Uarco Inc.

In the Matter Of UARCO INCORPORATED , EMPLOYER and CHICAGO TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION No. 16, PETITIONER Case No. 13-R-3748.-Decided November 7, 1946 Mr. Thomas E. Kiddoo, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer. Messrs. N. M. DiPietro, Thomas Canty, Peter Larkin, and James Cain, all of Chicago, Ill., for the Petitioner. Mr. David C. Buchalter, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago, Illinois, on August 8, 1946, before Erwin A. Peterson, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Uarco Incorporated, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in the busi- ness of specialty printing. The Employer operates several plants in the United States, including a plant located at Chicago, Illinois, which is solely involved herein. During the year 1946, the Employer purchased for use at its Chicago plant, materials valued in excess of $100,000, of which approximately 80 percent represented shipments from points outside the State of Illinois. The Employer's printing work during the same period was valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which approximately 80 percent represented shipments to points out- side the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 71 N. L. R. B., No. 88. 605 606 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with International Typographical Union, which is, in turn, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer? III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act., IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT Petitioner seeks a unit of composing room employees, including proof checkers, press specification 0. K. men, intertype operators, lock- up men, monotype caster operators, compositors, apprentices, the as- sistant foreman, and the foreman, but excluding the metal porter and janitors. The Employer agrees generally with the proposed unit except that it would exclude proof checkers, press specification 0. K. men, the assistant foreman, and the foreman. 1. Proof checkers. There are approximately nine male and five female proof checkers employed in the composing room. The Employer would exclude the female proof checkers 2 on the asserted ground that, because of the specialized nature of its work, the proofreading done by these employees is not typical of that found in a commercial print- ing establishment. The female proof, checkers work on inserts which are to be im- printed on prepared standard forms. These inserts usually contain the customer's name, address, and telephone number and it is the function of these employees to check the proofs of these inserts for errors in spelling and grammar or any other errors. If an error is found, the female proof checker passes the material on to a male proof checker for verification and return to the hand compositor for correction. The male proof checker, in addition, checks the proofs for improper spacing from a printing viewpoint. While the female proof checkers need substantially less training to qualify for their jobs than do the male proof checkers, receive, on the average, 25 cents per hour less than do the male proof checkers, and work on standard forms which are less i Franklin Union No. 4 , and Chicago Printing Pressmen's Union No . 3, affiliated with the International Printing Pressmen and Assistant 's Union of North America, A. F. L, hereinafter collectively called the Pressmen, were served with Notice of Hearing but failed to appear. 2 The Employer originally sought to exclude all proof checkers but at the close of the hearing suggested the inclusion of the male proof checkers. UARCO INCORPORATED 607 difficult to check, the general nature of their-work is similar to that performed by the male proof checkers in that they both check type matter to see that it conforms to the customer's samples. It further appears that both classifications are under the direct supervision of the Employer's two proofreaders and under the general supervision of the foreman of the composing room. As to the relationship between proof checkers and other employees in the composing room, the record shows that their hours are similar, they enjoy the same conditions of work, and are eligible, with all other employees, to participate in the pension and insurance plans maintained by the Employer. It is therefore clear that both male and female proof checkers have a community of interest with the other employees in the composing room of which they form an essential part. In view of the foregoing and the further fact that proofreaders are usually included in the con- ventional unit of employees in composing rooms of printing and pub- lishing companies,3 we will include both the male and female proof checkers in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. 2. Press specification 0. K. men. The Employer would exclude the six employees in this classification from the proposed unit on the grounds that they are stationed in. the pressroom which is located in a different section of the plant, have no contact with the composing room employees and are under the supervision of the pressroom foreman. These employees do line up and 0. K. work, and handle press proofs exclusively; they do not actually put plates on the presses and adjust' them as is done in other printing establishments. In the course of their work, they review sample forms referred to them by'pressmen after the press is set up and ready to run but before the final printing. They check the paper for quality, weight and color and check the press proof to see that all requirements of a press proof are met before they approve it for running on the press. There is no interchange of employees between the pressroom and the press specification 0. K. men. The Employer contends that in establishments in the printing in- dustry which print continuous forms exclusively, as is the case here, the press specification 0. K. men in pressrooms are included in units of pressmen. However, these employees were specifically excluded from the pressmen's unit established at these operations as the result of the election held pursuant to a consent election agreement' between the Employer and the Pressmen. The record establishes further that the Pressmen recognizes the jurisdiction of the Petitioner over these em- ployees even where, as here, they are located in departments separate from the rest of the composing room.5 In view of the foregoing and s Matter of Rudolf Orthwine Corporation, 60 N. L . R. B. 447; Matter of Daily Gazette Jo., 58 N. L. R. B. 193; Matter of Shore Line Press, 58 N. L. R. B. 1383. 4 Case No. 13-R-2340. 5 See Matter of it. R. Donnelly & Sons Company, 59 N. L. R. B. 122. 717734-47-vol. 71-40 608 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the entire record in the case, we shall include the press specification O. K. men in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. 3. Assistant foreman and foreman. The composing room operates on two shifts, the first or day shift is under the supervision of a fore- man and the second or night shift is under the supervision of an assist- ant foreman. The foreman is also in charge of the rubber plate de- partment, and the assistant foreman also supervises the rubber plate and the photo-litho departments. These employees have the right to hire and discharge and while they have never worked in the composing room as journeymen, they supervise and check the efforts and produc- tion of the hand compositors, intertype operators, proofreaders and the lock-up men in the composing room. The Employer urges that the foreman and assistant foreman be excluded because they are not working foremen, because their super- visory authority extends over other departments as well as the com- posing room, and because they possess managerial authority. The rec- ord, however, fails to establish that these employees are materially different in their functions, duties, powers and responsibilities from foremen who are traditionally included in units of non-supervisory employees in the printing industry.(' Under these circumstances and on the entire record in the case we shall include the foreman and as- sistant foreman of the composing room in the unit. We find that all composing room employees at the Chicago, Illinois, plant of the Employer, including printers, proofreaders, press specifica- tion O. K. men in the pressroom, intertype operators, lock-up men, monotype caster operators, compositors, apprentices, the assistant foreman, and foreman, but excluding the metal porter and janitors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur- poses of collective bargaining with Uarco Corporation, Chicago, Illi- nois, 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 Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found apropriate in Section IV, above, Matter of W. F. Hall Printing Company, 51 N. L. R. B. 640. Although the Employer contends to the contrary , it is clear, as previously stated in another decision involving a machinists' unit at these operations (Matter of United Autographic Register Co., 57 N. L. R. B. 418 ) that the Employer is "primarily engaged in the printing business." ti ARCO INCORPORATED 609 who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work dur- ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tem- porarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but ex- cluding 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 Chicago Typographical Union No. 16, for the purposes of collective bargaining.