American National Red Cross

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 14, 1974

211 N.L.R.B. 587 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

AMERICAN NATL. RED CROSS , D.C. CHAPTER 587
American National Red Cross , District of Columbia
Chapter and American Federation of State , County
and Municipal Employees , AFL-CIO, Petitioner.
Case 5-RC-8794
June 14, 1974
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND
PENELLO
Upon petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer William I.
Shooer. Following the hearing and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of
Procedure, Series 8, as amended, this case was
transferred to the Board for decision. Thereafter,
briefs were filed by the Employer and the Petitioner.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds:
1. The American National Red Cross is a tax-
exempt charitable national organization, incorporat-
ed under an act of Congress. It maintains in excess of
3,000 chapters throughout the United States. Only
the District of Columbia Chapter, hereinafter called
Employer, is involved in the instant proceeding. The
Employer derives revenues in the forms of contribu-
tions from private donors, foundations, and other
organizations in excess of $1 million annually. The
Employer's blood program which operates in the
District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and
portions of West Virginia, yielded a revenue
$1,495,295.42 for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1973. The Employer's total revenue for the fiscal year
exceeded $3 million. There are 63 hospitals which
participate in the Employer's blood program, of
which 7 are proprietary hospitals. The remaining 56
are either Government-operated or nonprofit hospi-
tals. Forty-nine of the hospitals derive all the blood
needed for their operations from the Employer. Of
these 49 hospitals, 4 are proprietary hospitals.
In the 2-year period ending June 30, 1973, the
Employer collected approximately $110,000 from
proprietary hospitals for blood distributions. At
current prices, the revenue from such distributions
would exceed $150,000. In the last fiscal year, the
Employer purchased about $600,000 worth of equip-
ment and supplies.
The Employer has approximately 225 employees,
of whom 100 are employed in connection with the
blood program; and approximately 50 of these are
registered nurses covered by the instant petition. The
work of the nurses is performed in the blood center
in the District of Columbia, and in various field
collection centers. They do not work in the hospitals
to which the blood is supplied. The nurses are
entirely under the supervision and control of the
Employer and have no contact with the hospitals.
The Employer contends that the Board should
decline to assert jurisdiction over the blood program
because the Employer is a nonprofit organization
whose activities are intimately related to nonprofit
hospitals exempt under the provisions of Section 2(2)
of the Act, and that its activities in furtherance of
humanitarian goals have an insignificant impact on
commerce. The Employer further contends that the
present case is controlled by Inter-County Blood
Banks, Inc.,' where the Board found that the
Employer's operations were intimately related to the
operations of the hospitals to which it supplied
blood, almost all of which were nonprofit hospitals.
The operation involved in the instant case is the
supplying of blood, a service which, though necessary
to the hospitals' operations, is performed off the
hospitals' premises, and performed for nonexempt as
well as exempt hospitals. The Employer purchases its
own equipment, and hires, schedules, and supervises
its employees. As heretofore stated, the nurses
involved are entirely under the supervision and
control of the Employer and have no contact with
the hospitals.
Contrary to the other arguments raised by the
Employer, we conclude that the Employer's impact
on commerce is sufficient in our view to warrant the
Board asserting jurisdiction over it. In Drexel Home,
Inc.,2 the Board held that an institution's effect on
commerce may not be measured by its nonprofit
status, its title, its religious affiliation, or its occu-
pants. The Employer's annual gross revenue of more
than $3 million far exceeds any of the dollar volume
standards set by the Board for deciding whether to
assert jurisdiction. Inter-County Blood Banks is
materially different from the present case. There, the
employer maintained donor centers which were
largely located in hospitals, which provided space
free of charge. No charges were made to the hospitals
for the blood, but the hospitals charged patients and
165 NLRB 252.
2 182 NLRB 1045.
211 NLRB No. 77
588 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
remitted the money to the employer. Based upon the
foregoing and an examination of the operation
involved herein, we conclude that the intimate
relationship which we found to exist in Inter-City
Blood Banks does not exist in the instant case, and
that that case is distinguishable.3 In view therefore of
its substantial involvement in operations affecting
interstate commerce, we find that the Employer is an
employer engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of
the Act to assert jurisdiction in this proceeding.
2. The labor organization involved claims to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of employees of the Employer
within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section
2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties stipulated that the unit includes all
registered nurses employed by the Employer in its
blood bank program, excluding office clerical em-
ployees, confidential employees, all other employees,
and supervisors as defined in the Act. However, the
Petitioner would include in the above-stated unit
approximately five head nurses, whereas the Employ-
er contends that they should be excluded as
supervisors. Inasmuch as the record does not contain
sufficient evidence to enable us to determine whether
the head nurses are supervisors within the meaning
of Section 2(11) of the Act, we shall permit
employees classified as head nurses to vote subject to
challenge in the election directed herein.
Accordingly, upon the entire record, including the
stipulations of the parties, we find that the following
employees constitute a unit appropriate for the
purpose of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All registered nurses employed by the District of
Columbia Chapter of the American National Red
Cross in its blood program, excluding office
clerical employees, confidential employees, all
other employees and supervisors as defined in the
Act.
[Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote
omitted from publication.]
3 Bob's Ambulance Service, 178 NLRB 1. See also Clover Fork Medical
Services, Inc. 200 NLRB No. 44.