Racing Publications, Inc.

Tit the Matter of RACING PUBLICATIONS, INC. and THE NEW YORK PRINTING PRESSMEN'S UNION No. 51, I. P. P. & A. U., AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Case No. R-2041.-Decided February 14, 1941 Jurisdiction : turf publications industry. Practice and Procedure : petition dismissed where no appropriate unit within the scope of the petition. Mr. Jacob Brenner, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. Edwin L. Ducks, Mr. Edward Neway, and Mr. Vincent Killorin, of New York City, for the A. F. of L. Liebman, Robbins, Pressman d Leider, by Mr. Harold I. Cammer, of New York City, for the C. I. O. Mr. Norman M. Neel, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE On September 21, 1940, The New York Printing' Pressmen's Union No. 51, I. P. P. & A. U., affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the A. F. of L., filed with the Regional Director for the Second Region (New York City) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Racing Publications,' Inc., New York City, herein called the Company,2 and requesting an investigation and certifica- tion of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On De- 'Designated in the formal papers as N. Y. Printing Pressmen 's Union #51, I. P. P. & A. U. and amended at the hearing to read as above stated. 2 Prior to 1937, the corporate name of the Company was Armstrong Racing Publications, Inc. In that year the Company was reorganized and its identical operations were assumed by five separate corporations , Armstrong Racing Publications, Inc , National Racing Program , Inc., Greensheet Publishing Corp., Trade Distributing Corp., and Racing Publica- tions, Inc., upon whose pay roll the piessmen are listed . They jointly occupy the same premises , perform the same work and hire the same employees as the single corporation formerly (lid They have the same othcers and directors , and the same persons own stock in each of them . The first four corporation above-named intervened and were represented at the hearing. The five corporations are herein referred to collectively as the Company. 29 N. L R. B., No. 111. 633 634 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD cember 6, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu- lations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and directed the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On December 10, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the A. F. of L., and upon United Racing Publication Workers, Local Industrial Union 677, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation . Pursuant to the notice a hearing was held on December 23, 26, 30, 31 , 1940, and on January 2 , 1941, at New York City, before Mark Lauter, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Company and the, C. I. O. by their counsel, and the A. F. of L. by its representatives , participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross -examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed . The rulings are hereby affirmed. - On January 15, 1941, the A. F. of L., filed a brief which the Board has considered . Pursuant to notice served on all parties , a hearing for the purpose of oral- argument was held on January 23, 1941, before the Board in Washington, D. C. The Company and the C. I. O. participated therein. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Company is organized under the laws of the State of New York and maintains its principal offices in New York City. It is engaged in the business of publishing and distributing daily turf publications known as Armstrong Publications , which are entered as, second class matter at the New York Post Office, and are trade- marked and registered in the United States Patent Office. The Com- pany receives information relating to races throughout the United States from a news. bureau with which it has contractual relations. If the information is received from points outside the State of New York, it is sent by "wire"; if it comes from within the metropolitan area of New York City it is telephoned or sent by messenger. RACING PUBLICATIONS, INC. 635 The volume of the business of the Company in the New York area is in excess of $100,000 per annum and the volume of the business of the Company outside the State of New York (through the dis- tribution of its publications) is in excess of $50,000. During the period from January 1, 1940, to December 31, 1940, the Company purchased paper, in either Maine, Vermont, or New Hampshire, in excess of $25,000 in value. During the same period the Company purchased type in the State of Pennsylvania approximating between $5,000 and $10,000 iii value. The Company concedes that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. 4 II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The New York Printing Pressmen's Union No. 51, I. P. P. & A. U., is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It admits to membership pressmen of the Company. United Racing Publication Workers, Local Industrial Union' 677, is a labor .organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership employees of the Company. III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The A. F. of L. contends that the Company's 24 pressmen oI "multi-color operators," who work in 4 different offices in New York City, should be designated as a separate appropriate unit. The C. I. O. and the Company contend that this unit is inappropriate. The A. F. of L. points to the following facts in support of its contention for the craft unit: Pressmen have always constituted' separate skilled crafts and the A. F. of L. has closed-shop con- tracts covering pressmen, with 65 per cent of all the printing shops in New York City, most of whom are members of the New York Employing Printers Association and operate under general con- tract with the A. F. of L. through a branch called the Printers League Section ; only the pressmen customarily feed presses and they enjoy higher wage scales; the pressmen desire to be represented by the A. F. of L. in the craft unit. When in July 1937, certain employees of the Company, including pressmen, sought membership in the C. I. 0., a field representative of the latter telephoned the A. F. of L. to' ascertain what interest that organization might have in the Company's pressmen. He was informed that the A. F. of L. was not interested in them because they were working on small presses. Thereafter the Congress of Industrial Organizations formed its local affiliate among the Com- pany's employees. Pressmen, among others, were elected as officers and demands for collective bargaining were made upon the Company. 636 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On July 30, 1937, the C. I. O. entered - into a contract with the Company in which the C. I. O. was recognized as the exclusive bar- gaining agency for "pressmen, apprentice pressmen, comparers or checkers, circulation clerks, foot routemen and car routemen," except- ing managers, assistant managers, foremen, foreladies, special fore- men, telephone operators, supervisors, office employees and all others not expressly included.3 The contract further provided that all em- ployees of the Company in classifications included in the contract should become members of the C. I. O. within 1 week from the date of the contract,4 and that all new employees employed in those classi- fications "will become members of the (C. I. 0.) within three weeks from the date of their employment." On July 25, 1938, another contract was negotiated, providing for additional wage increases for the classifications above enumerated and relating also to other conditions of employment., The recogni- tion and closed-shop provisions were identical to those in they first contract, except as previously noted,. On November 15, 1939, a third gontract was signed by the Company and the C. I. 0., including in its coverage the additional classification, "short lot clerks," but iden- tical to the previous contracts in other essential respects. Under the terms of this contract the pressmen, with the exception of "appren- tice pressmen," did not receive wage increases, but for the first time they were granted vacations. There is evidence that they did not participate in the negotiations but this is disputed. During the year 1939, the offices of vice president and recording secretary of the C. I. O. were held by pressmen. The expiration date of the contract was November 15, 1940. In July 1940 several of the pressmen approached the A. F. of L. and requested information concerning requirements for membership and during that month the 24 pressmen signed A. F. of L. application cards.5 Their actual membership in the A. F. of L., however, was not to begin until after November 15, 1940, the expiration date of the contract between the Company and the C. I. O. In a letter dated The only major occupation engaged in actual production not included was the com- positors with whom the Company dealt separately, and with whom the Company later entered into a separate contract. 4 Three subsequent contracts between the Company and the C. I. 0 , see infra, omitted this provision but all the contracts contained the following clause, The Company "will not negotiate regarding ( its) employees in the trades or occupations specifically named above, except with the duly authorized committee or committees of (the C. I 0 )." 5 The Regional Director reported that the Company's October 19, 1940, pay roll contained the names of 146 employees within the unit claimed by the C . I 0., which includes those in the unit claimed by the A F. of L . The A . F. of L. submitted to the Regional Director 24 application cards dated between July 1 and July 31, 1940 , bearing the genuine, original signatures of persons whose names appeared on the Company's October 19, 1940, pay roll. The C. I. 0. submitted evidence showing 5 employees had paid dues through August 1940, 3 through September 1940 , and 130 through October 1940. RACING PUBLICATIONS, INC. 637 September 19, 1940, the A. F. of L. requested the Company to meet with it for the purpose of negotiating a separate contract covering pressmen. Then, without waiting for a reply, it filed the petition in this case and the pressmen withdrew from negotiations between the C. I. O. and the Company. These, negotiations resulted in the execu- tion of a fourth closed-shop contract between the Company and the C. I. O. on October 21, 1940. The contract covered pressmen 6 al- though they were not included in the negotiations, it being orally agreed by the parties to the contract that in the event the pressmen were not found by the Board to constitute a separate appropriate unit, negotiations for them might then be conducted. Thereafter, on November 25, 1940, the Company refused to recognize the A. F. of L. unless the Board found the unit contended for by it to be appropriate. With respect to the duties of employees in the operations of the Company, the record discloses that the pressmen spend a considerable portion of their time performing duties which are supplemental to the actual printing work. Thus they carry type and printed ma- terial from the main office to other offices in New York City ; upon the completion of their duties in connection with the presses, they aid the other employees in folding, stapling, counting, and bundling, in preparation for the immediate distribution of the publication; some of them engage in paper cutting when they are not working on the presses. All the employees in each of the offices work in a single room. The Company adheres to a general promotion policy, there having been between 5 and 12 pressmen promoted from other positions. In view of the history of labor organization and collective bar- gaining at the Company's plants, the Company's contractual relations with and exclusive recognition of the C. I. O. since 1937 as repre- sentative of a• unit which includes pressmen with other employees, and the fact that pressmen and other employees work at the same tasks'and in the same places, we find that a unit confined to pressmen is inappropriate. IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Since there is no appropriate unit. within the scope of the A. F. of L.'s petition, we find that no question has been raised concerning the representation of employees of the Company within an appro- priate unit. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : "The C. I. O. adduced in evidence a contract which it had with an affiliate of the Company in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , which also covered pressmen in an industrial unit. 638 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 'CONCLUSION OF LAW No question concerning the representation of employees of Racing Publications, Inc., New York City, in a unit which is appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining has arisen, within the mean- ing of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. ORDER Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and 'conclusion of law, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification filed by The New York Printing Pressmen's Union No. 51, I. P. P. & A. U., affiliated with the American Federation of Labor be, and it hereby is, dismissed.