Bethlehems' Globe Publishing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 27, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 392 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of BETHLEHEMS' GLOBE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Em-
PLOYER and LEIIIGH VALLEY NEWSPAPER GUILD, LOCAL 49, AMERICAN
NEWSPAPER GUILD, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 4-R-2518.-Decided June, 27, 1947
Mr. H. P. McFadden, of Bethlehem, Pa., for the Employer.
Messrs. Isserman, Isserman and Kapelsohn, by Mr. Morris Isser-
man, of Newark, N. J., and Mr. Karl F. Weber, of Allentown, Pa., for
the Petitioner.
Mrs. Platonia P. Kaldes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Bethle-
hem, Pennsylvania, on March 21,1947, before John-H. Garver, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSTNESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Bethlehems' Globe Publishing Company is a Pennsylvania corpo-
ration engaged at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in publishing and issuing
a daily newspaper called "The Bethlehem Globe-Times." This news-
paper has a circulation of over 23,000 copies, 99 percent of which is
distributed within the State-and the remainder outside the State. In
connection with the publication of the newspaper, the Employer an-
nually receives newsprint, paper, and ink valued in excess of $200,000
from points outside the State. The Employer utilizes and con-
tributes to the news services of the Associated Press and United
Press; it also receives and publishes national features, comic strips,
and advertisements of nationally sold products. The Employer ad-
ditionally produces and ships contract printing valued in excess of
$200,000 annually to points outside the State.
74 N. L. R. B., No. 68
392
BETHLEHEMS' GLOBE PUBLISHING COMPANY 393
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations. Act . 1
,II. THE, ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive-
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV". TILE AI'I'ROl'RLATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of the Employer's Advertis-
ing Department and Business Office employees (hereinafter referred
to as the "commercial" employees), excluding the employees of the
Editorial Department, the photographer, the general manager and
his confidential secretary, the business manager, and the advertisinu,
director. Time Employer requests a combined unit of commercial and
editorial employees; it agrees, however, to the other specific exclusions
indicated above.
The record discloses that there is some community of interest be-
tween approximately 25 commercial and approximately 18 editorial
employees in question in that both groups operate to a limited extent
under the saute working conditions and the publication of the Eni-
ployer's newspaper requires their joint efforts., On the other hand,
the record shows that the commercial employees are separately super-
' See 1. L R.11 v Ascoc,afed Press , 301 13 S 103, 125-130 J' L I? B v A S. Abell Uo,
97 F (2d ) 951, 95:3-955 (C C A 4).
2 The hours , vacation privileges, and group insurance privileges of both groups ale the
same Each group occasionally as'ists the other , although they have little day-to-clay
contact For example , there are two or three special editions of the newspaper issued
each year dealing largely with fashions wherein the merchandise of advertisers is written
up by the Editorial Department employees for news or feature articles In addition,
editorial employees sometimes write a ' ping" in the news column in connection with a
particular advertiser 's request , and the news reporters inform the advertising solicitors
of any likely advertising prospects- they may run across Accountants of the Business
Office also help the editoual employees in tabulating election returns and box scores, and
stenographers of the same office occasionally do stenographic work for the editorial
employees.
394 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
vised and physically separated from the editorial employees," that
they are paid on a different basis ,4 that they have little clay-to-day
contact with each other and are not interchanged,6 and that, they per-
form different kinds of work." There has been no history of collective
bargaining at the newspaper plant here involved and no labor organi-
zation has sought to represent the employees on a broader basis. In
view of all the foregoing circumstances, we are persuaded that a unit
confined to the commercial employees is appropriate.'
Although the Employer cites in support of its position our recent
decision in Matter of Fairchild Advertising Inc., 72 N. L. R. B. 1082,
where we found that five editorial employees of a trade newspaper
could not properly be separated from seven commercial employees
for bargaining purposes, the factors which persuaded us to that con-
clusion, namely the small size of the combined staff and the daily
operations of that staff as an integrated group, are not present here.
Moreover, the Board has recently unanimously held in Matter of Chi-
cago Journal of Commerce, Inc., 73 N. L. R. B. 1213, that a unit
confined to an editorial department alone is appropriate.
We find, therefore, that all employees of the Employer's Advertising
Department and Business Office, excluding the employees of the Edi-
torial Department, photographer, the general manager and his con-
fidential secretary, the business manager, the advertising director,
and all other supervisory employees, having authority to hire, pro-
3 The Editorial Department, located on the second floor of the Employer's office building,
is under the supervision of the city editor The Advertising Department and the Business
Offica are both located on the first floor, and are under the respective supervision of the
business manager and the advertising director. The latter two supervisors are accountable
to the assistant general manager, and through him, to the general manager, while the
city editor is accountable directly to the general manager
Although all the employees here discussed are paid on a salary basis, the Advertising
Department employees receive , additionally , a bonus based upon the amount of advertising
material insetted in the paper
5 While there have been two transfers from the Advertising Department to the Editorial
Department , these were on a permanent basis.
°In the Advertising Department there are classified phone solicitors, outside classified
solicitors , display advertising salesmen and copy writers In the Business Office there
are telephone operators , bookkeepers , stenographers and clerks The classified solicitors
solicit classified advertising, some by phone and some by personal visits Display adver-
tising solicitors solicit large display advertisements, and the copy writers make up the
advertsing copy The business manager, IIock, decides generally the amount of space
to be allocated to display advertising, classified advertising, and news The bookkeepers
and clerks in the department perfoinr the obvious functions of keeping the books and
records for the newspaper , and the newspaper files . The telephone operators serve all
departments. The stenographers on occasion will do stenographic work for the Editorial
Department , but most of the stenographic and typing work for the Editorial Department
not done by the members of the Editorial Department themselves is done by the confidential
secretary to the general ni.ui.tgcr In the Editorial Department lheie are newspaper
reporters and rewrite men, performing the usual duties of these classifications
7See Matter of Piescott Publishing Conapaoay, Inc, 64 N L. R 11 1390, 1393, where
we held that, absent a compelling history of collective bargaining on a nntltiple-department
basis, a departmental unit of newspaper employees could function separately for bargaining
purposes Cf Matter of Field Enterprises, Inc , 73 N L R B , 141
BETHLEHEMS' GLOBE PUBLISHING COMPANY 395
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Bethlehems' Globe Publishing
Company, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of
the Regional Director for the Fourth Region, acting in this matter
as agent for the National Labor Relation Board, and subject to
Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, includ-
ing employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because
they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including
employees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by Lehigh Valley Newspaper
Guild, Local 49, American Newspaper Guild, C. I. 0., for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.