St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8

ST. LOUIS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 8 277 St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8, affiliated with International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO,' and Pulitzer Publishing Company 2 and Internation- al Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Local No. 13 and International Typographers Union, AFL-CIO 4 Case 14-CD-346 December 15, 1970 DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE broadcasting at 1111 Olive Street, St. Louis, Missouri. The Pulitzer Publishing Company subscribes to interstate news services, publishes nationally syndi- cated features, advertises nationally sold products, and annually has a gross volume of business in excess of $200,000. The parties stipulated, and we find, that the Pulitzer Publishing Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND JENKINS This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, following the filing of charges by the Pulitzer Publishing Company, alleging that St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8, affiliated with International Typograph- ical Union, AFL-CIO, has violated Section 8(b)(4)(d) of the Act by threatening, coercing, or restraining the Employer with an object of forcing or requiring the Employer to assign certain work to employees represented by St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8, rather than to employees represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, Local No. 1. A hearing was held before Hearing Officer David F. Yates on July 22 and 23, 1970. All parties appeared at the hearing and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross- examine witnesses, and to adduce evidence bearing upon the issues. The rulings of the Hearing Officer made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Briefs were filed by ITU Local 8 and IBEW Local 1. Thereafter, IBEW Local I filed with the Board a Motion to Reopen Hearing, or, in the alternative, for permission to file copy of arbitration award, and ITU Local 8 filed its opposi- tion thereto. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following findings: 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The Pulitzer Publishing Company, a Missouri corporation, is engaged in the publication and printing of a daily newspaper, The St. Louis Post- Dispatch, and the printing of another daily newspa- per, The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, at its facility at 1133 Franklin Avenue, and in television and radio Herein called ITU Local 8 or Respondent 2 Herein called Employer or Company II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The parties stipulated, and we find, that ITU Local 8 and IBEW Local I are labor organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. III. THE DISPUTE A. The Work in Dispute The work in dispute is the maintenance and testing of the fototronic 1200 typesetting machine, located in the composing room of the Pulitzer Publishing Company. B. Facts as to the Dispute For many years, the Company has had contracts with both ITU Local 8 and IBEW Local 1 for bargaining units covering, respectively, its composing room and maintenance department at its facility. The jurisdiction of each unit and the work to be performed by them raises no conflict except for the performance of maintenance work in the composing room. For many years the ITU machine tenders did all the maintenance, repairs, and testing of the typesetting machines in the composing room. These machines include mechanical line casters and mixers, which have a keyboard and circulating matrix and produce a slug of metal type. In 1959 the Company purchased a fotosetter electronic machine and several years ago another. These machines, like the earlier typesetting machines, have a keyboard and circulating matrix which instead of producing metal slugs produces an end product of photosensitive paper or film contain- ing type image from which a photoengraving plate is made. All the maintenance, testing, and repair of the fotosetter machine was performed by machine tend- ers. However, in 1966 or early 1967, at the insistence of the electricians, the strobe lights and electrical replacement parts for the fotosetter were removed from the composing room on the fourth floor and stored in the maintenance department lo- cated in the sub-basement of the building. The ITU 3 Herein called IBEW Local I or IBEW. 4 The Intervenor 187 NLRB No. 35 278 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD alleges that the arbitrary demand by the IBEW and the inefficiencies resulting from the removal of parts and denial of work formerly and regularly done by the machine tenders caused ITU Local 8 to insist upon including in its current agreement the parenthetical clause appearing in the jurisdiction section of the collective-bargaining contract. On March 19, 1970, the Employer received a fototronic 1200 typesetting machine, which is a high speed typesetter, more sophisticated than the fotoset- ter and designed to perform the function of three or four conventional typesetters. The Employer's direc- tor of labor relations, William Trent, attempted through meetings and correspondence to achieve an agreement between the ITU and the IBEW as to who would perform the maintenance and testing on the fototronic 1200. Because the parties could not agree as to who was to perform the work, the Employer's director of labor relations issued a letter of assignment on June 19, 1970. The Employer assigned to the ITU the operation, maintenance, and testing of the fototronic 1200 with the exception of specific items which were listed and those specific items were assigned to the IBEW.5 On June 23, 1970, Raymond Nelke, president of the ITU Local 8, sent a letter to Trent in which Nelke took exception to the specific work assignments to the IBEW and in which he claimed the additional work related to the mainte- nance and repair of the fototronic 1200, including the storing and handling of necessary parts and materials. Nelke requested that the work be performed in accordance with his request and stated that the Employer's failure to do so would cause the ITU to use all necessary means to enforce its demands, "including cessation of work by its members until such time as the company has complied with our request." On June 24, 1970, the Company filed the charge in this case . There has been no work stoppage, and up until the time of the hearing in the instant dispute the fototronic 1200 has not been in operation. C. Contentions of the Parties The IBEW contends that its contract and the Company's past practice give it jurisdiction over all electrical maintenance work in the plant, including all the electrical maintenance on the Company's compos- ing room machines. The ITU, on the other hand, contends that it has historically possessed jurisdiction over all the maintenance work on typesetting ma- chines, and that both its contract and past practice give it jurisdiction. The ITU further contends that based on skills, training, and efficiency of operations 5 IBEW Local I was assigned the following removal, repair, and replacement of toggle switches, removal, repair, and replacement of selector switches, removal, repair, and replacement of circuit breaker to the the entire maintenance on those machines, electroni- cal as well as mechanical, belongs, and should be assigned, to the machine tenders. During the hearing, the Company stated that it agrees with the ITU claim and further stated that for reasons of efficiency and economy it would prefer to assign all the work in question to ITU machine tenders. The Company further stated that its split assignment of June 19, 1970, was primarily made in order to avoid a work stoppage. In expressing its preference, the Company points out that an electri- cian must be called from some other area of the plant, often remote from the composing room, to determine the cause of the breakdown, and that frequently unnecessary delays resulted because an electrician had to be located and sometimes might have been engaged in other equally important work. On the other hand, ITU machine tenders work in the composing room and because of their familiarity with the machines, ability to read type, and skills are more proficient to perform the work. D. The Applicability of the Statute Before making a determination of a dispute, the Board is required to find that there is a reasonable cause to believe that Section 8(b)(4)(d ) has been violated . We are satisfied that there is adequate support for such finding in this case, in light of the ITU's letter dated June 23, 1970, rejecting the Company's June 19 assignment of certain work on typesetting machines in the composing room and advising the Employer "that failure to comply with the ITU request for the work to be performed would cause the ITU to use all necessary means to enforce its demands, including cessation of work by its members until such time as your Company has complied with our request." In view of the conduct described above, we find that there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of Section 8(b)(4)(d) has occurred and that the dispute is properly before the Board for determination under Section 10(k) of the Act. E. Merits of the Dispute Section 10(k) of the Act requires the Board to make an affirmative award of the disputed work, after main switch , removal and replacement of pilot lights, repair of armature- type motors ST LOUIS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 8 279 giving due consideration to various relevant factors. The factors hereinafter set forth bear on the issue of the work assignment before us. 1. Background facts as to the machines and operations involved The earlier type of typesetting machine was a complex machine designed to mold lines of type in metal . The various processes of these machines were activated mechanically by cams, or by a lever moved by the operator of the machine. With the advance- ment of technology in the printing industry, electronic machines such as the Elektron II and the fotosetter, which eliminated much of the mechanical procedures, were introduced and produced tapes and films rather than metal type, from which a photoengraving plate is made. As indicated previously, the removal and storage of electronic parts remote from the composing room resulted in a slowing down of maintenance and the amount of such work that the machine tenders could perform on the fotosetter machines. The ITU filed a grievance under the terms of its contract but never processed it to arbitration. Instead, it sought to resolve the problem by the insertion of new language in its 1969 contract. 2. The skills and training of the employees The machine tenders have always maintained and repaired the typesetting machines in the Employer's composing room. They are required to bejourneymen which means that they have completed their appren- ticeship. The present contract provides that "The term of the apprenticeship shall be four (4) years." Prior to the current agreement the apprenticeship was 6 years. The testimony of both the production manager and composing room foreman is that the machine tenders have the skills required to maintain, repair, and test the fototronic 1200, that all of the machine tenders have taken instruction in electronics, and have attended technical school and received electronic training. Furthermore, the skills required in the maintenance and repair of the fototronic 1200 are similar to the skills presently required in the mainte- nance, repair, and testing of equipment now in the composing room, particularly the fotosetter ma- chines. Furthermore, by reason of their constant exposure to typesetting they have the knowledge of the printer's trade and the compositor's craft. Their ability to read type is also necessary to facilitate the adjustments which have to be made in conjunction with the repair and the testing of the machines.6 The IBEW electricians also possess the ability to perform maintenance upon the electrical components involved in the functioning of this machine. However, both the ITU and the Company assert, and the record indicates, that the ITU machine tenders are better prepared to perform the necessary maintenance work on the electrical operating controls of the new machine by virtue of their greater familiarity with the mechanical processes involved and their general training and ability to read type. Repairs of compo- nents such as toggle switches, selector switches, circuit breakers, pilot lights, and armature-type motors are generally handled by replacement rather than repair. The record further shows that on some occasions the armature-type motors have been sent out for repairs. Moreover, the replacement of malfunctioning compo- nents with new parts prevents a greater amount of "downtime" in the composing room. In addition, the machine tenders' knowledge of the mechanical features of typesetting machines enables them to more quickly locate and replace a malfunctioning part. In the case of typesetting machines operated by pre- punched tape, which includes not only material to be converted into type but also various operating instructions to the machine, the machine tenders are able more readily to read the tape and thereby acquire information which is used to locate the source of the malfunction. Upon the entire record, we conclude that, because of their greater familiarity with the operations of the machines and the reading of type and tape, the factors of training and skill appear to favor the ITU machine tenders. 3. Collective-bargaining agreements The record shows that the Company has had collective-bargaining contracts with both Unions for a number of years, beginning before the introduction of the electronically operated typesetting machines in the plant. Both the ITU contract provisions7 and those in the IBEW contract set forth below,H can be said to be subject to an interpretation which would include jurisdiction over the maintenance of the electronic components of the newly acquired foto- 6 We note that their training and background is similar to that found in International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge 162, AFL-CIO (Cincinnati Enquirer, Inc) 172 NLRB No 226 280 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tronic 1200. Accordingly, we find that the factor of contract provisions favors neither Union. 4. Company, area, industry practice, and other pertinent decisions In addition to the Company's use of machine tenders on all maintenance and testing on its typesetting machines, the record discloses that in the St. Louis metropolitan area, machine tenders perform all maintenance and testing on typesetting machines, specifically at the St. Louis Countian, the St. Louis Daily Record, and the Warwick Typographers Com- pany. The record further shows that in various other cities throughout the country, the fototronic 1200 is maintained and tested by composing room employ- ees, specifically, in the cities of South Bend, Indiana, Seattle, Washington, Dallas, Texas, and Washington, D.C. IBEW Local 1 has filed with the Board a Motion to Reopen Hearing, or, in the alternative, for permission to file copy of an arbitration award in the instant dispute. ITU Local 8 has filed an opposition thereto. We note that ITU Local 8 did not appear at the arbitration hearing conducted under the AFL-CIO Internal Disputes Plan. Also, it is not clear whether the Intervenor, International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, or the Employer appeared at the hearing. In these circumstances, and as all parties have had an opportunity to set forth their position, and as the record already contains, in the form of IBEW Exhibits I and 2, awards made by the AFL-CIO Internal Disputes Board regarding the Kansas City Star and the New York News, and as in the past under similar circumstances we have not considered these decisions to be controlling,9 we deny the Motion to r In relation to teletypesetter equipment, the current ITU contract provides that 25 Maintenance, repairs, distributor stops and other mechanical failures (including maintenance of any future electronic devices that replace the functions of present mechanical devices) shall be performed by employees in the machine tenders' department (Art i, Sec 25) Article VII of the current agreement, entitled "Machine Tenders," states that I Machine Tenders shall do all the work necessary in the erection, repair and maintenance of all mechanical equipment and devices (including any future electronic devices that replace the functions of present mechanical devices) described in Article I of this contract 2. Machine Tenders may be required to make any repairs, operations, or additions which may be necessary on such mechanical equipment and devices (including any future electronic devices that replace the functions of present mechanical devices) Except in cases of emergency or during the machine tender's lunch period, a machine tender or machine tenders must be on duty at all times while such mechanical or devices (including any future electronic devices that replace the functions of Reopen Hearing, and/or the admission of such award, in the instant case. However, we do take official notice of our decisions in The Kansas City Star Company,10 McCall Corporation, ii and Cincinnati Enquirer12 cases in which we determined that the ITU machinists were entitled to perform work like that in dispute here. In the Kansas City Star case we concluded that the ITU machinists were entitled to perform "mechanical and electronic maintenance and repair" on certain pieces of equipment in the composing room , including the Elektron equipment , and mechanical maintenance on all other line casting equipment in the composing room. We held in the McCall case that the ITU machinists were entitled to perform maintenance of "electronic portions of electro-mechanically operated Elektron and Monarch typesetting machines in the composing room." In the Cincinnati Enquirer case we determined that the ITU machinists were entitled to perform maintenance of the electronic portions on typesetting machines located in the composing room. 5. Substitution of functions and job loss As set forth above, for many years the ITU machine tenders have performed all maintenance work relating to mechanical operations of the Company's typeset- ting machines. Also, both the ITU machine tenders and the electricians represented by IBEW have performed tasks in connection with replacement or repair of electrical components in these typesetting machines. It is clear that, until the 1966 or 1967 removal of the component parts for the fotosetter from the composing room, the ITU machine tenders had performed all work on the typesetting machines. The newer electronic machines perform precisely the present mechanical devices) are in operation With the exception of the above parenthetical phrases in the current agreement, the language relating to machine tenders and their job has remained unchanged for many years 8 Section 1(a) of the current IBEW contract states the Union is hereby recognized by the publisher as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all the employees of the publisher engaged to maintain, repair, extend , add to, replace, run temporary circuits and care for the entire and complete electrical systems, handle all electrical systems, electrical equipment, electrical material (including that which is necessary for installing all electrical equipment), and operation and maintenance of air-conditioning on and in the property of the publisher, including the fabrication of all frames and supports exclusively for eectncal work . . 9 International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge 162, AFL-CIO (Cincinnati Enquirer, Inc), 172 NLRB No 226 iU Local 124 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO (The Kansas City Star Company), 160 NLRB 1091. 11 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1527, AFL-CIO (McCall Corporation), 161 NLRB 128 12 Supra ST. LOUIS TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 8 same functions as the earlier mechanical typesetting machines and hence are merely a more efficient substitute for the earlier mechanical devices. 6. Efficiency of operations The Company, despite its prior written assignment, at the hearing indicated that it desires assignment of all of the disputed maintenance work to the ITU machine tenders, asserting that such assignment would promote efficiency in its operations. The record discloses that in the newspaper printing business, time is a prime factor, as there are constant deadlines to be met. It is apparent that at least one advantage in the use of the fototronic 1200 machine is its probable contribution to speed in production. The record shows that the fototronic 1200 because of its speed will be replacing older machines, thus doing a greater volume of the work. This indicates that "downtime" will become a more critical factor when maintenance tasks are required . The ITU machine tenders working in the composing room are available to give immediate attention to maintenance tasks. We find that the factor of efficiency favors the ITU. Conclusions as to the Merits of the Dispute Upon consideration of all pertinent factors appear- ing in the record, we shall assign the disputed work to the ITU machine tenders, who possess sufficient skill, are more effective in the performance of such work because of their broader knowledge of the machines and of the typesetting process, and have performed the work in the past to the satisfaction of the 281 Company, which desires to assign them the work. The assignment of the work in dispute to the machine tenders is consistent with that of other employers in the industry . Moreover, the assignment of the disputed work to the electricians would not promote the efficiency of the Company's typesetting opera- tions, and might result in delay and unnecessary cost. We, accordingly, determine the instant jurisdictional dispute by deciding that the ITU machine tenders, rather than the IBEW electricians, are entitled to perform the electronic maintenance work on the Company's fototronic 1200 typesetting machine, including the replacement of the electronic compo- nents previously assigned to the IBEW electricians. In making this determination, we are assigning the work to the machine tenders who are represented by the ITU but not to that Union or its members. DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and upon the basis of the foregoing findings and the entire record in this proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following determination of dispute: The Machine tenders employed by the Pulitzer Publishing Company, who are represented by the St. Louis Typographical Union No. 8, affiliated with International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, are entitled to perform the disputed work of maintaining and testing the fototronic 1200 typesetting machine located in the composing room of the Pulitzer Publishing Company, St. Louis, Missouri.