Florence Printing Co. v. NLRB

• Decision Date: 10 June 1964
• Docket Number: No. 9302.,9302.
• Citation: 333 F.2d 289
• Parties: FLORENCE PRINTING CO., Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

333 F.2d 289 (1964)

FLORENCE PRINTING CO., Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent.

No. 9302.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 15, 1964.

Decided June 10, 1964.

William H. Smith, Jr., Columbia, S. C. (E. D. Smith, Jr.; McKay, McKay, Black & Walker, Columbia, S. C., and Wright, Scott, Blackwell & Powers, Florence, S. C., on brief) for petitioner.

Richard P. Lawlor, Atty., N. L. R. B. (Arnold Ordman, Gen. Counsel, Dominick L. Manoli, Assoc. Gen. Counsel, Marcel Mallet-Prevost, Asst. Gen. Counsel, and Solomon I. Hirsh, Atty., N. L. R. B., on brief), for respondent.

Before SOBELOFF, Chief Judge, and HAYNSWORTH and J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judges.

SOBELOFF, Chief Judge.

Florence Printing Company, a newspaper publisher in Florence, South Carolina, petitions this court to review an order of the National Labor Relations Board finding the company in violation of 8(a) (1) & (5) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(a) (1) & (5), and ordering the reinstatement of certain striking employees with back pay and interest. The Board cross-petitions for enforcement.

On June 25, 1962, two officials of the Charleston Typographical Union, No. 43, presented to John M. O'Dowd, the president and publisher of the company, a written demand for recognition. The collective bargaining unit sought by them consisted of composing room employees, teletypesetters and proofreaders. Nineteen of the company's 75 employees are within this unit, and the union officials claimed to have the consent of 14 of these. To this demand O'Dowd replied that "I will not sign a union contract," and refused to consent to a secret election conducted by a third party of his choice. When asked if he would recognize the union if a majority status were proved by the employee-members of the union presenting themselves to him, he said he would not. He did ask for a list of the names but this was refused because he told the union officials that on a prior occasion he was successful in beating the union once he knew the identity of the members.

I. INTERFERENCE IN VIOLATION OF SECTION 8(a) (1)

Four days after the initial request for recognition, O'Dowd wrote the union informing it that "the Company doubts your majority status" and that the union would not be recognized until it was certified in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. From then on through September 5, 1962, when 13 of the 19 employees in the unit went on strike, the company remained adamant in its position.

The Board found that during this period two company supervisors, Harris and Holland, engaged in unfair labor practices in an attempt to defeat the union. The testimony disclosed that both Harris and Holland told employees that the plant would shut down before O'Dowd would negotiate with the union. Harris promised employees better pay and hours and longer vacations if they would withdraw from the union, and Holland warned composing room employees that apprentices would be laid off if the union succeeded. The company does not now attack the credibility findings of the Board's examiner, nor does it claim that there was an absence of substantial evidence on which the Board could find a violation of section 8(a) (1). Indeed, it is perfectly clear that the course of conduct followed by Harris and Holland constitutes an unfair labor practice. N.L.R.B. v. Overnite Transportation Co., 308 F.2d 279 (4th Cir.1962); N.L.R.B. v. Jones Sausage Co., 257 F. 2d 878 (4th Cir.1958).

The company's contention is that Holland was not a supervisor and that therefore his conduct should not be attributed to it. Whether the company is correct in this we need not determine, for it is not material to the decision of this case. Admittedly, Harris was a supervisor and his conduct alone was sufficient to constitute a violation of section 8(a) (1).

II. APPROPRIATENESS OF THE UNIT

The company contends that the unit approved by the Board is not appropriate. It says that proofreaders and teletypesetters should not have been included because their work is less skilled than that performed by the linotype operators in the composing room, and because they are separated from the composing room and work in another room in the printing shop.

On the evidence in this record we agree with the Board. All of the members of the unit are under common supervision. Their work is closely related and they often work together. Both linotype operators and teletypesetters produce type for copy. Linotype operators perform the function directly; teletypesetters use a machine whose keyboard is similar to that of a typewriter. By typing copy, teletypesetters make perforations on a tape which is eventually brought to the composing room and fed into specially outfitted linotype machines. As found by the Board "the chief function of linotype operators and teletypesetters is the production of type for copy, and the only difference is the mechanical means employed for the task."

Both linotype operators and teletypesetters do...