Bulletin Co.

BULLETIN COMPANY 345 Bulletin Company and Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, Local 10 of the Newspaper Guild, AFL-CIO--CLC. Case 4-RC-11756 October 13, 1976 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION By MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND PENELLO Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Sarah M. Parker. Following the hearing and pursuant to Sec- tion 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and Statement of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, the case was transferred to the Board for decision. Briefs were filed by the Employer and the Petitioner. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul- ings made at the hearing and finds them free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following findings: 1. The Bulletin Company (the Employer herein) is a corporation organized under the laws of the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania and engaged in the pub- lication of a daily and Sunday newspaper distributed in Pennsylvania and other States of the United States. During the past calendar year the Bulletin Company, in the course and conduct of its pub- lishing operation, held membership in and sub- scribed to various interstate news services; purchased newsprint valued in excess of $100,000 directly from points outside of Pennsylvania; and derived gross revenues in excess of $50,000 from said publishing operation. The Bulletin Company concedes it is en- gaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. We find that the Employer is engaged in com- merce within the meaning of Section 2(6) of the Act and that it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. Petitioner is 'a' labor organization and claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. Petitioner seeks to represent all full-time and regular part-time employees in the Employer's edito- rial and news departments at its 30th Street facility located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and employ- ees working in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. The parties agree generally that the editorial and news departments constitute an appropriate unit.' The Employer contends, however, that a number of individuals in the editorial and news departments, in addition to those stipulated, are supervisors and should be excluded from the unit and that its editorial writers, the letters-to-the-editor editor, and the opinion page editor are managerial employees and thus not covered by the Act. The Em- ployer also contends that the associate editor, the Sunday editor, and the news and assistant news edi- tors are both managerial and supervisory and must be excluded. The Employer further submits that its columnists are professional employees and that the letters-to-the-editor editor and the opinion page edi- tor, if not found to be managerial employees, are nevertheless professional employees within the meaning of the Act .2 Finally, the Employer asserts that the secretary to the editor of the editorial page, the secretary to the managing editor, and the news- room auditor are confidential employees and that the Bulletin's correspondents are independent contrac- tors rather that,employees within the meaning of the Act. The Petitioner disagrees with these contentions and maintains that all of the individuals discussed above should properly be included in the unit. A. Supervisory Issues Delaware editor: News of particular interest to Delaware residents appears in the regular editions of the Bulletin during the week. On Sunday one edition of the paper is printed for, and distributed exclusive- ly in, the State of Delaware. In addition to the Dela- ware editor who is located in the Employer's main Philadelphia offices, three full-time employees are as- signed to the Delaware news operation and are phys- ically located in that State. There are also a number of "stringers" or freelance correspondents who pro- vide the paper with coverage of Delaware news. The present Delaware editor, Elizabeth Ann i The parties stipulated that the following positions are supervisory and hence excluded from any unit found appropriate: executive editor, manag- ing editor, assistant managing editor, metro editor , sports editor, Discover magazine editor, feature editor, national editor, economic news editor, graphics editor, arts-culture editor, and editor of the editorial page The parties also stipulated that the assistant to the executive editor and the secretary to the executive editor are confidential employees excluded from the unit. 2 We note at the outset that the contention that journalists are "profes- sional" employees within the meaning of the Act has been fully litigated and rejected by the Board in The Express-News Corporation, 223 NLRB 627 (1976). We find nothing in the Employer's brief or in the record in the instant case that would lead us to a different conclusion 226 NLRB No. 53 346 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Wright Williams, assigns all of the stories that are written by reporters in Delaware for both the regular editions and the Sunday edition of the paper. Outside of emergencies, no stories are assigned or covered in Delaware without clearance from Williams. In addi- tion to assigning stories, the Delaware editor is res- ponsible for the layout of the Sunday edition of the Delaware paper and for the accuracy of the stories from the Delaware bureau. The Delaware editor does no reporting but does some editing and rewriting of copy and has authority to return copy to reporters and to direct them to rewrite their copy. Williams testified that she approves overtime and expenses for Delaware reporters and that she has re- cently recommended the hiring of new staff reporters for the Delaware operation. Thus, pursuant to the direction of her immediate superior, the Employer's managing editor, Williams personally selected pros- pective candidates for the new positions, interviewed them, and recommended the hire of the two candi- dates ultimately selected for the jobs. She is also re- sponsible for the evaluation of new employees hired for the Delaware paper. In the single instance when she recommended the termination of a probationary employee, the employee was discharged. Williams also testified that the Delaware employ- ees come to her with any problems they may have and that she has never heard of anyone going over her head with a problem or grievance. Williams at- tends the weekly meetings of editors of the various departments and she has attended planning sessions for a new supervisory manual. On the basis of this record, particularly in light of the Delaware editor's responsible direction of the Delaware employees and her role in the hiring and evaluation of employees, we conclude that Williams is a supervisor and must be excluded from the unit. Bureau chiefs: The Employer maintains news bu- reaus in Delaware, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as well as a City Hall bureau located in Philadelphia. The various outlying bureaus report to an assistant metro editor located in Philadelphia who keeps in daily contact with the bu- reaus by telephone. The Washington bureau chief re- ports directly to the national editor rather than to an assistant metro editor. The New Jersey bureaus re- port to New Jersey Desk Chief Murphy; the Dela- ware bureau reports to the Delaware editor. Although there are minor differences among bu- reaus, most bureaus operate with a bureau chief and one or two reporters. It is uncontroverted that the bureau chiefs are experienced reporters who spend as much as 85 or 90 percent of their time covering local stories. Although bureau chiefs have some responsibility for assigning stories to reporters, it appears that such assignments often turn on the availability of a report- er rather than on the exercise - of discretion in the assignment of a story to a particular reporter. More- over, some bureau reporters have more or less regu- lar news "beats" and assignments often routinely fall within their established beats. Other assignments come directly to the reporter from an editor or desk chief rather than from the bureau chief. Although the Employer maintains that the bureau chiefs are "responsible" for all the copy generated by their respective bureaus, the record indicates that much of the copy produced in the bureaus goes di- rectly to the Philadelphia offices without any editing by the bureau chiefs. Even when a bureau chief edits a reporter's copy, it does not appear that the bureau chief -necessarily has final authority over story con- tent nor does it appear that a bureau chief can al- ways "kill" a story on his own authority. Thus City Hall Bureau Chief John Gillespie testified that when he and a reporter differ on the tone or content of a story and fail to reach an "amicable" resolution he "goes, over" the reporter's head to his, Gillespie's, su- perior in Philadelphia. On the one or two occasions when Gillespie has asked to have a story "killed" his efforts have been unsuccessful. Finally, although the bureau chiefs sign overtime slips, they do not actually authorize either overtime or expenses, nor does it appear that they have any formal involvement in resolving grievances or in hir- ing, firing, or disciplining reporters.' Accordingly, we conclude that the bureau chiefs as a group lack indi- cia of supervisory authority and must be included in the unit. One exception to our inclusion of the bureau chiefs in the unit is Washington Bureau Chief Law- rence O'Rourke. The record supports the Employer's contention that the Washington bureau is largely au- tonomous and it lends credence to the assertion that O'Rourke functions as a supervisor within the mean- ing of the Act .4 In this regard it is noteworthy that O'Rourke, unlike other bureau chiefs, has authority to change a reporter's assignment even when the as- signment is initially made by an editor located in Philadelphia. O'Rourke also has absolute authority to "kill" a story that he does not like, to grant com- pensatorytime off, and to approve, expenses. Al- though the national- editor may on rare occasion 3 The bureau chief's opinion on these matters might be solicited by an editor or desk chief but it is evident that such opinions are not given con- trolling weight Thus the managing editor for New Jersey testified that while he would treat any communication from a bureau chief -"very seriously"- the bureau chiefs have no authority to take independent action on such person- nel matters. 4In addition to O'Rourke, there are two reporters , two columnists, and clerical help assigned to the Washington bureau. BULLETIN COMPANY make a direct assignment to a Washington reporter, the great bulk of assignments are made by O'Rourke who also determines the regular "beats" of the two Washington reporters. Finally, it is uncontroverted that O'Rourke has hired and fired clerical help for the bureau; that he prepares written evaluations of both clericals and re- porters assigned to the bureau; and that he has inter- viewed and recommended the hire of reporters for the bureau. We find that the record establishes that O'Rourke, unlike the other bureau chiefs, is charged with the responsible direction of the employees assigned to his bureau. Moreover, we find that in his capacity as Washington bureau chief O'Rourke has been in- volved effectively in the hiring and firing of Wash- ington bureau employees.' Accordingly, we conclude that O'Rourke is a supervisor and must be excluded from the unit .6 New Jersey desk chief and the deputy desk chiefs: The Employer publishes a separate daily paper ori- ented toward New Jersey. At the start of the hearing George R. Kentera, a stipulated supervisor, held the title of managing editor for New Jersey.' Kentera, New Jersey Desk Chief Leonard Murphy, and New Jersey Desk Deputies Oberfeld, Myers, Yocum, Happ, and Tuttle are physically located in the Bulle- tin's Philadelphia offices. There are five bureaus lo- cated in New Jersey. New Jersey Managing Editor Kentera testified that Murphy's primary job function is to give assign- ments to the New Jersey bureaus. It appears from the record that the great bulk of news assignments are made by the New Jersey desk rather than by New Jersey bureau chiefs. Although on occasion Murphy edits copy from the New Jersey operation, he other- wise does no actual writing or reporting. Murphy mans the New Jersey desk from approximately 8 in the morning to 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. During these hours Murphy might share the desk with Kent- era, one or more of the deputy desk chiefs, and one or more of the rewrite men assigned to the New Jer- sey paper .8 Kentera testified that he has final authority over hiring for the New Jersey operation but that he al- ways discusses the hiring of new people with Murphy and solicits Murphy's recommendation. As an exam- 5 In fact, the present national editor was initially hired as a Washington bureau reporter after being interviewed by O'Rourke and following the latter's recommendation to the executive editor 6 See The Daily Press, Incorporated, 110 NLRB 573, 582 (1954) 7 During the course of the hearing Mr Kentera was appointed managing editor of the Bulletin. 8 As might be expected, it appears that the bulk of the copy from the bureaus is generated during the day shift. Thus, during other hours the New Jersey desk is relatively quiet. 347 ple of Murphy's input in hiring, Kentera noted that New Jersey Desk Deputy Happ was hired after Mur- phy recommended him for the job. Kentera further testified that the three rewrite men and the photogra- pher assigned to the New Jersey desk report directly to Murphy; that Murphy can and does authorize overtime; and that Murphy would function as New Jersey managing editor in Kentera's absence. Based on this record we are satisfied that New Jer- sey Desk Chief Murphy possesses and exercises su- pervisory authority and for that reason must be ex- cluded from the unit. The New Jersey desk deputies function as news editors and as layout and - makeup editors for the New Jersey paper. They are responsible for some light editing and rewriting of the New Jersey copy and for the actual placement of stories in the New Jersey edition. According to New Jersey Managing Editor Kentera the desk deputies also help with story assignments, story ideas, and by assisting in the plan- ning of news coverage. A deputy or deputies may be "in charge" of the New Jersey desk during the late evening or early morning hours but for the most part the deputies' tours, of duty overlap those of either Murphy or Kentera. Although Kentera testified that the deputies can give assignments to reporters, it appears from the record that most assignments are made by Murphy following his daily morning telephone conversations with the bureau chiefs. It also appears that a deputy who is alone on the desk may assign a reporter to cover a breaking news story and may authorize a reporter to work overtime to cover the story. Howev- er, the deputy will seek to contact either Murphy or Kentera before taking such action. The record also shows that the deputies have no authority to change an assignment given by Murphy or Kentera. The scheduling of work hours for the bureaus and for New Jersey employees generally is done by Murphy and Kentera rather than by the deputies. In the event that a reporter is ill or other- wise requires time off the reporter would contact either Murphy or the bureau chief who in turn would contact Murphy or Kentera. Finally, the record is devoid of substantive evidence that the desk deputies are in any sense effectively involved( in the hiring, firing, or disciplining of employees in the New Jersey operation.9 In light of the record evidence of the deputies' du- ties and responsibilities we conclude that the New 9 Managing Editor Kentera testified that in one or two instances he asked a deputy for a recommendation prior to hiring a new employee The signifi- cance of this testimony is undercut , however, by Kentera's acknowledgment that he routinely solicits such opinions as widely as possible and has asked other employees, including bureau chiefs, for their recommendations There is no evidence that he has acted solely or largely on such recommendations. 348 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Jersey desk deputies lack indicia of supervisory au- thority and must be included in the unit. National desk: National Editor John J. Farmer, a stipulated supervisor, is in overall charge of the na- tional desk. The national desk, of which the tele- graph desk is an important part, handles all national and international news from the wire services,, the Washington, D.C., bureau, and the Philadelphia na- tional reporter. In addition to Farmer,- Deputy Na- tional Editor Fred Coger, Telegraph Editor William Townshend, and his deputy, Dale Franz, there are four full-time and five part-time editors assigned to the national desk. Deputy Telegraph Editor Franz is in charge of the telegraph desk from approximately 1:30 a.m. until 8:30 or 9:30 a.m. He decides which wire copy to offer to the news editors each morning for the first edition and he assigns stories to the copy editors as they ar- rive for work at the desk during the early morning hours. If Franz is dissatisfied with the edited copy he returns it to the copy editor with suggested revisions. According to National Editor Farmer, in assigning copy to a particular editor, Franz must take into con- sideration both the complexity and importance of the story and the individual skills of the particular copy editor to whom the assignment is given. Telegraph Editor Townshend replaces Franz on the telegraph- desk at 9:30 a.m. and thereafter is re- sponsible for deciding the copy that will be offered to the news editors for the remaining daily editions. Like Franz, Townshend assigns copy to be edited and returns any edited copy that is unsatisfactory. Deputy National Editor Fred Coger is largely re- sponsible for "overnight" stories. These are either major stories that have broken for the noon edition and require followup stories the next day or stories that have broken too late for inclusion in today's pa- per and must be covered in the next day's first edi- tion. Beginning at noon or 1 p.m. Coger compiles a list of stories which he presents to 'a 4:45 p.m. meeting of department heads for possible inclusion in the next day's paper. In compiling this list Coger will fre- quently check with the Washington bureau chief and the Philadelphia national reporter to determine whether they have any additional information on the story or to assign them to cover some aspect of the story for a future edition. Coger is also responsible for assigning copy to editors for Sunday features. Co- ger, like Townshend and Franz, will frequently indi- cate to the copy editor to whom an assignment is made the type of headline that he wants, the tone that the story should carry, its approximate length, and so forth. Coger also can return edited copy to a copy editor with directions for its revision. National Editor Farmer testified that most admin- istrative and personnel matters on the desk are left in the hands of Coger and Townshend. Townshend schedules the work hours and vacations of all tele- graph desk employees. Coger does the scheduling when Townshend is on vacation. Both Coger and Townshend schedule overtime but normally they bring overtime vouchers to Farmer for his approval. However, when Farmer is out of the office or other- wise unavailable, Coger, who ordinarily substitutes for him, has authority to authorize overtime' Coger can also initial expense vouchers and has authority to forward them directly to the executive editor. In Farmer's absence Coger is also authorized to give assignments to the Philadelphia national reporter.1° When a vacancy recently occurred on the tele- graph desk, Coger and Townshend lobbied Farmer to have the vacancy immediately filled because of the heavy workload on the copy editors. Thereafter Co- ger, who maintains a file on applicants for jobs as copy editors, personally interviewed two applicants and hired one of them on a trial basis. After a proba- tionary period Coger reviewed this individual's work product and effectively recommended to the manag- ing editor that she be retained as a permanent em- ployee. Coger also effectively recommended the transfer of an editor from the financial desk to the national desk. Coger and Townshend appear to share responsibil- ity for evaluating telegraph desk employees. Farmer testified that he is not usually in a position to judge the quality of work of individual copy editors on the telegraph desk and hence he relies on Coger and Townshend to evaluate their performance. The actu- al recommendations for salary increases are prepared by Townshend and sent to Coger, who in turn for- wards them to the executive editor for finalaction. On the basis of this record it is evident that Coger, Townshend, and Franz are charged with the' assign- ment and responsible direction of telegraph desk em- ployees, and that Coger and Townshend possess ad- ditional broad indicia of supervisory status, including authority to effectively recommend changes in the employment status of their subordinates on the desk. Accordingly, we shall exclude all three from the unit." Deputy Metro Editor Kennedy and the assistant met- ro editors: The metropolitan desk covers and writes news and feature stories that emanate from the state 10 The national reporter normally reports exclusively to National Editor Farmer. The national reporter's function is to fill gaps in national or inter- national wire service reports. He is usually given two or three special assign- ments a month At other times he may be assigned to special projects such as Iplannmg convention or primary coverage. See A. S Abell Company, Publisher, The Sun Papers, 81 NLRB 82, 84, 86 (1949); The Daily Review, Inc, Ill NLRB 763, 764-765 (1955). BULLETIN COMPANY 349 capital at Harrisburg, and from Chester, Montgom- ery, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties. The record indicates the majority of news department reporters and copy editors are assigned to the metropolitan desk.12 James Tunnell, a stipulated supervisor, is the metro editor. William Kennedy serves as his deputy. There are six assistant metro editors assigned to the desk. Deputy Metro Editor Kennedy is scheduled to work from 6 a.m. until 3:30 or 4 p.m. For the first 3 or 4 hours of his tour and prior to Metro Editor Tunnell's arrival, Kennedy is solely responsible for metro news. As part of his primary responsibility for seeing that there is proper coverage of local news, Kennedy reviews all metro.news prior to the publica- tion of the first morning edition. He also checks with the assistant metro editors to see what they have done or plan to do with respect to metro news for that day's paper. Tunnell testified that Kennedy is basically in charge of metro news for this day's edi- tions while he -concentrates on the next day's paper. In describing the overall operation of - the metro desk Tunnell testified that the assistant metro editors report to him and to Kennedy, as do the metro copy desk chief and his deputy: the bureau chiefs and re- porters normally report to an assistant metro editor. Although under pressure of a deadline or some other unusual circumstance Tunnell or Kennedy might make a direct assignment to a reporter, more com- monly they would call in an assistant metro editor and discuss the assignment with him. The assistant metro editor in turn would give the assignment to one of the reporters he handles or would send a re- porter to Tun>ilell or Kennedy for further, instruc- tions. The only reporter who frequently receives di- rect assignments from Tunnell and Kennedy is the local investigative reporter. However, in the absence of an incumbent assistant metropolitan editor/fea- tures the reporters formerly assigned to that assistant metro editor report directly to Tunnell or Kennedy.13 The ultimate decision to hire employees for the metro desk rests with the executive editor and the managing editor. However, normally Tunnell is con- sulted about new hires and he and Kennedy inter- view prospective employees. The record indicates that the metro desk is relatively stable with only two new hires in the, past calendar year. Tunnell inter- viewed both of these new employees and Kennedy 12 At the time of, the , hearing 23 desk reporters , 14 general assignment reporters, I local investigations reporter, and 3 desk assistants were assigned to the desk. In addition, the bureau chiefs and bureau reporters from the five metro bureaus reported to the desk. Also, 12 copy editors and 11 rewrite men were assigned to the desk 13 The position of assistant metro editor /features was recently vacated and the duties and responsibilities of the position split between Tunnell and Kennedy. On this record it is not clear whether the Employer has any pres- ent intention of filling this position. interviewed one of them. 14 Tunnell testified that he followed Kennedy's recommendation with respect to the job applicant whom Kennedy interviewed and that he forwarded the recommendation to the execu- tive editor. Kennedy and Tunnell jointly prepare evaluations on metro desk employees, including recommenda- tions for salary increases. Tunnell testified that nor- mally such recommendations are followed. Tunnell also testified that Kennedy has authority to make recommendations on personnel matters or grievances directly to the managing editor. For example, in Oc- tober 1975, a metro desk rewrite man discussed a pay grievance with Kennedy who was sympathetic and brought the grievance with his recommendation di- rectly to the managing editor and the executive edi- tor without consulting Tunnell. Tunnell further testi- fied that in the past year he has never on any occasion overruled Kennedy with respect to a per- sonnel or grievance matter. Finally, Tunnell testified that when he is on vacation or otherwise unavailable Kennedy replaces him. In Tunnell's absence Kenne= dy normally attends the late afternoon meeting of department heads at which the next day's "budget" of stories is presented and discussed. Kennedy and Tunnell jointly prepare vacation schedules for the as- sistant metro editors. Either Kennedy or Tunnell may spot check expense reports after they are ap- proved by Assistant Metro Editor Mecca or Mecca may approach either Kennedy or Tunnell if he has a problem or question about an expense claim. Both Tunnell and Kennedy possess copies of the supervi- sory manual. It is evident from this record that the deputy metro editor shares with the metro editor major responsibil- ity for the overall responsible direction of the metro desk and the employees assigned thereto. In this re- gard we note that the deputy metro editor not only assigns work to metro desk employees but also is ef- fectively involved in various administrative and per- sonnel matters such as employee evaluations and the adjustment of grievances. Accordingly, we shall ex- clude the deputy metro editor from the unit. H. James Laverty is an assistant metro editor/op- erations commonly referred to as the "early opera- tions man." Laverty works on the metro desk from 4:30 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. He is basically responsible for the quality' and accuracy of the three major early editions, the "A," "B," and "BB" editions. When Laverty arrives at the metro desk he receives a report on current stories from a desk assistant. He also reviews a log of possible news events for cover- age left by the night assistant metro editor' Finally, 14 Kennedy was on vacation when the other position was filled 350 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Laverty checks the wire copy and reads the late edi- tions of the Philadelphia Inquirer looking for stories that the Bulletin may have missed. During the morning hours and up to the comple- tion of the "BB" edition Laverty assigns work to the rewrite men on the desk, discusses stories with the metro reporters, and decides the "lead" for stories that will run in the paper. Laverty has authority to call in a reporter or reporters to cover breaking sto- ries or to call a reporter at home to give or to change an early assignment. Apparently these are not infre- quent occurrences and at.times, as when there is im- portant breaking news, Laverty may have as many as 20 to 25 people working for him.15 The "middle operations man," Assistant Metro Editor/Operations Frank Lenny, is responsible for the "D" and "E" editions and for initiating and as- signing stories in preparation for the next day's "A" edition. Louis King- is the "night, operations man." Lenny and King, during their tours on the ` metro desk, exercise the same authority and perform the same job functions as Laverty. However, in the ab- sence of the picture editor who does not, work the night hours, King is also authorized to make assign- ments directly to photographers. In addition to the three assistant metro editors/ operations there is an assistant metro editor/beats, an assistant, metro editor/administration, and an as- sistant metro editor/bureaus. ,Marge Paxson is the incumbent assistant metro ed- itor/beats. There are 23 beat reporters who report directly to Paxson. As described by-the metro editor, Paxson's function is to insure that the beat reporters provide the paper with adequate coverage of the sub- ject matter areas that comprise the specific "beats" under her jurisdiction. Paxson has little occasion to request additional help from other areas of the metro desk. 'If she needs a general assignment reporter or a rewrite man, she makes a request to Tunnell, Kenne- dy, or the assistant metro editor/operations in charge of the desk at the time. In addition to giving specific assignments to the beat reporters, Paxson is responsi- ble for initial light editing of copy from the beat re- porters. Paxson has authority to return copy to a beat reporter with directions to revise it, Ray Mecca, assistant metro editor/administration, performs three main functions for the metro desk: (1) 15 Although the metro editor and his deputy leave a number where they can be reached and are sometimes called by the assistant metro editor in an emergency or when there is important news breaking, usually the assistant metro editor calls to tell them what has been done rather than to ask them what to do Furthermore, on occasions when they have come in because of an important news story the metro editor and his deputy have left the assis- tant metro editor in charge of the desk and in effect functioned as his assistants. he directs seven or eight desk assistants who are en- gaged in a variety of clerical duties; (2) he is respon- sible 'for special house projects such as stories con- cerning the paper's scholarship program, stories on newsboys, the preparation of advance obituaries, and so forth; and (3) he acts as-metro desk auditor over- seeing metro desk expense accounts, overtime, and leave time. Rem Reader, the assistant metro editor/bureaus, is responsible for the bureaus located in the four Penn- sylvania counties and for the City Hall bureau. He is charged ,with overseeing the bureau chiefs and coor- dinating the efforts, of the bureaus; on occasion he gives assignments to suburban "stringers" or will have a reporter report directly to him on special proj- ects. -Reider receives daily memos from the bureau chiefs indicating a,"budget of likely bureau-stories. Reider has;_authority to assign specific stories to a bureau chief or reporter or to change an assignment given by-a bureau chief. If he is dissatisfied with bu- reau copy, he can return it to- the bureau chief or reporter and direct its revision. Although the Petitioner contested the supervisory status of the assistant metro editors it concedes that the three "assistant metro editors/operations make recommendations with respect to the hire, fire, and transfer of employees on the ,metro staff, authorize overtime for reporters and rewrite-people, on the met- ro desk, are consulted on the annual employee evalu- ations, and frequently recommend salary increases, schedule work hours and vacations for some desk employees, and are authorized to handle "minor" grievances. The Petitioner also concedes that Marge Paxson not only handles assignments to the beat reporters but also is involved in changing beats, in approving overtime, in arranging schedules, and in handling beat reporter grievances. Similarly, the Petitioner concedes that Ray Mecca schedules the hours, ap- proves the overtime, and handles the"minor" griev- ances of seven or eight desk assistants who work un- der his direction. The record also establishes that Metro Editor Tunnell has delegated to Mecca a var- iety of administrative and personnel tasks, including some responsibility for the hiring and evaluation of desk employees, and that Mecca's recommendations relative to these matters are generally solicited and followed. Finally, the Petitioner concedes that Reider can assign stories to a bureau chief or, as he has on occasion, directly to a bureau reporter. Petitioner also concedes that Reader is initially responsible for authorizing overtime and expenses for the bureaus and for arranging temporary transfers to the bureaus. The record further establishes that Reider is involved in evaluating both bureau chiefs and reporters and BULLETIN COMPANY that on occasion he has personally resolved griev- ances involving bureau personnel. On the basis of this record and particularly in light of the largely uncontested testimony which estab- lishes the frequent exercise of various supervisory powers by the assistant metro editors, we conclude that they are firstline supervisory personnel who must be excluded from the unit. Metro copy desk chief and deputy chief. The metro copy desk is responsible for the final "fine" editing of all local or metro copy as well as some entertain- ment, New Jersey, and Delaware copy. The copy desk makes sure that the copy is grammatical and checks the style, accuracy, and completeness of the story. If the copy editor has serious questions about a story, he will return it to the copy desk chief or his deputy, both of whom generally function as the "slot" men on the desk, and they in turn can return it to the metro editors for clarification. In addition to editing copy the copy desk writes` subheads, head- lines, and picture captions. The copy desk is also re- sponsible for so-called "overset" changes in stories for which there is no room in the current paper. There are two work shifts on the metro copy desk, an early morning shift scheduled from 6 or 7 a.m. to I or 2 p.m. and a late shift scheduled from 8 or 8:50 p.m. to 3:30 or 4 a.m. It appears from the record that there is little need for coverage on the desk during the hours between shifts. Metro Copy Desk Chief Robert C. Lowry and Deputy Chief John Weir work one shift or the other as slot man and rotate shifts every 3 months. The slot man assigns copy to the editors sitting with him on the desk, looks at their headlines and approves them, and checks on the work of the individual copy editors. Although the metro copy desk is considered part of the overall metro operation and is basically an- swerable to the metro editor, the latter testified that the copy desk's operation is largely autonomous, ex- cept in editorial matters, and that copy desk opera- tional decisions are made between the copy desk chief and the managing editor or the 'executive edi- tor. The record indicates that the copy desk chief communicates directly with the managing editor on personnel matters, although he may simultaneously forward a copy of his recommendations or requests to the metro editor. The copy desk chief determines shifts and rota- tions on the desk. His deputy can change the sched- ule for personnel, on his shift. Either the desk chief or the deputy has authority to authorize overtime or to call in a copy editor when necessary to provide cov- erage on a shift. Either the desk chief or the deputy can direct a copy editor to "hold" a story if he feels there is some problem with its accuracy or content. 351 Similarly, either the desk chief or the deputy can or- der a copy editor to move a story, even if the copy editor has some question about the story. Both Low- ry and Weir have authority to handle grievances on their shifts." Metro Editor Tunnell testified that to his knowl- edge there have been few, if any, hires or transfers to the metro copy desk since November 1974, when there was a major reorganization of the paper. He did recall, however, one instance when Desk Chief Lowry successfully blocked the transfer of a metro copy desk editor to another department. Tunnell also testified that Lowry and his deputy normally prepare evaluations, including recommendations on wage in- creases, for metro copy desk employees. Tunnell tes- tified that he has little or no input into these evalua- tions. Based on all of the above we conclude that both the metro copy desk chief and his deputy are supervi- sors and should be excluded from the unit." Feature/focus copy, desk chief.- Donald Caswell is chief of the feature/focus copy desk. The desk works a regular 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule. There are two copy editors assigned to the desk. The feature/focus copy desk edits feature copy, writes headlines for feature copy, and is responsible for the layout of pages for the focus section of the paper. As desk chief, Caswell assigns copy to the copy editors and reviews the edited copy and head- lines. Caswell has authority to return work to the copy editor if he is not satisfied with the editing or the feature headline. Caswell also has authority to return work to a reporter and to direct the reporter to redo the story.'8 Although there is some conflict in the record,19 there is testimony by the Employer's executive edi- tor, B. Dale Davis, that Caswell has authority to as- sign overtime and to arrange a day off or other change in the work schedule of the copy desk editors. Davis also testified that Caswell effectively recom- mended the transfer of one of the present feature copy editors from the news desk. Unlike the copy 16 Metro Editor Tunnell testified that either Lowry or Weir can handle grievances "that can be handled within the metropolitan copy desk itself " Tunnell testified that on one occasion Lowry reported a more serious griev- ance to him and told him how he wanted to handle it . Tunnell testified he told Lowry, "Fine, you handle it" 17 See A S Abell Company, 81 NLRB 82, 86 (1949) 18 There is some dispute about the authority of a copy editor on the desk to return copy to a reporter. It appears from the record, however, that only when a copy editor has a "minor" question about astory , such as a gram- mar change or a question on a figure or date, will he go to the reporter directly If there were to be any significant changes in copy they would be cleared with Caswell 19 Feature/Focus Copy Editor Denise Kochm testified that she goes di- rectly to Feature/Focus Editor King for overtime slips and that other em- ployees in the feature/focus department have routinely filled in for King in his absence 352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD editors, Caswell is not eligible for overtime. Caswell goes to the afternoon meeting of department heads when Feature/Focus Editor Harry King, a stipulated supervisor, is unavailable. Based on the record as a whole, particularly the evidence of Caswell's authority to assign work to and responsibly direct copy desk employees, we conclude that the feature/focus copy desk chief is a supervisor and should be excluded from the unit. Chief librarian: Charles Martyn is the Bulletin's chief librarian. Martyn reports to Executive Editor Davis and directs a staff of 12 people working in the job classifications of library assistant and classifier. Martyn's testimony concerning his duties and re- sponsibilities as chief librarian is uncontroverted. Al- though Martyn must request permission from the executive editor to fill a library vacancy, once permission is granted Martyn alone interviews pros- pective candidates and, makes the final `decision to hire. Martyn also suggests a starting salary and his recommendation is generally effective. Martyr per- sonally interviewed and hired' all the library staff other than'three individuals who ' were employed by the Bulletin prior'to his arrival at the paper. On ap- proximately five occasions Martyn has called depart- ment heads and effectively recommended the trans- fer of library personnel to other departments. He personally prepares evaluations of all library person- nel, including recommendations for specific salary increases. He has authority to discipline or fire li- brary employees without consulting higher authority. He testified to two, instances in which he summarily discharged employees. Finally, Martyn assigns work to the library staff, initials overtime and expenses, directs the prepara- tion of a weekly work schedule, resolves grievances without consulting the executive editor, frequently attends supervisory meetings, and, in fact, recently attended meetings concerning the development of a supervisory training manual. Based on the clear and uncontroverted evidence that Martyn possesses and exercises all the powers that are considered indicia of supervisory status, we conclude that he must be excluded from the unit. Newsroom supervisor: The Employer contends that John J. Hanrahan, who has held the title of news- room supervisor since 1966, exercises supervisory au- thority over copypersons and for that reason should be excluded from the unit. There are nine full-time and seven part-time copy- persons working in the newsroom. Copypersons are assigned to the newsroom on staggered shifts throughout the day. These shifts are rotated on a weekly basis. Among their various duties copyper- sons are responsible for removing wires from the tele- type machines and delivering them to the appropri- ate editors or departments; running errands inside and outside the building; delivering editions of the Bulletin and out-of-town papers 'to the editors and news department; distributing newsroom mail; and moving copy from one part of the newsroom to an- other. In addition, a copyperson may be assigned at particular times of the day to a desk or department. For example, one copyperson is assigned during the day to the picture desk and another copyperson is assigned to the New Jersey desk. The record reveals that Hanrahan prepares the work schedule -and vacation schedule for copyper- sons. He can also change the schedules or the assign- ment of a particular copyperson if the need arises. Hanrahan has authority to grant a day off, to call in a copyperson, or to initial overtime on the Employer's standard overtime card, as well as au- thority to advance expense money to copypersons as the expense is incurred. When the latter occurs, Han- rahan submits an expense voucher for reimburse- ment. In addition, the record shows that Hanrahan pre- pares written evaluations of all new copypersons and that he plays ,a substantial role iii, the hiring of copy- persons. Thus Hanrahan testified that he had inter- viewed all the employees currently working as copy- persons and' that to date the paper has always followed his recommendation to accept or reject an applicant. So far as Hanrahan is aware job applicants are not interviewed by anyone other than'himself but are sent directly to him, by personnel. Filially, Hanra- han testified that he routinely , handles employee grievances, that he has warned employees about defi- ciencies in their 'performance, and that on the one occasion when he recommended a discharge the indi- vidual in question was terminated. In view of this' record it is evident that Hanrahan functions as a supervisor' and must be excluded from the unit. Contrary to the Petitioner's contention, the mere fact that newsroom editors or desk,chief or other company personnel may exercise supervisory authority over some copypersons for some part of the day in no way detracts from thisconclusion.20 Makeup chief and deputy chief: The makeup de- partment acts as a liaison between, the news depart- ments and the composing room. Makeup is responsi- ble for insuring that the paper is set up and printed in 20 Hanrahan works Monday through Friday from 6 a in. to 1.30 p.m., the busiest part of the newsroom's day. Before leaving in the afternoon Hanra- han gives specific assignments to the copypersons who remain on duty In Hanrahan's absence copypersons would report to Assistant Managing Edi- tor Murphy if a problem arose; copypersons assigned by Hanrahan to a particular desk such as the New Jersey desk or the picture desk would receive immediate directions and assignments from the editor or desk chief in those departments BULLETIN COMPANY 353 accordance with news editors' instructions. As make- up receives "dummies," news columns with notations as to the placement and lengths of stories and pho- tographs, from the news department, it "closes" the pages which are then sent on to the composing room. In addition to Makeup Chief Ernest Raum and De- puty Howard MacDonald, there are three employees working in the department. The makeup department works from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on two shifts. The early shift is responsible for the first three editions of the paper; the late shift is responsible only for the last edition. Raum works the early shift with three makeup editors, while his depu- ty works the late shift alone. There is some conflict in the testimony concerning Raum's duties and responsibilities. Executive Editor Davis testified that Raum makes up the work and vacation schedules, assigns pages for "closing," ap- proves overtime, signs overtime vouchers, and has authority to resolve grievances. Howard MacDonald testified, however, that he rather than Raum makes up the schedules but only after informal discussion and agreement among all makeup department em- ployees. MacDonald also testified that assignments in the makeup department are routine and that makeup employees perform basically the same tasks pursuant to the overall direction given by,the news editors. Finally, MacDonald testified that he was un- aware that Raum had resolved any grievances 21 and that the news editor rather than Raum approved and signed overtime slips. MacDonald also contradicted Davis' testimony that he, MacDonald, generally fills in, for Raum in the latter's absence. The record does contain testimony that Raum has signed evaluations of makeup department employ- ees, although it is not clear that these contain any specific recommendations. There is also testimony by Davis that Raum has recently interviewed applicants for a job in the makeup department and that Raum would make the decision on hiring. In fact, however, no applicant has ' yet been hired nor have there been any hires in the recent past. On the basis of this record, particularly in view of the conflict in testimony concerning Raum's duties and authority, we are unable to determine conclu- sively whether or not the makeup chief possesses su- pervisory status. Accordingly, we shall allow him to vote under challenge. On the other hand, it is clear that the deputy makeup chief possesses no indicia of supervisory status.22 Thus MacDonald testified that 21 The one example Davis offered of Raum handling a "grievance" in- volved an incident in which Raum complained about a composing room employee to the managing editor. There is no contention that Raum exercis- es any supervisory authority over composing room employees. 22 In fact MacDonald testified that he had never been told that his title was "deputy makeup chief " he works alone on the late shift and that he has no responsibility for hiring, firing, or evaluating employ- ees, or resolving grievances. Accordingly, we shall in- clude the deputy in the unit. Almanac editor: Adam Tait is the editor of the Bulletin almanac and, is responsible for seeing that the almanac is published at the end of each year. There are two clerks assigned to the almanac staff. Petitioner concedes that Tait has had "some in- put" into the hiring of almanac employees and into transfers by employees from other sections of the pa- per to the almanac. However, the Petitioner main- tains that the ultimate decisions to hire or transfer were made by Tait's supervisors. Contrary to the Petitioner's contentions, the record indicates that Tait hired both almanac clerks after he alone interviewed prospective job applicants. The record also indicates that Tait assigns various tasks to the two clerks and that he has authority to return work to them if he is dissatisfied with it. Based on the uncontroverted evidence of Tait's au- thority to responsibly direct the work of his subordi- nates, as well as the evidence of his exercise of other indicia of supervisory authority, we conclude that the almanac editor is a supervisor and must be excluded from the unit. Fixit editor: James Stanton is the editor of the fixit department and is responsible for a consumer action column that appears four times a week. The column attempts to respond to inquiries from readers con- cerning, problems the reader has encountered in deal- ing with private business concerns and government agencies. In addition to Stanton there are three writers and a clerical assigned to the fixit department Stanton tes- tified that he has no responsibility for hiring, firing, or disciplining any fixit department employee. He does not prepare evaluations of fixit department em- ployees, has not been consulted, about transfers into the department, and is not aware of the salaries of other fixit department employees. Although the Em- ployer contends that Stanton "assigns" work, to fixit department employees, the record indicates that any assignments given are purely routine. In fact, at times a clerical in the department "assigns" the work by dividing the inquiries received by the department into equal piles which are given to the writers who then decide which inquiries to focus on as possible copy for the fixit column. In view of the lack of indicia of supervisory au- thority, we shall include the fixit editor in the unit. Entertainment editor and TV Time editor: The' Em- ployer maintains that Entertainment Editor Robert Sokolsky and TV Time Editor Joe Adcock are, super- visors and must be excluded from the unit. Both of 354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD these editors report to Arts and Leisure Editor Don- ald Harrison, a stipulated supervisor. Sokolsky is basically responsible for copy appear- ing on the entertainment pages and for the TV Time magazine staff. The entertainment pages include crit- ical reviews, feature stories, and some breaking enter- tainment news. Although it is evident from the record that the working relationship between Sokolsky and employ- ees in the entertainment department is generally re- laxed and informal, nonetheless it is clear that Sokol- sky can and does give assignments to both writers and reviewers. Moreover, although Sokolsky testified that there have been some personnel changes in the entertainment department about which he was not consulted, he also testified that in certain instances his recommendations have been solicited and fol- lowed. In addition, it is uncontroverted that as enter- tainment editor Sokolsky has authority to return copy to reporters and to tell them to rewrite it; he has authority to authorize overtime and he has signed overtime vouchers; he schedules vacations for em- ployees in the entertainment section; and he attends supervisory meetings, including the meetings at which the supervisory manual was developed. As this record shows that Sokolsky possesses and exercises supervisory authority we shall exclude him from the unit. TV Time is a Sunday magazine which contains listings of local television programs as well as feature stories about television personalities. In addition to TV Time Editor Joe Adcock the magazine staff con- sists of a feature writer and three employees who compile the magazine's television program listings. Adcock testified that he does not give assignments to feature writer and television critic Rex Pokier. Rather Polier tells Adcock what is timely and togeth- er they decide which feature story will run. If Polier and Adcock disagree about a feature story, the latter would go to Entertainment Editor Sokolsky for a de- cision. Adcock also testified that he does not assign overtime, has never been involved in evaluating em- ployees, handling grievances, or discipline, and has no part in scheduling the work of any of the TV Time employees. In fact, it appears from the record that the three employees who compile the television list- ings work essentially without any direction from Ad- cock. In the absence of evidence that Adcock possesses or exercises any indicia of supervisory authority or is in any sense charged with the responsible direction of employees on the TV Time staff, we shall include him in the unit. Picture editor and manager of the photo depart- ment: There are 18 photographers and 1 desk assis- tant assigned to the picture desk. Robert A. Brothers is the picture editor. Chick Elfont, the manager of the photography department, reports to Brothers. The picture desk provides pictures for every sec- tion of the paper. An editor initiates a picture for his section by filling out a photo assignment form which he submits to Brothers, who gives the form to Elfont. Elfont in turn gives the assignment to a photogra- pher. Brothers shares with the news editors the responsi- bility for deciding which news- stories require pic- tures. After the pictures are taken, Brothers decides which ones will run in the news pages 23 Brothers has authority to direct a photographer to reshoot an as- signment if he is dissatisfied with the first set of pic- tures. The record also indicates that Brothers is solely responsible for preparing evaluations of photo desk employees. Brothers was told by the executive editor that he, Brothers, would have the final decision as regards hiring a new photo desk assistant and Broth- ers has been interviewing candidates for the job. In the 4 months that he has been picture editor there has been no need to hire a new photographer but Brothers on his own initiative and authority promot- ed a darkroom assistant to full-time photographer and transferred a copy assistant to the darkroom job. Brothers has a copy of the supervisory manual and he attends the afternoon meetings of department heads. Based on the record it is evident that Brothers is charged with the responsible direction of photo de- partment employees and that he otherwise exhibits the indicia of supervisory status. Hence we shall ex- clude the picture editor from the unit. Picture Editor Brothers testified at some length as to the job functions and responsibilities of the man- ager of the photo department. Brothers testified that Elfont has a separate office in the photo department, gives assignments to the photographers, prepares schedules, and has been delegated authority to initial overtime vouchers which are then passed on to the executive editor for approval. Brothers also testified, however, that Elfont is not consulted' with respect to any evaluation or other personnel actions concerning the photographers. Brothers also testified, and the record indicates, that scheduling work hours is large- ly routine and flexible. The same is true of overtime, inasmuch as the photographers understand before- hand that they will receive overtime when necessary to cover an assignment. It is apparent from Brothers' testimony and from the record as a whole that Elfont does not initiate 23 Brothers' decision may be overruled by the news editor BULLETIN COMPANY 355 assignments to the photographers but rather acts as a conduit passing on the assignments given by Broth- ers and other editors. It is apparent that Elfont is not responsible for the quality of the staff photographers' work. Under these circumstances we conclude that Elfont is not charged with the responsible direction of photo desk employees and possesses none of the indicia of supervisory status. Accordingly, we shall include the manager of the photo department in the unit. Assistant Discover editor: Jack Wilson, a stipulated supervisor, is editor of Discover, a weekly rotogra- vure supplement of the Bulletin. In addition to Wil- son and Assistant Editor Wayne Robinson there are four full-time employees and one part-time employee on the Discover staff. There is little specific testimony concerning Rob- inson's day-to-day job duties. On occasion Robinson has been given responsibility for so-called "empha- sis" issues of Discover whereby the magazine is de- voted primarily to a single topic. It appears, however, that any assignments Robinson has made in connec- tion with an emphasis issued have been primarily to freelance stringers or have been cleared in advance with Wilson.24 It is uncontroverted that Discover Editor Wilson ordinarily schedules work hours and assignments, handles Discover employee grievances, and prepares employee evaluations, all with little or no input from Robinson. The Employer submits, however, that Robinson is a supervisor primarily because he fills in for Wilson during the latter's vacation. Based on the record before us we find no evidence that Robinson, in the course of his duties as assistant Discover editor, possesses or exercises any indicia of supervisory authority. Nor do we find that Robinson possesses supervisory status merely because on occa- sion he substitutes for Wilson. Such sporadic substi- tution for a supervisor is not of itself sufficient to give Robinson supervisory status.25 Accordingly, we shall include Robinson in the unit. Assistant sports editor: Jack Chevalier was promot- ed recently from sports writer to assistant sports edi- tor. He works from midnight to 8 a.m. 4 days a week and from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays. The former assistant sports editor did not work nights. When Chevalier was approached about the assistant sports editor position, he suggested a change in the hours so that the assistant sports editor would function in ef- fect as night sports editor. Sports Editor Herbert 24 Apparently Robinson circulates a memorandum detailing as specifical- ly as possible his proposals in the issue, all of which must be approved by his superior before he moves to implement them s See E W Scripps Company, 94 NLRB 227, 228 (1951), Gordon Mills. Inc, 145 NLRB 771, 775 (1963) Stutz, a stipulated supervisor, works from 8:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. There are three employees assigned to the night shift along with Chevalier: a rewrite man, a layout man, and an employee who handles the agate type, the summaries, and some short articles. Chevalier spends 90 percent of his time writing headlines for sports stories and editing sports copy. Chevalier is responsible for sports copy for the first edition of the paper. He has authority to direct a sports writer to rewrite a story and he has authority to change a reporter's assignment so as to cover late breaking sports news. Chevalier and the sports editor prepare the weekly work schedules and Chevalier has interviewed prospective candidates for the sports de- partment. Stutz testified that Chevalier interviewed the two applicants for the position of hockey reporter and that Chevalier's recommendation was followed. Chevalier testified that he has directed sports de- partment employees to work overtime, although he did not personally sign their overtime vouchers. Che- valier also testified that he has been told that he has authority to authorize expenses. Finally, Chevalier testified concerning his role in the hiring of the new hockey writer and he testified to his belief that no one would be hired for the sports department over his objection. As this record demonstrates Chevalier's authority to responsibly direct sports department employees, as well as his involvement in the hiring of new per- sonnel, we conclude that Chevalier is a supervisor and must be excluded from the unit. Financial editor and real estate editor: Financial Editor Newman and Real Estate Editor Berrens re- port to Economic News Editor Joel Whitaker, a sti- pulated supervisor. In addition to Newman there are four employees who are involved in writing and preparing financial news copy. There is also one employee who spends 50 percent of her time writing financial news and 50 percent of her time working on real estate copy. This writer is the only employee, other than Berrens, who works on real estate news. It is uncontroverted that Newman and Berrens devote the bulk of their time to writing and editing copy for their respective columns. Whitaker testified that employees in the financial and real estate sections would come to him with their grievances; that he alone prepares evaluations of em- ployees in these sections; that he alone has authority to initial expense vouchers and to forward them to the executive editor; and that he alone would make decisions on hiring or firing for the economic news department. He also testified that Newman substi- tutes for him during his occasional absences from the office and he indicated that Newman will be asked to 356 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD "sit in" on interviews if the paper decides to hire a new reporter. With respect to Newman's power to make effective recommendations on hiring, Whitaker also testified that any recommendation made by Newman would be sent on to the paper's manage- ment "if I concur in the recommendation." Finally Whitaker testified that both Newman and Berrens on occasion give assignments to reporters. ' Based on the record before us we find that neither Newman nor Berrens exhibits indicia of supervisory authority and, therefore, we conclude that both of them should be included in the unit. With respect to the testimony concerning Newman's authority to substitute for Whitaker during the latter's vacation, we conclude that the exercise of any supervisory au- thority by Newman on these occasions is too sporad- ic to warrant a finding of supervisory status for New- man. As for the testimony that Newman and Berrens have occasion to assign work to reporters, we note that it appears from the record that the two or three reporters in the economic news department have well established "beats" and for the most part their as- signments appear to fall routinely within these beats. There is also some indication in the record that near- ly all story ideas and assignments, whether they origi- nate with one of the reporters or with one of the editors, must be cleared by Whitaker. Accordingly, we conclude that Whitaker alone is charged with the responsible direction of employees in his department. Fashion editor: Fashion Editor Phyllis Feldkamp reports to Feature/Focus Editor Harry King. On a regular basis only one part-time employee is assigned to fashions I day a week. Three or four times a year Feldkamp is responsible for a special fashion section and may have additional part-time help assigned to her. The parties agree, however, that none of the part-timers hired in connection with these special is- sues should be included in the unit. Although the Employer maintains that Feldkamp was "instrumental" in hiring the regular part-time re- porter, it appears that the decision to hire was made by the executive editor who recalled interviewing the part-timer but was unsure whether this took place before or after Feldkamp's recommendation. There is testimony that Feldkamp gives assignments to the part-timer and "reads her copy." However, the testi- mony is sketchy as to how often such assignments are made or whether such assignments are cleared with Feature/Focus Editor King. Moreover, it is un- clear whether Feldkamp has authority to return work to the part-time reporter. On this record we are unable to determine Ms. Feldkamp's status. We shall, therefore, permit her to vote under challenge. Food editor: At the time of the hearing the incum- bent food editor, Kathy Hacher, was scheduled to be transferred to another section of the paper. In addi- tion to Hacher, there are two part-time employees assigned to the food section several days a week. Hacher testified that she has never been told that she has authority to alter the part-timers' schedule or to ask them to work an extra day. If a question along those lines came up Hacher would consult her superi- or, Harry King. King is also responsible for approv- ing overtime and expenses for the part-timers. The part-timers would go to King with any grievances they might have. Hacher has had no formal involve- ment in preparing evaluations of the part-timers, al- though on occasion King has asked her for an opin- ion of their work. Hacher does not know the salaries earned by the part-timers and does not have a copy of the supervisory manual. On the other hand there is testimony that Ms. Hacher does assign work to the two regular part-time employees and that she has authority to review their work and to return it to them if she is dissatisfied with it. It also appears that Ms. Hacher initially in- terviewed one of the part-timers and recommended her hire. Finally, the Employer notes that Ms.,Hach- er was consulted about a successor as food editor and the Employer maintains that Hacher's recom- mendation of one of the part-timers will be followed. We find the evidence of Hacher's status is incon- clusive. In view of this, and in view of the fact that Hacher has apparently been replaced or will shortly be replaced, we shall allow the employee holding the title of food editor at the time of the election to vote under challenge. B. Managerial Issues Assistant editor of the editorial page, editorial writ- ers, Bulletin forum editor, opinion and review page edi- tor: The editor of the editorial page, John C. Mc- Cullough, is a stipulated supervisor and hence excluded from the unit. Willis Harrison is the assis- tant editor of the editorial page. There are four full- time editorial writers, the forum editor, the opinion and review page editor, and several full-time and part-time clericals in the editorial department. The Employer asserts that Harrison, the editorial writers, and the forum and opinion and review page editors are managerial employees and thus outside the coverage of the Act. The Employer contends that Harrison is also a supervisor within the meaning of the Act and must for that reason be excluded from the unit. The editorial page staff is responsible for both the editorial page and the adjoining opinion and review page known as the "op-ed" page. McCullough testi- BULLETIN COMPANY 357 lied that as editor of the editorial page he is responsi- ble for handling the editorial department's budget and for all personnel matters involving the editorial staff. McCullough also supervises the actual prepara- tion of the paper's editorials. According to McCullough, the typical editorial de- partment workday begins with an early morning meeting between himself and Assistant Editor Harri- son. At this meeting McCullough discusses with Har- rison a number of topics for potential editorials. In instances when McCullough is considering an edito- rial on a subject that he believes of "major" impor- tance, he will have previously consulted with the Bul- letin's editor-publisher, William L. McLean III. At 10 a.m. there is a conference of the editorial writers, usually chaired by McCullough or, in Mc- Cullough's absence, by Harrison. The editorial writ- ers are informed of the topics previously discussed between McCullough and Harrison. In addition, each editorial writer is encouraged to suggest other topics for possible editorials and to indicate the posi- tions that he believes the paper should take. There is general discussion of all the topics suggested and, ap- parently more or less by consensus, a decision is made as to whether or not an editorial should be written on a particular issue. According to McCul- lough, there is considerable give-and-take in these sessions and the editorials that finally appear tend to reflect a group effort. It also appears to be the usual practice for editorial writers to select their own as- signment, although McCullough testified that at times an editorial writer will be given a topic ' even if the writer indicates that he would prefer to write on some other subject. Once an editorial is written it is edited either by McCullough or by Harrison. After it is edited, the editorial is sent to the composing room to be put into type and a galley proof is sent to Editor-Publisher McLean who has "final say" over all editorials. After the editor-publisher returns his copy of the editorial with his changes, if any, the editorial staff prepares a "dummy" of the next day's editorial page, including both the editorials and the forum section. The dum- my page is sent to Editor-Publisher McLean for final approval. Forum Editor Barbara Murphy reads all the letters that come to the editorial department and selects from among them the letters that are of current gen- eral interest. Murphy also lays out the forum section of the page and decides both the placement of the letters and the letters that will be accompanied by photographs, cartoons, or other graphics. On occa- sion Murphy also writes editorials. McCullough testified that the editorial department does have certain general rules concerning the length and content of letters that may be used. He also indi- cated that Murphy has been forum editor for a rela- tively brief period and therefore he tends to review her selections rather more carefully than might other- wise be true. Gordon Whitecraft is 'the paper's opinion and re- view page editor. Whitecraft reads 20 or more col- umns a day-most of them nationally syndicated- and selects the columns which will run on the op-ed page. McCullough testified that the basic purpose of the opinion and review page is to present the reader with the greatest possible variety of views.26 If White- craft had any question about including a column, he would discuss the column with either McLean or McCullough. Either one of them could order White- craft' to "pull" a column out of the page, although McCullough could not recall an occasion when this occurred. In addition to selecting columns for the page, Whitecraft makes up the page and decides the graphics that will be included on the page. The Board, with court approval," has defined managerial employees as those employees who for- mulate and effectuate management policies by ex- pressing and making operative the decisions of their employer, and those employees with discretion in the performance of their jobs independent of their employer's established policy. Contrary to the Em- ployer, we conclude that with the possible exception of the editor of the editorial page,28 the members of the editorial staff whose duties we have outlined above are not managerial employees. As for the claimed managerial status of the assis- tant editor of the editorial page and of the editorial writers, we find this claim undercut by the uncontro- verted testimony of Editorial Editor McCullough that the editorial page, in effect, "belongs" to Editor- Publisher McLean. The record in this case clearly demonstrates that Editor-Publisher McLean, either in person or through Editorial Editor McCullough, directs and oversees on a regular daily basis the prep- aration and publication of the Bulletin's entire edito- rial page. Thus most proposed editorial topics origi- nate with McCullough; 29 "major" proposed editorial topics are initially cleared with McLean by McCul- 26 According to McCullough it is not the Bulletin's policy to run a partic- ular column on a particular day of the week. 27 See N L R B. v Bell Aerospace Company, Div of Textron, Inc, 416 U S 267 (1974), and cases cited therein 28 Already excluded from the unit as a supervisor within the meaning of the Act 29 Although the assistant editor of the page and the editorial writers have some input in suggesting topics, we do not find this sufficient to warrant a finding of their managerial status As McCullough indicated in his testimo- ny, it is apparent that many if not most editorials are routinely called for in light of current local or national news events. It is equally apparent that the decision to publish or not publish an editorial belongs to McCullough and ultimately to McLean. It is also clear that editorials on "major" topics Continued 358 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD lough prior to, the editorial department's morning conference; at several stages in the actual prepara- tion of an editorial McLean reviews and revises the proposed editorial; 30 and, finally, no editorial is pub- lished without McLean's final approval of the edito- rial and the editorial page and op-ed page as a whole. Accordingly, we conclude that neither the assistant editor of the page nor the editorial writers are im bued with the authority or discretion that would mark them as managerial employees. We shall, there- fore, include them in the unit." We also reject the contention that the forum editor and the opinion and review page editor are manage- rial employees. Even were we to adopt the contention that selecting letters to the editor or syndicated col- umns for inclusion in the paper is a managerial func- tion, we would conclude on this record that the dis- cretion exercised by the forum and opinion and review, editors is so circumscribed by existing Bulle- tin policy and by the need for final clearance from McCullough and McLean as to negate a finding that either Murphy 'or Whitecraft is a true representative of management. Hence, .we shall include both the fo- rum and the opinion and review editor in the_unrt. Associate editor, Sunday editor, news editor, assis- tant news editors: The Employer submits that all of these employees must be excluded as both manageri- al and supervisory employees. Claude Aubrey Lewis has been the Bulletin's asso- ciate editor for the past 2 years. Lewis reports direct- ly to the editor-publisher or the executive editor. Lewis testified to a number of duties and responsibil- ities as associate editor. For' example, he is one of four individuals who regularly interviews prospective reporters.32 He'also acts as the paper's "ombudsman" in which role he seeks to resolve problems brought to him by various newsroom, employees.33 Until a recent reorganization at the paper Lewis frequently was one of the editors who served as Sunday editor on a re- volving basis. Currently, Lewis has been charged which the Bulletin wishes to address receive particularly close scrutiny by both McCullough and McLean. 30 McCullough testified to instances when McLean dealt directly and at length with individual editorial writers on a particular editorial 3 We also reject the Employer's contention that Assistant Editor Harri- son should be excluded as a supervisor The sole basis for this contention is that Harrison substitutes on occasion for McCullough. The record fails to indicate that such substitution is other than sporadic and, in the absence of any evidence of other indicia of supervisory authority possessed by Harri- son, we shall include him in the unit 32 The other three are the executive editor, the managing editor, and the metropolitan editor Of the 10 or so reporters hired during his tenure as associate editor, Lewis interviewed 7 or 8 and his recommendations con- cerning these individuals appear to have been followed without exception 33 Lewis testified that recently a reporter approached him and indicated that he was considering a job offer at a higher salary Lewis believed that the reporter was a valuable employee and recommended to the executive editor a specific salary raise for this individual The raise was granted imme- diately with improving the metro section of the paper. He testified that he will be submitting to the executive editor and the editor-publisher specific proposals for revising the coverage of the metro sections and will recommend changes in personnel and in operating procedures on the metro desk. Lewis testified that he also acts as a monitor over the paper's minority hiring- practices; that he fre- quently makes public appearances and speeches on behalf of the paper; that he is involved with evaluat- ing students who participate in the Bulletin's summer intern program; and thatrhe is regularly consulted by the executive editor and the editor-publisher on a variety of policy matters involving the minority com- munity as well as various personnel, matters .34 Lewis attends the daily meeting of department heads and chairs the meeting in the executive editor's ' absence. Lewis_ is one of four newsroom executives who at- tends ' the occasional special meetings held by the publisher during which community leaders seek to win the, Bulletin's endorsement of their organizations or activities. In ' addition, Lewis attends the publisher's weekly luncheon for executives. - As this description of Lewis' duties demonstrates, the position of associate editor is one that necessarily involves its incumbent in the formulation and imple- mentation of the paper's policy decisions. Thus, for example, it has fallen to Lewis to effectuate the Bulletin's decision to'upgrade its metro operation. As Lewis testified, it has been and will continue to be his responsibility to, recommend to the executive editor and the editor-publisher changes in coverage and emphasis, in personnel, and in operating procedures on the metro desk that will lead to the realization of the paper's goals for the metro edition. In light of our findings with regard to Lewis' role in policy matters we conclude that he is a managerial employee and must for that reason be excluded.35 Nick Nagurny has been the Bulletin's Sunday edi- tor for the past year. Prior to Nagurny's promotion the Bulletin designated a different editor each week to serve as Sunday editor for that week. It appears that under this system the Sunday editor's primary responsibility was laying out the Sunday edition news pages. However, since Nagurny's promotion the Bulletin has been implementing fundamental changes in its method of putting together the Sunday paper.36 The Bulletin submits that Nagurny currently 34 The editor-publisher solicited Lewis' recommendation for the position of executive editor as well as his recommendations on the national colum- nists that the Bulletin should carry 35 In view of this conclusion we find it unnecessary to pass on the ques- tion of whether or not Lewis is a supervisor within the meaning of the Act 36 In fact the Employer asserts that this reorganization of the Sunday paper was instituted as a result of a comprehensive policy memorandum presented by Nagurny to the publisher and other top executives of the pa- per. BULLETIN COMPANY functions as executive editor of the Sunday paper and is in complete charge of that edition. According- ly, the Bulletin maintains that Nagurny must be ex- cluded from the unit as both a managerial and a su- pervisory employee. Nagurny reports directly to the paper's executive editor. During the week prior to Sunday Nagurny decides which of the stories presented to him by the various department heads will be used in the Sunday paper. Nagurny reviews wire copy and decides if it can be used for the Sunday edition and he has au- thority to contract with the wire services. for addi- tional special stories. If there is late breaking news on Saturday Nagurny can call in additional reporters. Nagurny personally lays out the news sections of the Sunday edition. Unlike a news editor, Nagurny is responsible for every part of the paper. In connection with his responsibility for selecting stories for the paper Nagurny chairs several weekly meetings attended by the editors of the news depart- ments. In a memorandum to these editors Nagurny recently announced a new policy of using one of these meetings for planning stories for the Sunday paper as far as 3 weeks in advance rather than merely for the next week's paper. Nagurny also chairs a weekly meeting with the directors of the promotion and circulation departments at which plans are for- mulated for long range advertising and promotions for the Sunday paper. On this record we conclude that Nagurny's job du- ties and responsibilities clearly identify him as a managerial employee who must be excluded from the unit 37 Preston Innerst is the Bulletin's news editor and has the responsibility of deciding which stories will be included in the paper's news sections. The Bulletin also employs four assistant news editors. The Em- ployer maintains that Innerst and the assistant news editors are managerial and supervisory employees. At the daily 4:45 p.m. meeting of department heads Innerst is given a "tout" sheet or listing of sto- ries that are being prepared for the next day's paper. He is also given the copy that has been written up to that time. Between 5 and 7 p.m. two assistant news editors begin work and receive copy as it becomes available. These assistant or night news editors make some initial decisions as to the newsworthiness of the copy they have seen and they begin to lay out the paper's "inside" pages.38 37 See The Peoria Journal Star, Inc, 117 NLRB 708 (1957) In its brief Petitioner addressed itself only to the contention that Nagurny should be excluded as a supervisory employee As we have found that the Sunday editor should be excluded by reason of his status as a managerial employee, we find it unnecessary to pass on the issue of his possible status as a supervisor 38 Everything other than the front section of the paper 359 At I a.m. a morning assistant news editor arrives and reviews the work done by the night assistant news editors. The morning man may make changes in the inside pages to accommodate later breaking stories or more recently available copy. The morning man will also begin to lay out the front section of the paper.39 Innerst arrives at 7 a.m., examines the entire plan- ned first edition, and decides, on any changes before the first edition goes to press. Innerst himself puts together the remaining four editions of the Bulletin. The Employer maintains that the news editor and the assistant news editors are managerial employees because by deciding the placement of stories they determine the look of the Employer's product. Al- though concedely a, news editor's job requires a high degree of journalistic skill and experience, we con- clude that a news editor's function is not one that marks him as a managerial employee. In this regard we think it clear that decisions as to (1) the newswor- thiness of a news story, and (2) the actual placement of the story in the news section of the paper cannot be described as "policy" decisions. Rather, such deci- sions reflect a purely journalistic judgment as to the probable importance of a particular story to the paper's readership and a technical judgment as to the best placement of the story in the news section so as to insure that the story comes to the reader's atten- tion. Accordingly, we conclude that neither Innerst nor the four assistant news editors are managerial employees. However, because the record clearly establishes that News Editor Innerst possesses and exercises in- dicia of supervisory authority over the four assistant news editors, we shall exclude Innerst from the unit as a supervisory employee. In this regard we note that there has been one assistant news editor vacancy during Innerst's tenure as news editor and it was filled by the promotion and transfer of an employee from the copy desk following Innerst's recommenda- tion. We also note that Innerst evaluates the assistant news editors and makes specific recommendations for salary increases for them; schedules their hours and schedules and approves their overtime; approves expense vouchers; and reviews and approves the paper's first edition which is largely their work prod- uct. Finally, unlike the assistant news editors, Innerst does not receive overtime; he attends meetings of the department heads that are not open to the general staff, including meetings concerned with developing a new supervisory manual; and he possesses a copy of the current supervisor's manual. On the other hand, we find no support in the rec- 39 The assistant news editors rotate on the night and morning shifts 360 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ord for the Employer's contention that each assistant news editor 'possesses supervisory authority and must for that reason be excluded from the unit. There is no evidence that any of the assistant news editors have any authority to evaluate, hire, fire, discipline, or re- solve the grievances of other Bulletin employees. Moreover, although the Employer suggests that whoever is acting as the morning assistant news edi- tor on a particular day reviews the work of the two night assistant news editors and may change their placement of stories, it is clear from the record that changes made by the morning assistant news editor are largely caused by the availability of new copy and the' need to accommodate late breaking and more important news stories. In no sense, however, is the job function of the morning assistant news editor that of a supervisor checking and correcting the work product of subordinates. Finally, although one of the assistant news editors may -substitute for Innerst when the latter is on vacation or leave, any exercise of supervisory authority during such periods is clear- ly sporadic and intermittent and hence is not -suffi- cient to warrant a finding of supervisory status. Ac- cordingly, we shall include the assistant news editors in the unit. C. Confidential Employees; Part-time Employees; Correspondents The Employer maintains that the secretary to the editor of the editorial page, the secretary to the man- aging editor, and the newsroom auditor must all be excluded from the unit as confidential employees. The Employer contends that the secretary to the edi- tor of the editorial page must also be included as a supervisory employee. McCullough, the editor of the editorial page, ac- knowledged that his secretary, Claudia Smith, nei- ther prepares nor has access to memoranda concern- ing the salaries of employees in the editorial department. He further testified that he could recall no instance when Mrs. Smith was called upon to type any memoranda concerning any grievance or other personnel matter involving editorial page employees. The Board defines as confidential employees those employees who assist and act in a confidential capac- ity to persons who formulate-, determine, and effectu- ate management's policies in the field of labor rela- tions.40 Nothing in this record warrants a finding that Mrs. Smith acts in such capacity. In fact, although the editor of the editorial page is a stipulated supervi- sor, there is little in this record to indicate that the editorial editor has any substantial involvement in 40 The B F Goodrich Company, 115 NLRB 722, 724 (1956) formulating, determining, or effectuating labor rela- tions'policy. Accordingly, we find no basis for ex- cluding his secretary as a confidential employee. Nor do we find any basis for excluding Mrs. Smith as a supervisor. In this regard we note that McCul- lough testified that he considered Mrs. Smith a su- pervisor over'one clerk-typist in the editorial depart- ment because he routinely gave assignments to the clerk-typist "through" Mrs. Smith. McCullough also testified that he assumed, although he did not know as a fact, that Mrs. Smith reviewed the clerk-typist's work. Finally, McCullough testified that before he prepared a fitness report on the clerk-typist he solic- ited Mrs. Smith's opinion of her performance. It does not appear, however, that Mrs. Smith had any formal involvement in preparing the evaluation report nor does it appear that she made any specific recommen- dation on a salary increase or promotion that was acted upon. As indicated previously, we find no basis on this record for excluding Mrs. Smith as': supervisory em- ployee. Neither the fact that McCullough used Mrs. Smith as a conduit for assigning work to the clerk- typist, nor the fact that McCullough may have asked Mrs. Smith for an assessment of the clerk-typist's performance is sufficient to clothe Mrs. Smith' with indicia of supervisory authority. Accordingly, as we have concluded that Mrs. Smith is neither a confi- dential employee nor a supervisor, and as there ap- pears to be no other ground for her exclusion, we shall include her in the unit. Estelle Delonis is the secretary to the Bulletin's managing editor. On occasion Mrs. Delonis also does some typing for the paper's executive editor, for the associate editor, and for the sports department. Mrs. Delonis testified that as secretary to the for- mer managing editor, who was replaced recently by George Kentera, she did not handle any confidential materials nor was she given access to, or responsibil- ity for, any personnel records of any kind. She also testified that she was not authorized to open any mail marked "personal" or "confidential" and that any such mail that crossed her desk was placed unopened on the managing editor's desk. Finally, Mrs. Delonis testified that all the typing that she did forthe execu- tive editor and the associate editor concerned purely routine correspondence, wholly unrelated to any per- sonnel or confidential matters. ' Mrs. Delonis' testimony was substantially contra- dicted by the testimony of Managing Editor Kentera and Executive Editor Davis, both of whom indicated that Delonis had access to and handled confidential material relating to labor relations matters 41 41 For example, Mr Kentera testified that he maintains files on the job performance of newsroom employees and that Mrs Delonis has access to BULLETIN COMPANY On this record we are unable to resolve the con- flicting testimony concerning Mrs. Delonis' duties. Accordingly, we shall allow Mrs. Delonis to vote un- der challenge. Joseph Flamini is the newsroom auditor. Flamini's job entails monitoring the nonstaff budget, including the payment of bills presented by the news services, and collecting information concerning the expendi- tures of each of the paper's several departments. This information is furnished to management and pro- vides a basis for formulating the next budget. In ad- dition to these duties Flamini writes a weekly column for the paper. Executive Editor B. Dale Davis conceded that Flamini would not have occasion in his work to use records that contain employee evaluations; that Flamini is not consulted about salary increases and would not have any prior knowledge that an increase had been granted; that Flamini does not know the individual salaries of staff members but only the gross figures for an entire department; and that Flamini is not involved in the actual issuance of pay- roll checks. The testimony also establishes that Flam- ini plays no part in the actual preparation of a new budget but rather is responsible only for gathering background information and compiling statistics which the executive editor and management use as a basis for formulating the budget. On the record before us we find that Flamini is not a confidential employee and we shall include him in the unit.42 The Bulletin employs approximately 35 part-time employees. These individuals work as reporters, re- write people, copypersons, or clerks. The testimony reflects that there is no difference in the duties per- formed by the part-time employees and by full-time employees in the same classifications. The part-time employees work under the same supervision as do full-time employees and receive the same wage rates. However, they are not entitled to the fringe benefits enjoyed by full-time employees. those files He also testified that he has used Mrs Debris to transmit labor relations matters , including information about the Petitioner, to the atten- tion of the executive editor . On the other hand, he conceded that to date he has personally typed his evaluations of new hires and Mrs . Deloms has played no part in this. Moreover, although Kentera initially testified that Mrs. Deloms did all his filing, he later acknowledged that she has "up to the present time" not had occasion to maintain the files dealing with personnel evaluations and salary matters 42 In support of its contention that Flamini should be excluded as a confi- dential employee the Employer relies on our decision in The Chicago Daily News, Inc., 56 NLRB 274 (1944), excluding an "editorial auditor" from the unit found appropriate therein In that case, however, the individual exclud- ed was not only an auditor but was also the managing editor's secretary As such he was involved in salary changes , he discussed hiring, discharges, and salary increases with the managing editor , and he interviewed certain appli- cants for employment and effectively recommended their hire None of these factors is present in the instant case 361 Petitioner urges that all the paper's part-time em- ployees should be included in the unit. The Employer declined to take a position on the inclusion or exclu- sion of part-time employees but indicated that it pre- ferred to leave it to the Board to determine the eligi- bility of part-time employees.43 Although evidence is lacking concerning the spe- cific work records of individual employees in the group, it does appear that some of the part-time em- ployees of the Employer have substantial histories of employment. Thus the paper's executive editor testi- fied that some of the part-time employees have been employed for a considerable period of time stretch- ing over "a great number of months or even longer." He also indicated that the paper has an ongoing need for part-time help and that it is the paper's policy to recall or rehire part-time employees who have been used in the past. Finally, he testified that to his knowledge most of the current part-time employees are regularly scheduled to work a full 7-1/2 hour workday at least once a week, and commonly are scheduled to work the same day or days of the week each week. On this record, and particularly in view of their common supervision, work duties, and similar wage rates, we conclude that the Employer's regular part- time employees share a community of interest with full-time employees. Accordingly, those employees who have worked a minimum of 15 days in the calen- dar quarter preceding the eligibility date and who have not been terminated for cause or voluntarily quit are regular part-time employees as the Board customarily uses that term and we shall include them in the unit.4 The Petitioner claims that some 14 correspondents who contribute stories to the paper are employees of the paper and should be included in the unit. The Employer maintains that these correspondents are not employees within the meaning of Section 2(3) of the Act and hence cannot be included in the unit. The record discloses that most of the Bulletin's correspondents or "stringers" merely phone in police or accident reports, or call an editor or one of the desks with a suggestion for a story and inquire if the paper is interested. There is testimony that in in- stances when an assignment is given to a correspon- dent the correspondent remains free to turn down the assignment without jeopardizing his chances for fu- ture assignments. The record also indicates that stories by correspon- dents appear in the paper on an irregular basis. Thus 43 The parties stipulated that participants in the school-work program should be excluded from the unit 44 Scoa, Inc, 140 NLRB 1379, 1381-83 (1963), see also Daniel Ornamental Iron Co, Inc, 195 NLRB 334 (1972), Manncrafi Exhibitors Services, Inc, 212 NLRB 923, 924 (1974) 362 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD some correspondents have stories in the paper sever- al times a week while others have a story appear once a week or less. Although the paper uses some corre- spondents because of their geographic location, most of the correspondents are not confined to any geo- graphic area of coverage. Correspondents are given a byline that distinguishes their work from that of the regular Bulletin staff. With few exceptions, corre- spondents use the bureau offices merely to transmit their stories to the paper, and most of the correspon- dents have other jobs and contribute stories to news- papers other than the Bulletin. Finally, the record indicates that correspondents are paid only on a per story basis and receive none of the fringe benefits enjoyed by staff reporters. Based on this record, we conclude that the Bulletin's correspondents are not employees within the meaning of the Act.45 Accordingly, we shall ex- clude them from the unit. 45 See The Peoria Journal Star, Inc, 117 NLRB 708 (1957), Plainfield Courier-News Co, 95 NLRB 532 (1951), Greensboro News Company, Inc, 85 NLRB 54 (1949) See also Boston After Dark, Inc, 210 NLRB 38 (1974) We find the following unit appropriate for collec- tive bargaining: All full-time and regular part-time employees in the Bulletin Company's editorial and news de- partments at its 30th Street facility in Philadel- phia, and employees working in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.; excluding managerial employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the National Labor Re- lations Act, as amended. [Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote omit- ted from publication.] Member Fanning would allow the 14 correspondents to vote subject to challenge As stated in his dissent in Boston After Dark, supra, where corre- spondents make regular contributions to a publication so as to become an essential element of the employer's reportorial effort, he would find them to be employees Though it is not fully clear how regularly these correspon- dents contribute to the newspaper, it does appear that some contribute sev- eral times per week (at times working more hours during a week than the regular part-time employees), some work directly in the bureau offices, and some provide essential service regarding their respective areas or beats Therefore, inasmuch as he believes that at least some of these correspon- dents possess a sufficient relationship with the Employer so as to be deemed employees, Member Fanning would permit them to vote subject to chal- lenge.