Holden Business Forms Co.

668 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Holden Business Forms Company ' and Bookbinders and Bind- ery Women, Twin City Local 12, AFL,2 and Local 10, Amalga- mated Lithographers of America, CIO,3 and International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, AFL.' Cases Nos. 18-RC-2561, 18-RC-2562, and 18-RC-2565. October 25, 1955 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before Alan Bruce, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Printing Pressmen seeks a production and maintenance unit at the Employer's specialty printing establishment in Minneapolis. The Lithographers seeks a separate unit of employees engaging in lith- ographic production work. The Bookbinders seeks a unit of all pro- duction and maintenance employees excluding all pressmen, or, in the alternative, a production and maintenance unit. The Employer con- tends that only a production and maintenance unit is appropriate, asserting that the employees sought by the Lithographers are not en- gaged in lithography and are not craftsmen. There is no history of collective bargaining. The Employer has three roll fed presses specially designed to pro- duce "register ticket" and "snapout" business forms. Two of the presses, called "register" presses, reproduce printed matter by a letter- press printing process. The other press, called the "Webendorfer form press," utilizes both the letterpress and the offset, or lithographic, process. The Webendorfer press has two cylinders which produce offset or lithographic printing and one cylinder which produces let- terpress printing. The offset or lithographic process utilized in the Webendorfer press is distinguished from the letterpress operation in that it involves printing from a plane surface and depends for its 'The name of the Employer appeals as amended at the healing 2 Herein called the Bookbinders. S Herein called the Lithographers. + Herein called the Printing Pressmen. 114 NLRB No. 107. HOLDEN BUSINESS FORMS COMPANY 669 operation upon, a chemical difference between the various portions of the surface of the plate used in making the reproduction. Of the Employer's 16 production and maintenance employees, 4 are assigned to operate the Webendorfer press. These four are the em- ployees sought by the Lithographers. In support of its position, the Employer points t'o'tile fact that none of the four has had extensive training or experience in lithography, and the Employer further points out that it has no apprentice program and does not intend to establish one. The Board has frequently considered the skills and techniques in- cident to lithography and has held that employees engaged in the litho- graphic process form a cohesive unit appropriate for purposes of col- lective bargaining.' Here, it is evident that the operations of the Web- endorfer press are, for the most part, lithographic in their nature, and that the employees working on that press are engaged in the litho- graphic process.6 Furthermore, the Lithographers is a union which represents, the special interests of lithographic employees. In view of the foregoing, we find that these employees may constitute a single appropriate unit if they so desire. As indicated, the Bookbinders wish to represent a production and maintenance unit that excludes all pressmen. Such a unit would exclude not only the pressmen working on the Webendorfer press, but also those pressmen who work on the two "register" presses. As no one seeks to represent the latter group of pressmen separately, we find that the unit sought by the Bookbinders is not appropriate. In accord with the foregoing, we shall direct that separate elections be held among the following groups of employees of the Employer at its Minneapolis, Minnesota, printing establishment : A. All lithographic production employees (the operators of the Webendorfer press), excluding all other employees, office clerical employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. B. All production and maintenance employees, including the em- ployees operating letterpresses, but excluding the employees in voting group A, office clerical employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. If a majority of the employees in voting group A select the Union seeking to represent them" separately, these employees will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of repre- sentatives to the labor organization selected by the employees in that voting group which the Board, in such circumstances, finds to be a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. If a ma- s Fey Publishing Co., 108 NLRB 1031, 1032 ; and Josten Manufacturing Company, 101 NLRB 189, 191-192. 6 See Rem Coni.pawy, 108 NLRB 598 670 DECISIONS, OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD jority of the employees in voting group -Ado' not vote for, the Union which is seeking to represent them in a separate unit, employees in that group will appropriately be included .in the production and, mainte- nance unit and their votes shall be pooled with those in voting group B,' and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certification of representatives to the labor organization selected by a majority of .employees in the pooled group, which the Board, in such circumstances, ,finds to be a, single unit appropriate for purposes of collective bar- gaining. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] MEMBER MURDOCK took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Elections. 7If the votes are pooled, they are to be tallied in the following manner - The votes for the union seeking a separate unit shall be counted as valid votes, but neither for nor against any union seeking the more comprehensive unit; all other votes are to be accorded their face value whether for representation by a union seeking the comprehensive unit or for no union . American Potash l Chemical Corporation, 107 NLRB 1418, 1427 Olaa Sugar Company, Limited and Favorito P. Banez ILWU Local 142 and Favorito P. Banez. Cases Nos. 37-CA-84 and 37-CB-6. October 26,1955 DECISION' AND ORDER On January 20, 1955, Trial Examiner David F. Doyle issued his In- termediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respondents had ;engaged in and were engaging in certain unfair labor practices and recommending that they cease and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action, as set forth in the copy of the Intermediate Report attached hereto. Thereafter, the Respondent Company and the Respondent Union filed exceptions to the Inter- mediate Report and supporting briefs. ' The' Board has reviewed the rulings made by the Trial Examiner at the hearing, and finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Inter- mediate Report, the exceptions and briefs, and the entire record in the case, and hereby adopts the Trial Examiner's findings,' conclusions,2 and recommendations. In his findings of fact, the Trial Examiner inadvertently failed to find that the Respondent Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. We so find: 2 In his conclusions of law, the Trial Examiner inadvertently failed to conclude that by executing and enforcing the contract provision in issue herein , the Respondent Union has engaged In and is engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8 (b) (1) (A) and Section 8 (b) (2) of the Act. We so conclude. 114 NLRB No. 112.