American Yearbook Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 31, 1952

101 N.L.R.B. 189 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

JOSTEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY 189
JOSTEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY AND JOSTEN ENGRAVING COMPANY,
D/B/A AMERICAN YEARBOOK COMPANY I and LOCAL No. 10, AMAL-
GAMATED LITHOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA , C. I. 0., PETITIONER
JOSTEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY AND JOSTEN ENGRAVING COMPANY
and INTERNATIONAL PRINTING PRESSMEN AND ASSISTANTS UNION OF
NORTH AMERICA , A. F. of L., PETITIONER . Cases Nos. 18-RC-1510
and 18-RC-1511. October 31,1952
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held before
Erwin A. Peterson, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of the employees of the Employer 2 within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate units :
In Case No. 18-RC-1510, Local No. 10, Amalgamated Lithographers
of America, C. I. 0., herein called Lithographers, seeks to sever all
lithographic production employees from the company-wide unit pres-
ently represented by Jewelry Workers. The employees sought are
in the Employer's American Yearbook division and include those
employed in the process camera, negative, platemaking, and offset
press departments, as well as the employees in the copy, composition,
copy camera, and inspection departments 3 In effect, Lithographers
requests a unit not only of all employees engaged in the traditional
1 The Employer 's name appears as amended at the hearing.
2 The Employer and the Intervenor , International Jewelry Workers Union , Local No. IT,
A. F. of L ., herein called Jewelry workers , contend that their current 3-year contract
executed on August 4, 1950, bars a present determination of representatives. As the
record does not show that 3-year contracts are customary in the Employer 's industry, and
as this contract has run for more than 2 years , we find that it is not a bar to this proceed-
ing. Union Starch and Refining Company, 100 NLRB 1140
1 Lithographers would also include the artist, the multilith pressman , and the photo
typesetter located in the announcement division.
101 NLRB No. 48.
190 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
lithographic process, but also of those engaged in preparatory work.4
In the alternative, Lithographers would accept a smaller unit limited
to employees engaged in the traditional lithographic operation : Em-
ployees in the process camera, negative, platemaking, and offset press
departments.5 International Printing Pressmen and Assistants Union
of North America, A. F. of L., herein called Pressmen, agrees with
Lithographers' unit contentions. The Employer and Jewelry Work-
ers, which has represented all the employees involved herein for many
years as part of a broader unit, contend that such units are inappro-
priate primarily because of the lack of craftsmanship of the employees
involved and because of the bargaining history on a company-wide
basis, the integration of operations, and the interchange of employees.
In Case No. 18-RC-1511, Pressmen seeks to sever from the company-
wide unit all employees in the printing and embossing departments
of the Employer's announcement division, including typesetters and
linotype operators,6 but excluding all employees in the engraving,
binding, and factory clerical departments. In the alternative, Press-
men would split these employees into two smaller units, one of type-
setters and linotype operators, and the other of the remaining em-
ployees in the printing and embossing departments. The Employer
and Jewelry Workers contend that the requested units are inappro-
priate for the same reasons they oppose the severance of the litho-
graphic employees. Lithographers have no interest in this proceeding.
At Owatonna, Minnesota, the Employer operates three separate
manufacturing businesses : Jewelry, announcements, and yearbooks.
Its jewelry business is not here involved. Its announcements are made
in its announcement division. In 1950 the Employer started the
new operation of manufacturing high school and college yearbooks.
This operation is known as the American Yearbook Company or the
yearbook division, and is located in a building 5 blocks from the
main plant. The employees here sought by Lithographers and Press-
men are employed in the manufacture of yearbooks and announce-
ments.
Lithographers' Unit
The yearbook operations begin with the receipt of the rough copy
from the schools.7 The production control department sends it to
* Lithographers would exclude those employees processing lithographic products after
they left the offset press department , that is, employees in the bindery, silk screen , shipping,
and stock departments.
In such limited unit there would be approximately 25 employees classified as follows :
Process camera men, opaquers, opaque repair man, outliners , negative layout men and
negative repair men , platemakers , offset pressmen and their helpers.
Such unit would include the following classifications of employees : Platen press
operators , linotype operators and typesetters in the printing department , and embossing
pressmen , embossing press operators , helpers, and feeders in the embossing department.
7 Approximately 20 percent of the copy received is completely laid out and ready for the
lithographic process, and does not require preparatory work.
JOSTEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY 191
the copy department, which lays out, marks up, panels, and pastes
the various components on standard size sheets of paper. Necessary
typed copy is prepared in the composition department, while checking
and proofreading of the copy is performed in the inspection depart-
ment. The completed and checked layout, thus prepared, is for-
warded for photographing to the process camera department-the
beginning of the traditional lithographic operation. The resulting
film is then transmitted to the negative department for developing,
masking, and opaquing. In addition, negative department employees
lay out the negatives on yellow sheets of paper, called goldenrod
flats, which are then cut out to permit necessary exposure of the nega-
tives. The processed flats are forwarded to the platemaking depart-
ment, where they are used to sensitize a zinc plate. The plate is then
properly etched by the platemaker and sent to the offset press depart-
ment. The offset pressmen and their helpers set up the plate in the
press, secure paper and ink and take other necessary steps, and operate
the offset presses-the final step in the traditional lithographic proc-
ess. The lithographed material is then folded, gathered, and bundled,
sewed and stitched into a book, glued or punched, cased, pressed, and
packed ready for shipment.
There is no dispute among the parties that the yearbook division
is engaged in a lithographic operation or that the employees sought
to be represented by Lithographers, particularly those in the process
camera, negative, platemaking, and offset press department, perform
lithographic functions and use standard lithographic equipment.
The Employer and Jewelry Workers contend that by the standardiza-
tion and simplification of the particular operations, however, the
Employer has been able to produce acceptable lithographic products
without the necessity of utilizing skilled lithographic employees.8
Although this may be substantially correct, it in no way alters the
inherent fact that the Employer is engaged in a traditional litho-
graphic operation and that the employees involved perform litho-
graphic functions. Moreover, it would appear that these employees
ultimately may attain the technical skills of their supervisors who are
familiar with the lithographic process. And the job descriptions of
the employees concerned apparently call for the application of the
usual lithographic skills. The Board has frequently considered the
skills and techniques incident to lithography and has held that the
lithographic unit is a process or operational unit which may constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining notwith-
8 The record shows that only 2 out of 25 employees engaged in the traditional litho-
graphic process had previous experience or training and that only 3 of the 72 employees
sought to be included by Lithographers in its broader unit had any previous experience or
training.
192 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
standing collective bargaining history on a broader basis.9 Moreover,
the record, in our opinion, fails to reveal such a close integration of
operations or interchange among employees as to prevent the separate
representation of this group. However, we do not believe that those
employees engaged in preparatory work have a community of interest
sufficient to warrant their inclusion in such a lithographic unit to
Accordingly, we shall exclude yearbook division employees in the
copy, production control, copy camera, composition, inspection, bind-
ing, silk screen, stock, and shipping departments.-
Pressmen's Unit
Operations in the announcement division begin with the cutting
of paper into two standard sizes . The paper is then sent to either
the embossing department or to the printing department, where
standard designs are paneled or blind embossed thereon 12 by die
stamping machines and platen presses located in these departments.13
The paper is then scored for folding and slotted to receive a calling
card. Whenever necessary, embossed emblems are stamped on with
the die stamping machines, which are also used to print engraved text
from a plate. If the text is to be raised, it is prepared on a linotype
machine and put through a process, known as art craft or fried print-
ing, which utilizes platen presses and virkotype machines. The an-
nouncements are printed in flat form and then are processed from the
presses to the bindery department, where they are folded and packed.
The order assembly department adds the necessary calling cards and
envelopes to the announcements and packages them for shipment by
the shipping department.
For the same reasons advanced in opposition to the severance of the
Lithographers' unit, the Employer and Jewelry Workers oppose sev-
erance of the Pressmen's unit. As in the case of the lithographic unit,
there appears to be no dispute among the parties that the employees
in the printing and embossing departments, classified as platen press
operators, linotype operators, compositor typesetters, embossing press-
men, feeders, and embossing press or die stamping operators and help-
0 Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers, 94 NLRB 477 ; The Madi-
son Company, 92 NLRB 914; Danner Press of Canton, Inc., 91 NLRB 237. We shall
include the multilith operator, whose operation is essentially lithographic in character.
The Standard Printing Company , 80 NLRB 338.
10 See The Madison Company, supra ; cf. The Madison Company, 91 NLRB 135.
u We shall also exclude the artist , who, although working principally outside the litho-
graphic unit , may perform some work in the negative department . Moreover , the artist
has been excluded from the coverage of the contract as a professional employee. In
addition , we shall exclude the photosetter, as his operation is basically linotype in nature
rather than lithographic.
12 Paneling or blind embossing is the process of impressing a design into paper without
the use of ink.
v Both these presses may also be utilized with ink and the platen press can also apply
gold leaf.
JOSTEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY 193
ers, are engaged in traditional printing operations, perform customary
printing duties, and utilize standard printing equipment. We believe
that these employees have a community of interest, separate and apart
from the other production and maintenance employees, sufficient to
warrant their severance despite a history of bargaining on a broader
basis.14 Nor do we believe that the integration of operations and the
interchange of employees, as shown in the record, precludes the sep-
arate representation of this group. However, we deny Pressmen's
request for a single unit and grant the alternative request for sep-
arate groups of (1) the linotype operators 15 and typesetters, and (2)
the remaining employees in the printing and embossing departments.
The employees in each group may, if they so desire, constitute a sep-
arate appropriate unit 16
In view of the foregoing, we shall make no final unit determination
at this time but shall direct separate elections by secret ballot among
the employees of the Employer at its Owatonna, Minnesota, plants in
the voting groups set forth below, including leadmen 17 but excluding
all other employees and supervisors as defined in the Act :
(a) All lithographic production employees in the process camera,
negative, platemaking, and offset press departments, including the
multilith operator.
(b) All typesetters, linotype operators, and the photosetter.
(c) All employees in the printing and embossing departments, ex-
cluding typesetters, linotype operators, and the photosetter.
If a majority of the employees in voting group (a) vote for Lithog-
raphers or Pressmen, or voting groups (a) or (c) vote for Pressmen,
such groups will be taken to have indicated a desire to constitute
separate appropriate units, and the Regional Director conducting the
elections directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of repre-
sentatives to Lithographers or Pressmen, as the case may be, for such
groups , which the Board, under such circumstances, finds to be appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. If a majority in any
of the voting groups vote for Jewelry Workers, such group or groups
will be taken to have indicated a desire to be represented by Jewelry
Workers as part of the existing employer-wide production and main-
tenance unit, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue a certifi-
cate of results of election to such effect.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
14 See Bverlast Process Printing Co., 98 NLRB 1313; Ben-Mont Papers, Inc., 85
NLRB 1194.
15 Including the photosetter whose operations are basically those of a linotype operator.
16 See Everlast Process Printing Co., supra.
1' The parties stipulated that leadmen were not supervisors , and we have included them
in the voting groups.