NOTICE: This
opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the bound volumes
of NLRB decisions. Readers are requested
to notify the Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board,
AGI Klearfold, LLC and Graphic Communication International Union,
August 9, 2007
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
By Chairman Battista and Members Schaumber and Walsh
On February 10, 2004, the Acting Regional Director for Region 13 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-titled proceeding in which she found, among other things, that the petitioned-for unit of all press department employees, including the first press operators, second press operators, feeders, helpers, and the press room clerk, was appropriate.
Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board’s Rules and Regulations, the Employer filed a timely request for review. The Employer argued that the petitioned-for unit does not constitute a craft or departmental unit, and that the unit should include all production and maintenance employees in the lithographic process[1], or, at a minimum, must include the pre-press department employees.
By Order dated March 31, 2004, the Board granted the Employer’s request for review with respect to the Acting Regional Director’s unit determination.[2] The election was conducted as scheduled on March 18, 2004, and the ballots were impounded. The Petitioner filed a brief on review.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
We have carefully considered the entire record in this proceeding, including the brief on review, and have decided to reverse the Acting Regional Director’s finding that the petitioned-for unit is appropriate. We conclude that the smallest appropriate unit is one consisting of the Employer’s press and pre-press department employees.
Facts
The Employer produces consumer packaging for clients in
the media and cosmetic industries in
The Employer’s operation utilizes standard lithographic printing, which occurs in three main stages: pre-press, press, and binding or post-press. Pre-press employees prepare the materials necessary for operation of the printing presses, transforming digital text and pictures into finished pages, and making plates that embody the finished pages. Press employees run the presses, using the printing plates to produce printed sheets. Bindery employees complete the final stage of production: folding, cutting, and binding the printed sheets into the finished product.
The Employer’s entire production operation is housed in one building, with one common aisle running the length of that building and few walls separating the work areas. There are approximately 250 production and maintenance employees organized into 10 separate departments. These departments are physically arranged in the order in which the product moves through the production process.
The Employer’s production process is sequential; the work of one department is dependent on the work being accomplished timely and correctly by the preceding department. The process begins when a customer places an order. First, a production planner creates a job ticket that specifies the details concerning the order and the work to be done. Once completed, a hard copy of the job ticket is supplied to employees in each department by their respective supervisors. Employees also have access to an electronic job ticket through a plantwide database.
Next, employees in the sheeting department take rolls of stock paper and cut them into individual sheets for feeding into the printing presses. Then, employees in the pre-press department create a job bag. The job bag includes the job ticket, a sample of the final printed product, and other items needed during production, and accompanies the job as it progresses through the various production stages.
The Employer’s pre-press department also receives all incoming media and artwork from clients. At the start of a new job, pre-press employees are responsible for transforming this media into proofs for client approval and for creating the job bag. Pre-press employees also make the plates needed for operation of the printing presses. Pre-press employees are divided into three groups: image assemblers, film-strippers, and platemakers. Image assemblers use software to process the incoming digital media into digital “die,” or the physical shape and dimension that the final printed image will assume.[3] Film-strippers convert archived film into digital format and assemble the job bags. Platemakers perform the traditional pre-press task of making the printing plates, using digital images obtained from the image assemblers and film-strippers.
The pre-press department is housed within the main warehouse in a separate, walled-off room. Once the plates are completed, they are moved, together with the job bag, to a “staging area” located in the corridor immediately outside of the pre-press room. From this staging area, the job bag and the completed plates will be picked up by a press department employee. The pre-press department includes 12 permanent, full-time employees and 3 temporary, full-time employees. Pre-press employees work 2 10-hour shifts and have a 30-minute lunchbreak. Their salaries range from $10 to $26.18 per hour.
The press department consists of 54 employees who operate 6 printing presses, in crews of 2, 3, or 4 employees. The sole responsibility of the press employees is to operate the presses. A typical four person crew is made up of a first pressman, second pressman, feeder and helper, each of whom performs a distinct function in the operation of the press. There are 16 first pressmen, 12 second pressmen, 16 feeders, 9 helpers, and 1 pressroom clerk. Press department employees’ wages range between $10.64 per hour, at the helper level, to $30.32 per hour for the first pressmen.
After the press department completes its work, production moves to the die-cutting department, where 19 employees cut the sheets by running them through a die-cutting machine and applying foil or raised embossing to the sheets. The product then goes to the finishing department, where 77 employees glue the cut images to the product and assemble the packaging. Next, the 10 quality assurance department employees inspect the product for compliance with industry standards and customer specifications. The product then arrives in the rigid box department, where 16 employees cut the printed sheets that were not cut into individual shapes by the die-cutting department and glue those sheets to boxes. Finally, the 17 employees in the shipping/receiving department ship the finished product to customers and receive rolls of stock paper. Additionally, seven employees in the maintenance department perform maintenance and repair on plant machinery, including printing presses.
The Employer has an operations manager who is responsible for the facility and a plant manager who oversees the manufacturing operation. The press department is run by three shift supervisors who report to a press department manager. The press department manager reports to the plant manager, who in turn reports to the operations manager. The pre-press department is run by a pre-press supervisor who answers to a pre-press department manager. The pre-press department manager reports to the operations manager. The remaining departments report either to the plant manager or the operations manager.
Employees from the various production departments generally come into contact with one another at the planning stage or when a problem with the production process arises. For example, if there is a defect in the printed product which cannot be attributed to the work of the press department, the press employees may consult the pre-press department, though this type of interaction often occurs between a press department supervisor and a pre-press department supervisor. Similarly, if a plate needs to be adjusted to avoid “ghosting,” the press department may consult the pre-press department. This type of problem is typically handled at one of the previously scheduled, daily “art meetings.” The departmental representatives who attend these meetings are usually supervisors, but a first pressman will attend the meeting if a press supervisor is not available. Likewise, if a problem with the printing plates arises during production, a pre-press employee may enter the press room and observe the plates on the press while the press is in operation.
Further contact between the press and pre-press employees occurs on the night shift, for which there is no pre-press supervisor. If a problem with the plates arises on the night shift, a first pressman, or the press shift supervisor if one is available, may enter the pre-press department to provide assistance. Press employees will also enter the pre-press room at any time they cannot find all of the tools needed for the job, such as a plate, or the job bag. On those occasions, the press employees will look for the tools in the pre-press room.
Press employees and most other production and maintenance employees, excluding pre-press employees, wear safety goggles and ear protection. All production and maintenance employees attend regular training sessions and general meetings. In addition, press department employees undergo monthly safety training on a departmental basis, but a portion of this training is the same as for all production and maintenance employees. Press Department employees also receive department-specific training relating to the operation of the presses.
All production and maintenance employees enjoy the same working conditions and benefits. They receive the same orientation package and employee handbook; are subject to the same policies regarding vacation and discipline; and receive the same benefits package, including health insurance, medical insurance, disability, and 401(k) plans. The Employer maintains teams and committees made up of a cross-section of employees, including press department employees, which address matters such as safety and emergency response. Press employees share much of the same common areas with other employees; all hourly employees use the same timeclock, have identical timecards, use the same break room and smoking areas, and have access to common locker rooms and parking lots. There is no history of collective bargaining at the Employer’s facility.
Analysis
Based on the foregoing, we do not agree with the Acting Regional Director that the petitioned-for group of press employees constitutes an appropriate unit. Nor do we find, as argued by the Employer, that only an overall production and maintenance unit is the only appropriate unit. Rather, we find, in agreement with the Employer’s alternative contention, that the smallest appropriate unit in this case is a “traditional lithographic unit” consisting of both press and pre-press employees.
In its
early consideration of units in the printing industry, the Board found numerous
groupings appropriate. See, e.g., Sutherland Paper Co., 112 NLRB 622, 623–624
(1955) (press unit); Kellogg Co., 104
NLRB 302, 304–305 (1953) (same);
Although
not clearly articulated in these decisions, the Board seeks to apply a
traditional community-of-interest analysis to units in the printing industry,
finding appropriate in most cases a “traditional lithographic unit” of press
and pre-press employees.
In accord
with this precedent, we will continue to utilize a community-of-interest
analysis in determining whether the petitioned-for unit—whether it be press employees
only, a combined unit of press and pre-press employees, or an overall
production unit—is appropriate. We will, however, accord appropriate weight to
the long-standing precedent that the “traditional lithographic” unit in the
printing industry is a combined unit of press and pre-press employees.[6]
Applying
these principles here, we find that our decision in this case is controlled by
the Board’s decision in Moore
Business Forms, Inc., 216 NRLB
833, 834 (1975). As in
Press employees regularly enter the pre-press room to search for a missing plate or job bag. In addition, press employees consult the pre-press department whenever adjustments to the plates are needed. If a problem arises on the night shift when there is no pre-press supervisor on duty, a press employee will enter the pre-press room to help solve the problem. In such a situation, the press employee will go as far as to make plates, if necessary.
Based on notably similar facts, the Board in
Further, like the Board in
In sum, we find that a unit limited to press department employees is not appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that the smallest appropriate unit consists of the traditional lithographic unit of the Employer’s press and pre-press employees.[9] We therefore remand this case to the Regional Director for further appropriate action.
ORDER
It is ordered that the Acting Regional Director’s finding that the petitioned-for unit is appropriate is reversed, and that this matter is remanded to the Regional Director for further appropriate action.
Dated,
Robert J. Battista, Chairman
Peter C. Schaumber, Member
Dennis P. Walsh, Member
(seal) National
Labor Relations Board