American Federation of TV and Radio Artists

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 5, 1975

223 N.L.R.B. 641 (N.L.R.B. 1975)

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TV AND RADIO ARTISTS 641
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists,
AFL-CIO and William F. Buckley , Jr., and M.
Stanton Evans. Petition Under 5 U.S.C. §554(e)
April 5, 1975
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR
RECONSIDERATION
BY CHAIRMAN MURPHY AND MEMBERS FANNING,
JENKINS, AND PENELLO
On January 13, 1976, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board issued its Decision and Order Dismissing
Petition for Declaratory Order t in the above-entitled
proceeding in which it denied the Petitioners' peti-
tion for a Declaratory Order on the ground that
"there is no justiciable issue to be decided or uncer-
tainty to be dispelled by the issuance of a declaratory
order."
On February 9, 1976, the.Petitioners filed a Peti-
tion for Reconsideration and supporting memoran-
dum, in which they submit, in substance, that
AFTRA's change in position from the requirement
of "full fledged" membership to the requirement of
"financial core" membership, i.e., requiring only the
payment of periodic dues and initiation fees , did not
render moot the Petition for Declaratory Order; nor
did it prevent the existence of a justiciable issue aris-
ing from the relief requested, especially in view of the
language of the Board's Decision that AFTRA "can-
not, under any circumstances, require `full fledged
membership' or any other type of membership ...."
(Emphasis supplied.) In addition, the Petitioners con-
tend that the Board failed to rule upon the prayer
'222 NLRB No. 34 (1976).
asking the Board to declare that AFTRA may not
interfere with or object to the Petitioners' employ-
ment as nonmembers and that AFTRA be directed
to so notify the networks and broadcasting compa-
nies signatory to the TV and Radio Codes, and that
this unanswered prayer raises a justiciable issue. Ac-
cordingly, the Petitioners seek basically the relief re-
quested in its Petition for Declaratory Order, includ-
ing the declaration that section 84 of the TV Code
and section 57 of the Radio Code are null and void
insofar as they require membership "in good stand-
in By letter dated February 13, 1976, counsel for
AFTRA submitted that the Petition for Reconsidera-
tion should be dismissed as untimely upon the as-
sumption that the time frame is the same as in Board
"C" cases 2 and that, if it is not so dismissed, the
Board upon any reconsideration should adopt Mem-
ber Fanning's. position.
The Board, having duly considered the matter, and
particularly the Petitioners' contention as to "finan-
cial core membership" and "membership in good
standing" in the light of the "membership" language
in the Board's Decision and Order herein and in the
light of the United States Supreme Court's decision
in N. L. R. B. v. General Motors Corporation, 373 U.S.
734 (1963), is of the opinion that the Petition for Re.-
consideration must be denied as it does not raise
matters or issues not previously considered. Nor does
the renewed membership contention based on the
Board's Decision and Order warrant reconsideration.
It is hereby ordered that the Petition for Reconsid-
eration herein be, and it hereby is, denied?
2 See Sec. 102.48 (d) of the Board's Rules and Regulations . Series 8, as
amended.
J Member Fanning denies the Petition for Reconsideration for the same
reasons he denied the Petition for Declaratory Order.
223 NLRB No. 90