Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd.

GARDEN ISLAND PUBLISHING CO., LTD. 697 Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd., Petitioner and Honolulu Typographical Union No. 37, AFL-CIO 1 Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd. and Honolulu Typographical Union No. 37, AFL-CIO, Petitioner Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd. and Hawaii Newspaper Guild Local 117, American Newspaper Guild, AFL-CIO, CLC, Peti- tioner. Cases Nos. 87 RM-60, 37-RC-1162, and 37-EC-1164. August 25,1965 DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Dennis R. MacCarthy. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties filed briefs. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Mem- bers Fanning and Jenkins]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert juris- diction herein. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen- tation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer operates a commercial printing establishment and publishes a biweekly newspaper in Lihue, Island of Kauai, Hawaii. The operation is divided into a mechanical division consisting of 'employees with the usual composing room, lithographic, and letter- press skills and a nonmechanical division consisting of the editorial, business, circulation, and advertising departments. The Honolulu Typographical Union No. 37,2 Petitioner in Case No. 37-RC-1162, seeks to represent a unit consisting of all of the Employer's full-time mechanical department employees? The Em- Amended at the hearing Hereinafter referred to as Local 87. $ The Employer in response to an April 7, 1965, request to bargain by Local 37, filed a petition in Case No . 37-RM-60. Its petition seeks an election in a unit consisting of all the mechanical departments and the building maintenance employees . However, the Board has held that in the newspaper industry "building maintenance" employees are appropriately within a nonmechanical rather than a mechanical unit. See, e.g., Dow 154 NLRB No. 60. 698 DECISIONS OF, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ployer contends that the unit should also include the regular part- time mechanical employees and certain other job classifications which it contends are mechanical but which Local 37 claims are non- mechanical in nature. The Hawaii Newspaper Guild Local 117, American Newspaper Guild, AFL-CIO, CLC,4 Petitioner in Case No. 37-RC-1164, seeks to represent a unit consisting of all nonmechanical employees. The Employer is in substantial agreement with the composition of this unit, but contends that certain job classifications requested by Peti- tioner should be included in the mechanical unit and that certain other job classifications have been inappropriately excluded. In the newspaper industry the optimum unit of nonmechanical employees is one which includes all such employees.5 Accordingly, we find that the unit petitioned for by the Guild is appropriate. In the mechanical department of a newspaper, the Board usually finds appropriate separate units of the various crafts. On the other hand, where a union seeks to represent the traditional mechanical crafts in a single unit and where there is no objection to the joinder of these crafts either by the employer or another union claiming to represent any mechanical craft on a separate basis, the Board will find the combined unit appropriates In the absence of any such objection in the present case, we find that the combined unit of mechanical department employees, petitioned for by Local 37, is appropriate. There remains for consideration the placement of certain disputed classifications. a. The bookkeeper and billing clerks The Employer would include these employees in the Guild unit, whereas the Guild would exclude them as office clericals. All work under the supervision of the office manager, Gokan. Herbert Hamura keeps the books for both the newspaper and commercial printing business. Edith Tanimoto is primarily responsible for the advertising accounts receivable. Shimoi Mukai is responsible for the commercial printing accounts receivable, giving printing costs esti- mates, and coordinating the commercial printing work. It appears Jones & Company, Inc., 142 NLRB 421, 429 (building services employees) ; Lowell Sun Publishing Company, 132 NLRB 1168, 1172. Moreover, no union has petitioned to repre- sent such a unit. We shall therefore dismiss the Employer's petition 4 Hereinafter referred to as the Guild. 5 Dow Jones & Company, Inc., supra; Lowell Sun Publishing Company, supra; The Peoria Journal Star, Inc., 117 NLRB 708; The Salt Lake Trabune Publishing Company and Telegram Publishing Company, 92 NLRB 1411. 6 Worzella Publishing Company, 121 NLRB 78. GARDEN ISLAND PUBLISHING Co., LTD. 699 that these employees perform the usual tasks of business department employees in the newspaper industry, and we therefore shall include them in the unit of nonmechanical employees sought by the Guild? b. The part-time employees Local 37 would exclude all part-time mechanical department em- ployees from its unit on the grounds that they do not share the same interests as the full-time employees and that the extent of its orga- nization is the full-time group. The Employer would include them in the mechanical department unit. The part-time employees per- form the same tasks as the full-time employees whom Local 37 would include. They have regularly assigned working days, work a sub- stantial number of hours each month, and perform functions which are an integral part of the production process. The fact that, unlike full-time employees, regular part-time employees receive neither a guaranteed salary nor fringe benefits does not substantially detract from their interest in the unit. Further, under Section 9(a) (5) of the Act, the extent of organization may not be a controlling factor in determining the appropriateness of a unit. We find that the employees in question are regular part-time employees of the mechanical department, and we shall therefore include them in the unit petitioned for by Local 37.8 c. Layout and pasteup employees Both the Guild and Local 37 take the position that these employees should be included in the Guild's nonmechanical unit while the Employer contends that they should be included in the mechanical department unit. The employees in question, Evelyn Eto and Mieko Takamiyo, perform layout and pasteup work. They carry out their duties as follows: They receive a rough copy of an advertisement from the advertising salesmen. They then prepare the layout from which the composing room employees make a reproduction proof. The proof is then returned to the employees in question and they perform the pasteup operation to prepare it for photoengraving. They are supervised in both operations by John Uyeno, a supervisor in the mechanical department, and the majority of their contact is with composing room and other mechanical department employees. 7 Cf The Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Company, etc., supra. 8 The Vindicator Printing Company, 146 NLRB 871, 877; Berea Publishing Company, 140 NLRB 516, 518. The parties agree that mailroom employees should be included in the mechanical department unit. Accordingly, we likewise include in the mechanical unit Salud and Villanueva, who are employed on a regular part-time basis in the mailroom, and regular part-time employees Domingsel, Valvieja, and Gokan, who divide their time between the mailroom and other mechanical department work. 700 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Inasmuch as the pasteup operation is a mechanical function,' and, further because these employees work primarily in the mechanical department under mechanical department supervision, we will in- clude them in the mechanical unit.lo d. Janitress Both Local 37 and the Guild would include the janitress, Paz Valdez, in the Guild unit; the Employer would include her in the mechanical department unit because she also does mailroom work. Valdez works six nights a week as a janitress and on days when the paper is printed she is also assigned to the mailroom. Inasmuch as her principal duties are janitorial, and because she spends an insub- stantial period of time in the mailroom, we shall include her in the nonmechanical unit.11 e. Truckdriver The truckdriver, Severino Valdez, is primarily engaged in the out- side circulation work of delivering newspapers to various distribution points on the island.12 Both the Guild and Local 37 would include this classification in the nonmechanical unit as part of the circulation department. The Employer contends that delivery is a mailroom function and therefore within the mechanical unit. The Board has traditionally held that outside delivery employees may appropriately constitute a separate unit or may be included with circulation depart- ment employees in a nonmechanical unit.13 As no union is seeking to represent this classification separately, we shall include it in the nonmechanical unit as part of the circulation department. f. The metal melters Two employees, Kanishero and Fujimoto , spend the majority of their time as metal melters and pressmen 's helpers. They melt down old lead molds, prepare the melted lead for the Linotype machine, and 0 Cf. The Meredith Publishing Company, and the Meredith Printing Company, 140 NLRB 509, 511 ; Printing Industry of Seattle, Inc., 116 NLRB 1883, 1885. 10 Two other employees , Elko Muranaka and Harvey Tam, also perform similar work. At the hearing the parties stipulated that Muranaka should be included in Local 37's unit. However, both Local 37 and the Guild took the position that Harvey Tam, who spends from 10 to 30 hours a month in layout and pasteup, from 3 to 13 hours a month as a news photographer, and from 121 to 158 hours a month as a photoengraver , should be included in the Guild unit as a news photographer . The Employer took the position that he should be in the mechanical unit because of his photoengraving , layout, and pasteup work. Since the amount of time which Harvey Tam spends as a photographer is de minimis when compared to the amount of time he spends in the mechanical operations of layout, pasteup, and photoengraving, we shall include him in the mechanical department unit. u See Lowell Sun Publishing Company, supra. u Severino Valdez also performs about 1 hour of maintenance work per week. =Denver Publishing Company, 117 NLRB 1465. GARDEN ISLAND PUBLISHING CO., LTD. 701 pump ink for the presses.14 Both Local 37 and the Guild character- ized such operations as maintenance work and sought to include this classification in the nonmechanical unit. However, metal melting and presswork is an integral part of the mechanical operation and thus these employees have a community of interest with other mechanical department employees. We shall therefore include this classification in the mechanical department unit. g. Alleged supervisory status of certain individuals (1) Lillian Uchiyama is the manager of the circulation depart- ment. She bills all the circulation accounts and directs the work of the newspaper carriers. In this capacity she collects money from the carriers and, as conditions warrant, may hire and fire them. The Employer contends that Lillian Uchiyama is not a supervisor because the carriers are independent contractors. The evidence in the record is unclear on this point. In any event, irrespective of the carriers' status, Lillian Uchiyama, as head of the circulation department, is an agent of management. She has the responsibility of directing the work of the carriers and, in so doing, exercises independent judgment in carrying out company policy. We therefore exclude her from both units, as a managerial employee.15 (2) The Employer would include Tad Eto, the advertising man- ager, in the nonmechanical unit even though it concedes that he supervises the one advertising salesman. The record shows that Eto has the authority to hire, fire, grant time off, and effectively recom- mend pay raises with respect to the advertising salesman. Since he possesses the authority of a supervisor within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the Act, the fact that only one employee works under him is not controlling. We therefore find that Tad Eta is a supervisor, and we exclude him.16 (3) Local 37 would include Miyake, the production supervisor, in its unit. The record indicates that Miyake may effectively recom- mend hiring, firing, and wage increases for employees, and has the authority to grant time off. He spends a minimum of 30 percent of his time directing the work of the compositors and coordinating all the commercial printing work. We therefore find that Miyake is a supervisor, and we exclude him. Accordingly, we find appropriate, for purposes of collective bar- gaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act, separate 14 They also spend a few hours each month driving the delivery truck. u Cf. Copeland Refrigeration Corporation , 118 NLRB 1364, 1365. "Local 28, International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, et al. (Ingram Barge Co. ), 136 NLRB 1175 , 1204 ; Raney Motor Company, Inc., 99 NLRB 408, 410. 702 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD units of employees at the Employer's Lihue, Hawaii, plant, as follows :17 (a) Case No. 37-RC-1162: All full-time and regular part-time mechanical department employees including layout and pasteup em- ployees, Linotype operators, stereotypers, pressmen, proofreaders, photoengravers, teletype setters, binders, mailroom employees, com- positors, and metal melters, but excluding guards and supervisors as defined in the Art. (b) Case No. 37-IRC-1164: All full-time and regular part-time nonmechanical department employees including employees in the editorial, business, circulation, and advertising departments, the truckdriver, and the building maintenance employee, but excluding the circulation department manager and all guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. As noted, supra, since no union is seeking the unit advanced by the Employer, and because the separate units petitioned for by the re- spective Unions are appropriate, we shall dismiss the Employer's petition in Case No. 37-RM-60. [The Board dismissed the petition in Case No. 37-RM-60.] [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 17 As the units found appropriate herein are broader than those sought by the Peti- tioners, each Direction of Election is conditioned upon each Union Petitioner demon- strating, in its own case, within 10 days from the date of this Decision, that it has an adequate showing of interest in such broader unit. In the event that either Petitioner does not wish to participate in an election in the unit found appropriate in this case , we shall permit it to withdraw its petition upon notice to the Regional Director within 5 days from the date of this Decision. Happy Food Center, Inc. and Retail Store Employees Union Local 782, AFL-CIO. Case No. 17-CA-2551. August W,1965 DECISION AND ORDER On May 21, 1965, Trial Examiner Herbert Silberman issued his Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respon& ent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor prac- tices and recommending that it cease and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action, as set forth in the attached Trial Ex- aminer's Decision. The Trial Examiner also found that the Re- spondent had not engaged in certain other unfair labor practices alleged in the complaint, and recommended that these allegations be dismissed. Thereafter, the General Counsel filed exceptions to the Trial Examiner's Decision and a supporting brief; the Respondent filed an answering brief and cross-exceptions. 154 NLRB No. 61.