Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 15, 1996

320 N.L.R.B. 1148 (N.L.R.B. 1996)

1148
320 NLRB No. 157
BROOKLYN BUREAU OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
1 The Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a
three-member panel.
2 The Board’s advisory opinion proceedings are not designed to re-
solve disputed issues of material fact. Thus, the pertinent portions of
the Board’s Rules do not provide for a hearing where interested par-
ties would have the opportunity to introduce evidence and, to exam-
ine and cross-examine witnesses. By contrast, if an employer files
a petition under Sec. 9(c)(1)(B) of the Act ‘‘alleging that one or
more individuals or labor organizations have presented to him a
claim to be recognized as the representative defined in section 9(a),’’
and if the Board has reasonable cause to believe that a question con-
cerning representation exists, the statute requires the Board to ‘‘pro-
vide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.’’ See generally An-
gelica Healthcare Services Group, 315 NLRB 1320 (1995).
Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service and Com-
munity and Social Agency Employees’ Union
District Council 1707, AFSCME, AFL–CIO.
Case AO–335
April 15, 1996
ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR
ADVISORY OPINION
BY CHAIRMAN GOULD AND MEMBERS BROWNING
AND FOX
Pursuant to Sections 102.98(a) and 102.99 of the
National Labor Relations Board’s Rules and Regula-
tions, on March 7, 1996, Brooklyn Bureau of Commu-
nity Service (BBCS), the Employer, filed a petition for
Advisory Opinion as to whether the Board would as-
sert jurisdiction over its operations. In pertinent part,
the petition alleges as follows:
1. A proceeding (Case No. SE–59020) is currently
pending before the New York State Employment Rela-
tions Board (SERB) in which Community and Social
Agency Employees’ Union District Council 1707,
AFSCME, AFL–CIO, the Union, is seeking certifi-
cation as the representative of 55 day care providers
who provide day care services to children.
2. BBCS is a multifaceted, not-for-profit social serv-
ice agency with its principal place of business at 285
Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, New York. BBCS pro-
vides a full range of programs including day care, fos-
ter care placement prevention, homemaking for fami-
lies with children, job training and placement for
adults with disabilities, continuing day treatment for
persons with mental illness, clubhouses for psychiatric
rehabilitation, day habitation for persons with mental
retardation, transitional living for mentally ill homeless
women, and family day care. BBCS employs 433 em-
ployees in approximately 13 locations throughout
Brooklyn, New York.
3. BBCS receives revenues from contracts with Fed-
eral, state and city governments, private contracts, and
charitable donations. In 1995, BBCS had revenues of
$16,093,591, and it anticipates revenues of
$14,259,470 for 1996. BBCS purchases goods in ex-
cess of $500,000 annually from sources directly and
indirectly outside the State of New York.
4. The SERB has not made any findings with re-
spect to the foregoing commerce data.
5. There are no representation or unfair labor prac-
tice proceedings involving the parties pending before
the Board.
On March 11, 1996, the Union filed a response to
the petition for Advisory Opinion. The Union contends
that its representation petition before the SERB seeks
certification only of the family day care providers em-
ployed at the BBCS Family Day Care Center; that
while it may be true that BBCS has a revenue projec-
tion as set forth in its petition for Advisory Opinion,
that revenue is not totally generated by the day care
facility; that the BBCS day care facility has substan-
tially less revenue than admitted in the petition for Ad-
visory Opinion; and that day care is a financially inde-
pendent component of BBCS.
Having duly considered the matter,1 we find that the
record is inadequate to make a meaningful jurisdic-
tional determination in this proceeding. As indicated
above, BBCS seeks a determination as to whether the
Board would assert jurisdiction over its multifaceted
operations. The Union, however, asserts that it is only
the BBCS Family Day Care Center that is involved in
the pending SERB proceeding, that day care is a finan-
cially independent component of BBCS, and that the
day care center’s revenues are substantially less than
the revenue set forth in BBCS’s petition for Advisory
Opinion. In these circumstances, where the relevant ju-
risdictional facts appear to be disputed, we are simply
unable in this Advisory Opinion proceeding to make a
meaningful jurisdictional determination. See American
Lung Assn., 296 NLRB 12 (1989), and Meat Cutters
Local 576 (Market Basket Food), 230 NLRB 992
(1977).2
Accordingly, the petition for Advisory Opinion is
dismissed.