Jerry Fairbanks, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 22, 1951

93 N.L.R.B. 898 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

898 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
guards, and all supervisors as defined in the Act, and also excluding
the pumping station employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
JERRY FAIRBANKS , INC. and MOVING PICTURE PAINTERS AND SCENIC
ARTISTS , LOCAL 644, AFFILIATED WITH BROTHERHOOD OF PAINTERS,
DECORATORS AND PAPERHANGERS OF AMERICA , PETITIONER . Case No.
21-RC-1718. March 02, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed, a.hearing was held before Eugene M.
Purver, 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 [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Styles].
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 employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
All parties to this proceeding are in agreement as to the composition
of the unit, namely : All scenic artists, painters, paperhangers, dec-
orators, sign writers, matte shot artists, advertising artists, title artists,
and their apprentices and assistants, but excluding set decorators,
guards, foreman scenic artists, head paint foreman, foreman painters,
foreman advertising artists, and all other supervisors. The only unit
issue raised in this case relates to the scope of the unit. The Petitioner
seeks a unit confined to employees of the Employer. The Intervenor
contends that a separate unit for employees of the Employer is inap-
propriate, and that an appropriate unit would include the employees
of all members of the Independent Television Producers Association,
of which the Employer is a member. The Employer takes no position.
93 NLRB No. 142.
JERRY FAIRBANKS, INC. ' 899
- The Independent Television Producers Association was formed in
1946, and now has approximately 68 members. Within this Associa-
tion a labor committee was formed, which early in 1949 began nego-
tiating on behalf of its membership with various labor representatives.
Before the formation of this labor committee, the members had for
several years negotiated separately with labor organizations. The
Association has no authority over action by its members in entering
into labor contracts. However, each member reports to the Associa-
tion regarding any proposed labor agreements, and may be subjected
to pressure in the form of persuasion in regard to such agreements.
The labor committee of the Association has been authorized by its
members to bargain on their behalf, but the committee is not author-
ized to sign any contracts on behalf of its members. The record dis-
closes that although the labor committee has discussed wages, hours,
and working conditions in the television industry with labor organi-
zations, no blanket or master contracts have ever been entered into,
nor does the record disclose that any of the individual employers have
entered into contracts negotiated by the committee. Several members
of the Association have renewed individual contracts which were in
existence when the Association was formed.
The foregoing indicates that since early 1949 the members of the
Association have been represented by the Association's labor commit-
tee. However, prior to the inception of the labor committee, collec-
tive bargaining had been conducted on a, single-employer basis. Thus,
it appears that bargaining by the Association for the Employer prior
to the filing of the petition in this case had been in effect for a rela-
tively brief period, i. e., about 1 year, as opposed to the earlier indi-
vidual bargaining by the Employers. Such a brief history of bar-
gaining on a multiemployer basis not predicated upon a Board unit
finding, does not preclude a determination that the single-employer
unit here sought is appropriate.,' In addition, as already indicated,
there is no evidence in the present record that the Employer has in
fact adopted any terms of employment negotiated by the Association,
nor, indeed, that the Association has succeeded in negotiating any,
terms with the Intervenor. Under all these circumstances, we con-
clude that a separate bargaining unit of the employees of the Em-
ployer herein is appropriate.2
We find that all scenic artists, painters, paperhangers, decorators,
sign writers, matte shot artists, advertising artists, title artists and
their apprentices and assistants employed by the Employer at its Los
Angeles Motion Picture Studio, excluding set decorators, guards,
I Norcal Packing Company, 76 NLRB 254; Aluminum Company of America, 60 NLRB
278, 282.
2A separate unit was recently established for carpenters and set erectors at the Em-
ployer's studio in Association of Motion Picture Producers, Inc, 88 NLRB 521.
900 ' DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
foreman scenic artists, head paint foreman, foreman painters, fore-
man advertising artists, and all other employees and supervisors,.
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act 3
5. The Petitioner requests that persons "earning their living" at
Jerry Fairbanks, Inc., be permitted to vote in the election. The Em-
ployer takes no position. The Intervenor urges that the Board fol-
low its usual practice and direct that persons employed during the-
payroll period ending immediately next preceding the date of such
direction of election, be permitted to vote. The Employer's pay-
roll records disclose that out of approximately eight employees in the
categories here involved who were employed during the past year,
only one employee worked over 40 weeks and the remainder of the
employees worked from 1 day to 64 days. A majority of these em-
ployees, however, have worked for the Employer at some time dur-
ing the last 4 months. In view of the relatively brief periods of em-
ployment afforded the employees involved herein, and their frequent
interchange among other employers in the area, we shall depart from
our usual eligibility rule. We shall direct that a 120-day eligibility
period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
be used to determine which of the employees in the appropriate unit
are eligible to vote in the election. Thus, employees who would other-
wise be eligible to vote will not be disfranchised if, immediately prior
to the election, they happen to be employed by another employer in
the area 4
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
8 The parties are in dispute with respect to the supervisory status of Joseph Kaplan. We
find that Joseph Kaplan is not a supervisor within the meaning of Section 2 ( 11) of the
Act. The record discloses that his duties with respect to employing additional help con-
sist primarily of calling additional employees to the plant for work as the occasion demands,
and are routine in nature We shall , therefore , include him in the unit.
4 Norcal Packing Company, 76 NLRB 254; The Independent Motion Picture Producers
Assoctiatio,i, 88 NLRB 1285.
THE STRANG GARAGE COMPANY and LODGE No. 750, INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS. Case No. SO-CA-127. March-26,1951
Decision and Order
On January 15, 1951, Trial Examiner Irving Rogosin issued his
Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding finding that
the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair
labor practices and recommending that it cease and desist therefrom
93 NLRB No. 158.