Long Island Typographical Union No. 915

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 7, 1977

228 N.L.R.B. 15 (N.L.R.B. 1977)

LONG ISLAND TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 915
Long Island Typographical Union No . 915, Interna-
tional Typographical Union, AFL-CIO and News-
day, Inc. and Nassau County Printing Pressmen
and Assistants' Union, Local 406, International
Printing and Graphic Communications Union,
AFL-CIO. Case 29-CD-222
February 7, 1977
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF
DISPUTE
BY CHAIRMAN MURPHY AND MEMBERS
JENKINS AND WALTHER
This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, following
a charge filed by Newsday, Inc., herein called
Newsday or the Employer, alleging that Long Island
Typographical Union No. 915, International Typo-
graphical Union, AFL-CIO, herein called the Typog-
raphers, had violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act by
engaging in certain proscribed activity with an object
of forcing or requiring the Employer to assign certain
work to its members rather than to employees
represented by Nassau County Printing Pressmen
and Assistants' Union, Local 406, International
Printing and Graphic Communications Union, AFL-
CIO, herein called Pressmen.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before
Hearing Officer G. Peter Clark on June 30, July 14-
15, and August 3, 1976. All parties appeared and were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to adduce evidence
bearing on the issues. Thereafter, the Employer,
Typographers, and Pressmen filed briefs.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the
Board makes the following findings:
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The parties stipulated, and we find, that the
Employer , a New York corporation with its principal
place of business in Garden City, New York, is
engaged in the publication and distribution of a daily
newspaper . During the past year , the Employer had
gross revenues in excess of $500 ,000 and purchased
goods and materials in excess of $50 ,000 directly from
15
firms located outside the State of New York. The
parties stipulated, and we find, that the Employer is
engaged in a business affecting commerce within the
meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, and that it
will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction herein.
H. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The parties stipulated , and we find, that Typogra-
phers and Pressmen are labor organizations within
the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE DISPUTE
A. Background and Facts of the Dispute
The Employer, publisher of a daily newspaper with
a circulation of approximately 470,000, is organiza-
tionally divided into several departments: advertis-
ing; editorial; production, which includes the press-
room, newsprint, composing room, transportation,
and stereotype; circulation; finance; employee rela-
tions; administrative services; public relations; and
administration. Newsday has collective-bargaining
agreements with Pressmen, Typographers, and Inter-
national Printing Pressmen and Graphic Arts Union,
herein called Stereotypers. Pressmen, under separate
contracts, represents employees in the pressroom,
newsprint, transportation, plant maintenance, and,
recently, editorial.' Stereotypers represents stereo-
type employees and Typographers represents com-
posing room employees.
Until 1971, the Employer used the "hot type"
process in producing plates for its presses. In that
process, editorial copy was sent to compositors in the
composing room. If the copy was to be in printed
form, the compositors used a linotype machine to
produce lines of type or slugs. After the lines were set,
they were sent to the proofroom for comparison with
the original copy for errors. The proof was then
returned to the linotype machine where corrections
were made. The compositor then spaced out the page
in a special frame called a "chase."
Newsday does not have a photoengraving depart-
ment. Therefore, prior to the acquisition of the
Spartan cameras, if photographs or other graphics
were to be utilized on a page, a photoengraving was
produced by Garden Engraving Company, herein
Garden, an outside contractor. When the photoen-
graving reached the composing room, it was affixed
to a lead base and placed on the chase along with the
printed matter. The pages were approved by the
makeup editor, locked up, and rolled to the stereo-
type department where the papier mache mat was
1 Pressmen was certified as the collective -bargaining representative for
editorial employees on January 31, 1975
228 NLRB No. 3
16 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
made. A lead plate was then made from the mat for
use on the presses.
Beginning in the early 1960's, the Employer gradu-
ally began to convert to the "coldtype" process, a
process centered around photocomposition. In this
process, a photographic substitute is used instead of
casting metal slugs from the linotype machine and
graphic materials are in the form of "veloxes" rather
than the photoengravings. The completed page is
called a "mechanical."
The Employer began preliminary studies of its
typesetting and graphic needs because it was going to
go into a complete "coldtype" process. In 1971 or
early 1972, the Employer started to investigate the use
of production cameras for making veloxes.2
With the purchase of the phototypositor in the early
1960's, the gradual conversion to the "coldtype"
process began. This machine is located in the
composing room and is operated by employees
represented by Typographers. It is mainly used to do
editorial, advertising, and some special types of
designs. The phototypositor produces a picture of
type rather than of an object. It operates by position-
ing a film strip of a particular type, size, family, and
style in front of a light source. The characters on the
film are exposed to light sensitive paper thereby
forming words and lines.
In 1971, the Employer further expanded the "cold-
type" process with the purchase of a photon machine,
also operated by employees represented by Typogra-
phers. This machine operates by a TTS tape, which
has been coded and punched by an IBM computer.
The computer justifies and hyphenates the text in the
particular size and style that has been coded. The
tape is put onto a photo unit that gives a photoposi-
tive output. This photosensitive output is passed
through the photocell in the photon machine and
developed in columns of type. This photosensitive
output is pasted onto the "mechanical." If a photo-
graph or graphic is required, a "velox" is used. The
velox is placed on the mechanical alongside the
written material. The mechanical is then sent to the
News Pager room where it is placed on the copy
board of the News Pager II camera and a negative
made.3 The negative is put on a light table, inspected
for light seepage, and opaqued. When this is com-
plete, the negative is sent to the Napp room for
making a Napp plate.4
In making the Napp plate, a piece of aluminum is
coated with photopolymer, placed in a photo unit,
and exposed to light. The negative from the News
2 Newsday is presently published by using both the "hot type" and
"coldtype" processes
3 The News Pager is a high-speed production camera which photographs
the mechanical The News Pager is located in a separate room in the
composing room area and is operated by employees represented by the
Typographers
Pager camera is placed on top of the aluminum and
given a longer exposure to light. The plate is then
placed in a washout unit and the jellied surface
washed away, leaving a hard, exposed surface as the
raised portion which will become the printed surface.
The plate, cropped to size by a stereotyper, is picked
up by a compositor who places the plate in the
"chase" and rolls it to the mat roller. The Napp
equipment, operated by employees who are repre-
sented by Stereotypers, is located in a room adjacent
to the News Pager room.
As noted above, the Employer began investigating
the use of production cameras in 1971 or early 1972.
Thereafter, in 1975, the Employer purchased a Kenro
camera. The Kenro, a vertical camera, is located, and
operated by employees, in the editorial art depart-
ment who are represented by the Pressmen. This
camera, capable of enlarging and reducing objects,
produces negatives from which veloxes are made for
the Sunday part II section of the newspaper and
special types of maps and surprints. The Kenro
camera requires air-conditioning, a darkroom, and is
sheet fed. The Kenro, which is not considered a
production camera , does not give a consistently
quality velox. The Robertson camera, also located in
the editorial art department, was purchased to
replace the Kenro. This camera performs the same
basic function as the Kenro except it gives a better
quality velox. The record evidence shows that the
Kenro and Robertson cameras cannot be used in the
production mode because they cannot be operated
rapidly enough.
The two Spartan cameras, turned over to the
Employer for operation on June 21, 1976, are used in
making a "half-tone" representation from a continu-
ous tone glossy photograph. A glossy picture, re-
ceived in the editorial department, is broken up into a
dot-structure so that dots can be highlighted and
shadowed. Once a picture is broken into dots, it is
called a "half-tone." 5 The half-tone negative is placed
on velox paper, put in an emulsion , and exposed to
light. After developing in an automatic developing
unit, the negative is peeled away and the remaining
portion dried. The resultant product is a velox.
Prior to the introduction of the Napp process, the
newspaper printed approximately 100 pieces of art
work per night on the editorial side of the newspaper
and approximately 100 to 150 pieces of art work on
the advertising side of the newspaper. During this
time, 98 percent of the veloxes on the editorial side
came from Garden; Newsday did not produce any
4 Prior to the acquisition of the News Pager in early 1975, Garden would
make the negative of the mechanical by using the Spartan camera . From this
negative , a metal engraving of the entire page was made
5 The half-tone is to be reproduced in the pages of the newspaper
LONG ISLAND TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 915 17
veloxes on the advertising side. Approximately 75
percent of the veloxes on the advertising side were
produced by Garden and 25 percent of the veloxes
were supplied directly by the advertiser. In this pre-
Napp stage, Newsday's editorial art department
produced approximately 25-30 veloxes per week.
After the introduction of the Napp system, 95 percent
of the editorial side was done by Garden. During the
post-Napp period, Newsday's editorial art depart-
ment produced approximately 35 veloxes per week
for use in the Sunday part II section and any special
type of veloxes. With the introduction of the Spartan
cameras, the necessity for subcontracting the produc-
tion of veloxes to Garden will be eliminated.
The Employer has assigned the work of operating
the Spartan cameras to employees represented by
Typographers.
B. The Work in Dispute
The parties stipulated that the work in dispute is the
operation of the Spartan III reproduction camera
located in Newsday's place of business at 550 Stewart
Avenue, Garden City, New York.
C. The Contentions of the Parties
The Employer contends that the award of the
disputed work to employees represented by Typogra-
phers is supported by the uniform practice in the
industry and the economy and efficiency of opera-
tions. The Employer further argues that assignment
to employees represented by Typographers will not
result in a loss of jobs in the unit employees
represented by Pressmen ; that the production of a
small number of veloxes by the editorial art depart-
ment does not amount to a company practice; that
the skills of the editorial art department employees
are neither required nor desirable in the operation of
the Spartan camera; and that the Pressmen's collec-
tive-bargaining agreement does not contain jurisdic-
tional language supporting its claimed jurisdiction
over Spartan cameras.
Pressmen asserts that the camera operators em-
ployed to operate the Spartan cameras are in the
same generic classification as the camera operators
who are included in its editorial department classifi-
cation and this camera classification is properly
covered by Pressmen 's collective-bargaining agree-
ment , an NLRB certification , and the practice of the
Employer . Pressmen further asserts that assignment
of the disputed work to editorial art department
employees is more economical , efficient , and makes
use of the skilled employees in the editorial art
department.
Typographers takes the position that if the opera-
tion of the Spartan camera is not assigned to its
members, it will increase the acceleration of job
losses; the Spartan is a production camera and is not
used for the same purposes as cameras now located in
the editorial art department; employees represented
by Typographers do work similar to the operation of
the Spartan camera at other employers in the area;
Typographers is involved in efforts to train and
retrain its members regarding new technologically
advanced equipment being used by newspapers
throughout the country; and the efficiency and
economy of operation favors the award to employees
represented by Typographers.
D. Applicability of the Statute
Before the Board may proceed with a determina-
tion of the dispute pursuant to Section 10(k) of the
Act, it must be satisfied that there is reasonable cause
to believe that Section 8(b)(4)(D ) has been violated
and that the parties have not agreed upon a method
for the voluntary adjustment of the dispute. In
December 1975, the Employer decided that the
operation of the Spartan camera would be assigned to
employees represented by Typographers. The presi-
dent of Typographers was so informed in January
1976. Thereafter, on May 7, 1976, the Employer and
Typographers signed a letter of understanding re-
garding the operation and jurisdiction of the Spartan
camera. By letter dated May 4, 1976, Pressmen
requested discussion regarding installation of repro-
duction cameras and, by letter dated May 17,
demanded arbitration of its claim that camera work
should be assigned to the editorial art department.
Upon learning of Pressmen's demand , by letter dated
June 14 , 1975, Typographers informed the Employer
that "the manning of the Spartan cameras is within
the jurisdiction of Local 915 and if Local 406
members are assigned the work involving Spartan
cameras, Local 915 will consider it a violation of the
present agreement . . . . Local 915 will take whatev-
er steps are necessary including a strike and picketing
to protect the assignment of this work." On June 16,
1976, Pressmen sought court action in order to
compel arbitration of the matter.
On the basis of the Typographers June 14 letter, we
conclude that there is reasonable cause to believe that
a violation of Section 8(b)(4)(D) has occurred and
that there exists no agreed-upon method for the
voluntary adjustment of the dispute within the
18 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
meaning of Section 10(k) of the Acts Accordingly,
we find that this dispute is properly before the Board
for determination.
E. Merits of the Dispute
Section 10(k) of the Act requires the Board to make
an affirmative award of disputed work after giving
due consideration to various factors.? The Board has
held that its determination in a jurisdictional dispute
is an act of judgment based on commonsense and
experience reached by balancing those factors in-
volved in a particular case.8
The following factors are relevant in making the
determination of the dispute before us:
1. Certifications and collective-bargaining
agreements
In pertinent part, the contract between the Employ-
er and Typographers, in its jurisdictional clause,
provides:
(a) Jurisdiction of the Union is defined as
including all composing room work and the
appropriate unit for collective bargaining includes
employees performing categories of work such as:
Hand composition; make-up; mark-up; copy
cutting; lock up; proofreading; maintenance and
repair (not requiring the occasional temporary
services of outside experts) of all machinery,
equipment and devices to the extent used in the
composing room operation; operation of typeset-
ting machines, strip casting machines; tape perfo-
rating machines used in composing or producing
type, Linasec and its input and output devices,
phototypesetting machines (such as Fotosetter,
Photon, Linofilm, Photo-Typositor, Monophoto,
Coxhead Liner, Filmotype, Typro and Hadego)
and other equipment or processes introduced
under Section 2(b); waxing and paste-make up
with reproduction proofs; processing the product
of phototypesetting machines, including develop-
ment and waxing; paste-make up of all type,
hand-lettered, illustrative border and decorative
material produced hereunder; ruling, correction,
alteration and imposition of such paste-make up
serving as the completed copy. Paste-make up as
used in this paragraph includes all pasteup of
photostats and prints for use in the production of
the newspaper and includes all photostats and
positive proofs of illustrations (such as Velox)
6 The record shows that the Typographers does not take part in three-
party arbitrations over jurisdiction Moreover, the Employer's collective-
bargaining agreements with the Pressmen and Typographers do not contain
provisions for tripartite voluntary adjustment of disputes between the
parties.
7 N L.R B v Radio & Television Broadcast Engineers Union, Local 1212,
where positive proofs are supplied without sacri-
fice of quality or duplication of effort. All of this
work within the jurisdiction of the Union per-
formed by employees as provided in this Agree-
ment shall be performed only by journeymen and
apprentices. Apprentices may be employed only
in accordance with the ratio of apprentices
provided elsewhere in this Agreement.
The Employer orally assigned the work in dispute
here to employees represented by Typographers in
January 1976 and thereafter, by letter dated May 7,
1976, the parties recorded their "[prior oral] under-
standings with respect to operations and jurisdiction"
of the Spartan camera. They agreed that operation of
the Spartan camera would be assigned to employees
represented by Typographers subject to the following
conditions:
(1) A Camera Classification will be established
and will operate as a separate classification of the
composing room for the purpose of selection of
slide days, vacation, and personal holidays.
(2) The foreman in charge of the operation of
such cameras need not be a member of the Union
and shall not be precluded from the performance
of work in the Camera Classification.
(3) These conditions will remain in effect until
March 1, 1979, at which time they will be subject
to further negotiations between the parties.
The Employer is also a party to a current collective-
bargaining agreement with Pressmen. While this
agreement does not describe the type of work covered
therein, it nevertheless contains the job classification
"artist,"9 which classification Pressmen asserts has
done work similar to that in dispute here.
It is clear that the original collective-bargaining
agreement between the Employer and Typographers
does not mention camera work, although it does give
the latter jurisdiction over all "composing room
work." The contracts between the Employer and
Typographers, in pertinent part, also provide how-
ever,
(b) When existing and new types of equipment
or processes are to be introduced into the compos-
ing room operation, the Publisher will give the
Union as much notice as is reasonable, in order to
provide an opportunity for qualified journeymen
and apprentices to train for its operation. When
such equipment or processes are introduced,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO [Columbia Broad-
casting System], 364 U S 573 (1961).
a International Association of Machinists, Lodge No. 1743, AFL-CIO (J A.
Jones Construction Company), 135 NLRB 1402 (1962)
9 During negotiations , the Employer requested , and Pressmen agreed, to
change the classification of camera operator to artist
LONG ISLAND TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 915 19
employees who have demonstrated an aptitude for
such work shall be given the first opportunity to
attain proficiency in its operation.
The collective-bargaining agreement , as modified,
does include a camera classification in the composing
room. In contrast, the Employer's collective-bargain-
ing agreement with Pressmen does not include a
jurisdictional clause , although it does include the
classification of "artist." This classification, however,
only did "similar" work, at best, to that in dispute
here, even according to Pressmen. Upon examination
and analysis of the pertinent provisions of the two
contracts, we conclude that the factor of collective-
bargaining agreements favors the Employer' s assign-
ment to employees represented by Typographers.
Pressmen is certified by the Board in a unit of all
editorial department employees. That certification
does not expressly cover the work in dispute here,
however, nor employees performing that work, and
we find it does not favor the assignment of the work
in dispute here to employees represented by Press-
men.
2. Company and industry practice
The Employer had contracted with Garden for the
production of veloxes. At the time of the hearing, the
Employer had not yet assimilated 1 percent of the
work being performed by Garden. As noted above,
some veloxes were produced in the editorial art
department by the use of the Kenro and Robertson
cameras, the amount varying from 2 percent to 5
percent of the total number of veloxes appearing in
the newspaper. In view of the substantiality of the
work in dispute being performed by an outside firm,
we find that the factor of the Employer's practice is
not helpful in making our determination. The record
discloses that members of Typographers operate
cameras in other companies in the area. However,
these companies do not use the Spartan camera, and
we find this factor favors neither employees repre-
sented by Typographers nor employees represented
by Pressmen.
3. Skills, efficiency, and economy of
operation
There are currently nine compositors represented
by Typographers who are in training to operate the
Spartan cameras. There is a one-shift operation which
will later be expanded to all shifts. The training
program has included a fairly concentrated program
10 After submission of briefs herein , Pressmen and the Employer
submitted letters to the Board regarding the transfer of an employee within
the editorial department Pressmen asserts that it was advised that the
employee's job was being phased out because of insufficient work In
response, the Employer contends that the employee was transferred within
in densitometer, sensitometry, camera procedure,
automated processing, contacting, negative tag, and
stripping. The individuals selected have basically no
experience in photographic production as it would be
difficult to train individuals with experience in
operation of the Kenro or Robertson because they
have certain prejudices regarding the operation of
cameras.
The record evidence shows that if the Spartan
cameras were placed in the editorial art department,
nine additional employees would have to be hired at a
cost of approximately $200,000 per year. The Spartan
cameras will eventually perform all work that has
been, and is being, performed by Garden. However,
there will be no loss of jobs in the editorial art
department.10
In determining the placement of the Spartan
camera, one factor considered by the Employer was
that the camera be located within or close to the
workflow area with control in the hands of the
production department. Typographers collective-bar-
gaining agreement contains a job security clause. If
no work was available on the Spartan camera,
employees represented by Typographers could be
used in their journeyman status at pasteup, proof-
reading, markup, etc., jobs in the composing room.
We therefore find that the factors of skills, efficiency,
and economy of operation favor the Employer's
assignment to employees represented by Typogra-
phers.
4. Employer assignment and preference
The Employer has assigned the work in dispute to
employees represented by Typographers and we find
this factor favors an award to the employees repre-
sented by Typographers.
Conclusion
Upon the record as a whole, and after full consider-
ation of all relevant factors involved, we conclude
that employees who are represented by Typographers
are entitled to perform the work in dispute. We reach
this conclusion based on the Typographers contract,
the economy and efficiency of the operation, the
skills involved, and the Employer's preference. In
making this determination, we are awarding the work
in question to employees who are represented by
Typographers, but not to that Union or its members.
The present determination is limited to the particular
controversy which gave rise to this proceeding.
the editorial department and that while there may be less camera work in the
editorial art department , there would be no loss of jobs because of the
assignment of the disputed work to employees represented by Typographers
The submissions by the Employer and Pressmen do not affect our decision
herein
20 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE Employees of Newsday, Inc., who are represented
by Long Island Typographical Union No. 915,
International Typographical Union, AFL-CIO, are
entitled to perform the operation of the Spartan III
reproduction camera in Newsday's place of business
at 550 Stewart Avenue , Garden City, New York.
Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended , and upon the basis of the
foregoing findings and the entire record in this
proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board
makes the following Determination of Dispute: