is furnished by numerous syndicated services originating outside of California; about 121/2 percent of the advertising revenue, which comprises about 51/2 percent of the total revenue, is derived from sources outside the State. The news- print is bought by the Company in British Columbia, Canada, at the rate of 187 tons per month. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean- ing of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Los Angeles Newspaper Guild is a labor organization, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member- ship 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 hear- ing, indicates that the Guild represents a substantial number of em- ployees within the unit alleged to be 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. Subsequent to the hearing, the parties filed with the Boaid a stipulation , which they agreed to incorporate into the record concerning certain positions in the circulation division The stipulation is hereby made part of the record 2 The Field Examiner reported that the Guild submitted 21 membership applications and that there are approximately 32 employees in the alleged appropriate unit. HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN-NEWS IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT 365 The Guild contends that the following unit is appropriate : all cir- culation department employees of the Company, including circula- tion office workers, district managers, and circulation agents, but ex- cluding mailers ,3 newsboys,' the circulation manager, the circulation director, and all other employees of the commercial department .5 In the alternative, the Guild proposes a unit of all circulation agents and district managers. The Company opposes the establishment of either unit, contending that the only appropriate unit is the entire commercial department. The Company stresses the pattern of organ- ization in the newspaper industry to support its position. The Company is divided generally into 3 major departments, fol- lowing the practice in similar companies: the editorial, commercial, and mechanical departments." The commercial department occupies the first floor of the Company's building and all activities relating to advertising, circulation, promotion, general office, and fiscal affairs are carried on in the commercial department. The first floor, in gen- eral, consists of 1 large room with partitions setting apart the offices of executives, telephone operators, cashiers, auditors, and circulation agents, and district managers. In the circulation division, there are about 15 circulation agents, 9 district managers, 2 bookkeepers, 2 secre- taries, 5 clerks, a messenger boy, and usually a spotter.7 The com- mercial department has the additional job categories of cashier, dis- play copy-desk man, statistician, display salesman, phone operator, collector, and collection supervisor. All employees in the commercial department are hired by the business manager after consultation with the head of the particular division in which the man is to be employed. Discharges throughout the whole department are affected by the same procedure. Transfers from 1 division of the department to another are possible if not frequent. Promotions within the commercial de- partment are posted and are open to all employees regardless of the division in which they work. Salary rates and hours worked by all employees in the circulation division with the exception of circulation agents do not differ from those in other divisions of the commercial department. In addition, all employees within the commercial depart- ment are covered by group life insurance and hospitalization service.8 'The Guild and the Company agree that mailers are not a part of the circulation department, 4 The record does not reveal the department of which the newsboys are a part 5 As set forth later, the circulation department is a division within the commercial department. Throughout the record , circulation is referred to as a department within the commercial department . However, the Company , in its brief, states that circula- tion is a division ; therefore, we shall hereafter , for the purpose of clarity, refer to circulation as such 9 Since 1938 , the Guild, under written contracts with the Company, has bargained for all employees in the editorial department 7 At the present time, this position is not filled 8 The record is not clear as to whether circulation agents are participants in the group life insurance plan. 366 DECISIONS OF NA'1IONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD From the categories listed above , it appears that there is little differ- ence between the type of position offered in the circulation division and the type found in other divisions of the commercial department. As we have indicated on other occasions , the work of all employees within the commercial department is highly interdependent and coordinated.9 Circulation agents and district managers have the responsibility of supervising the delivery of the Conrpauny 's newspapers to its sub- scribers . They compute the number of newspapers needed daily in their respective districts, submitting this report to the circulation division; they deliver the papers to the homes of the newsboys or some other convenient delivery point , and supervise the collection of money. They inform carriers of changes in subscriptions , and, in general, perform all duties necessary to insure efficient distribution. Because of the nature of their work, they spend a large percent of their time outside the newspaper office and they work longer hours than other employees of the Company . The circulation agents buy outright all papers sold by them and assume all risks regarding collection of money . They receive no salary but are compensated by the amount by which their collect ; ons exceed expenses. The dis- trict managers , in contrast, do not assume financial risks and are paid a weekly salary by the Company. In all other instances, the duties and responsibilities of agents and managers are the same. Both circulation agents and district managers exercise considerable control over the work of newsboys in their respective districts. In the ordinary course of their business, they have the authority and power to hire and fire newsboys. This authority is subject to review by management and occasionally management exercises this right. While we are cognizant of the fact that the organization in the newspaper industry has tended to be along departmental lines , following the three major departments of a newspaper office, under similar circum- stances we have found a smaller unit of supervisory employees to be appropriate . 10 In view of the fact that agents anti managers in the instant proceeding possess supervisory powers over newsboys, they would necessarily be placed in a unit separate from other employees, if they are to be represented .' Therefore, we are of the opinion that circulation agents and district managers may properly constitute a separate unit. We find that circulation agents and district managers in the cir- culation division of the Company constitute a unit appropriate for °Matter of Triangle Publications, Inc, 45 N . L R B 408, and "tatter of News Syndi- cate Company, Inc , 4 N. L. R. B. 1071. 10 Matter of Seattle Times Company, 47 N L R B 8 11 Matter of Packard Motor Car Company . 61 N L R, B 4 hatter of T. A Young Soling Ware Corporation, 65 N. L . R. B 298, and Matter of Jonee & Laughlin Steel Corporation, 66 N. L. R B. 386 HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN-NEWS 367 the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 1 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 Rela- tions 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 represent- atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Hollywood Citizen-News (Citizen-News Company, a corporation), Hollywood, California, 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 Direc- tor for the Twenty-first Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sec- tions 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among 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 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 represented by Los An- geles Newspaper Guild, affiliated with the CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MR. GERARD D. REILLY, dissenting : It seems to be reasonably certain, and the majority finds, that the employees involved here have genuine supervisory authority. There- fore, I am constrained to dissent in this case for the reasons set forth in my dissenting opinions in Matter of Packard Motor Car Com- pany 12 and Matter of Jones { Laughlin Steel Coppopation.13 61 N I. It B 4 3 66 N L R B 386