National Color Printing Co., Inc.

In the Matter of NATIONAL COLOR PRINTING COMPANY, INC. and CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS and INTERNATIONAL PRINT- ING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANT'S UNION OF N. A., LOCAL No. 61, and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOOKBINDERS, LOCALS No. 94 AND No. 123 Vases Nos. 5-R-2330, 5-R-2337, and 5-R-2365.-Decided July 11, 1,946 Mr. Everett L. Buckmaster, of Baltimore, Md., for the Company. Messrs. Frank J. Bender and Robert J. Brylke, both of Baltimore, Md., for the C. 1. 0. Messrs. John S. McLellan, C. V. Ernest, and Edward Meyer, all of Baltimore, Md., for the Pressmen. Mr. Joseph J. Wolfe, of Baltimore, Md., for the Bookbinders. Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon separate petitions duly filed by Congress of Industrial ,Organizations, herein called the C. 1. 0., International Printing Press- men and Assistant's Union of N. A., Local No. 61, herein called the Pressmen, and International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, Locals No. 94 and No. 123, herein collectively called the Bookbinders, each alleg- ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of National Color Printing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate consolidated hearing upon due notice before Earle K. Shawe, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Baltimore, Maryland, on May 16, 1946. The Company, the C. I. 0., the Pressmen, and the Bookbinders appeared and partici- pated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear- ing 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 : 69N L. R. B., No 45 395 396 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL _ LABOR RELATIONS BOARD FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF 1 HE COMPANY National Color Printing Company, a Maryland corporation en- gaged in the manufacture of labels, maintains its principal office and sole plant in Baltimore, Maryland. Annually, the Company pur- chases raw materials, consisting of paper and ink, valued in excess of $250,000, of which approximately 90 percent is received from points outside the State of Maryland. Annually, the Company sells finished products valued in excess of $500,000, of which approximately 75 per- cent is shipped to points outside the State of Maryland. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Congress of Industrial Organizations is a labor organization admit- ting to membership employees of the Company. International Printing Pressmen and Assistant's Union of N. A., Local No. 61, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, Locals No. 94 and No. 123, are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the C. I. 0., the Pressmen, or the Bookbinders, as the exclusive bargaining representa- tive of the employees in the unit each of these labor organizations claims is appropriate, until each has been certified by the Board. We find that questions affecting commerce have 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The C. I. O. seeks a comprehensive unit of all employees engaged in the Company's press room and varnish department, and the cutting and wrapping department and box department (including the ship- ping clerk), including the chauffeur, the laborers and the maintenance man, but excluding employees in the lithographic department, office clerical employees, foremen and all other supervisory employees. The Pressmen seeks a craft unit of all employees in the press room and NATIONAL COLOR PRINTING COMPANY, INC. 397 varnish department , including the maintenance men, foreman and assistant foreman , but excluding office clerical workers , all employees in the cutting and wrapping department and box department (includ- ing the shipping clerk ), the chauffeur and the laborers , employees in the lithographic department , and the superintendent . The Book- binders seeks a craft unit of all employees in the cutting and wrapping department and box department (including the shipping clerk), in- cluding the chauffeur, the laborers, the foreman and foreladies, but excluding office clerical employees , employees sought by the Pressmen, lithographic department employees , and the superintendent. The Company takes no position with reference to the appropriate unit. Except for the employees in the lithographic department , who are not sougbt, by any of the unions involved in this proceeding , there has been no previous history of bargaining at the Company 's plant. The Company operates two 2 -story buildings in Baltimore . known as 916 and 930 East Monument Street, the second floors of which are con- nected by an overhead causeway . The second floor of 930 East Monu- ment Street houses the lithographic department . All the employees sought by the Pressmen are housed in 916 East Monument Street. One room on the first floor of 916 East Monument Street comprises the box department , the employees of which are sought by the B ;ok- bnnders. And the remainder of the employees whom the Bookbinders seeks to represent are located on the first floor of 930 East Monument Street. Employees in the press room are engaged in the printing of labels by the letter -press method. After the employees in the press room perform their functions . the labels are sent to the varnish department, where they are given their glossy finish by use of varnishing machines. As noted above, the Pressmen seeks a unit basically comprised of the employees in the press room and varnish department. The labels, which are produced in large sheets, are then sent to the cutting department , where they are first cut into strips and then into individual labels . The individual labels are then assorted , wrapped, piled on skids, and "pushers" then place them in containers , prepara- tory to shipment . Employees engaged in the foregoing functions comprise the bulk of the unit desired by the Bookbinders. The technical training required before certain employees in the press room desired by the Pressmen can satisfactorily perform their duties varie, from 1 to 3 years for a hand feeder, to 3 to 6 years for the pressmen who operate the 'Nliehle printing presses . And it is obvious from the facts above set forth that the operations in the press room and varnishing department are closely allied. Moreover, there is a single foreman who supervises the activities of the press room and varnish department. 398 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Employees in the cutting and wrapping department, who are sought by the Bookbinders, are also required to have special skills. Further- more, they, too, are separately supervised. In addition, the activities of the box department are intimately related to the operations of the cutting and wrapping department. There is no interchange of em- ployees between the press room and varnish department on the one hand, and the cutting and wrapping department and box department on the other. It is clear that the Company conducts its operations as an integrated enterprise, and that the inclusive unit urged by the CIO would be, feasible for collective bargaining purposes. But it also appears that the employees sought by the Pressmen and the Bookbinders constitute separate, functionally coherent, and homogeneous groups, capable of bargaining in segregated units. Therefore, our determination of the appropriate unit or units in these circumstances will depend, in part, upon the desires of the employees themselves as expressed in the elec tions which we hereinafter direct. We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among the Company's employees in each of the following groups who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the hnntatlmns and additions set forth in the Direction : Group 1. All employees engaged by the Company in its press room and varnish department, including the maintenance man,' and the press room and varnish department foreman and assistant foreman,2 but excluding office clerical employees, employees in the cutting and wrapping department and box department (including the shipping clerk), the chauffeur and laborers, lithographic department employees, and the superintendent. Group 2. All employees engaged by the Company in its cutting and wrapping department and box department (including the shipping clerk), including the chauffeur and laborers,3 and the cutting and wrapping department foreman and foreladies, but excluding office clerical employees, the employees included in Group 1, above, of litho- graphic department employees, and the superintendent. The maintenance man spends the major portion of his working time in the press room, and his interests are thus allied with those of the other employees sought by the Pressmen. 2 The Board has customarily included foremen in craft groupings in the printing industry. See Matter of Master-Craft Corporation, 60 N. L R. B. 56. 3 The chauffeur and laborers spend the bulk of their working time in the cutting and crapping department, and their interests are, therefore, related to those of the other employees sought by the Bookbinders. NATIONAL COLOR PRINTING COMPANY, INC. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 399 By virtue of and pursuant to 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 National Color Printing Company, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, separate elections 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 Fifth Region, acting in, this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article lII, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula- tions, among employees in the voting groups described 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, (1) to determine whether the employees in Group 1, de- scribed in Section IV, above, desire to be represented by International Printing Pressmen and Assistant's Union of N. A., Local No. 61 or by Congress of Industrial Organizations , for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither ; and (2 ) to determine whether the employees in Group 2, described in Section IV, above, desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, Locals No. 94 and No. 123, or by Congress of Industrial Organizations , for the purposes of col- lective bargaining, or by neither.