Desilu Productions, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 15, 1953

106 N.L.R.B. 179 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

DESILU PRODUCTIONS, INC 179
ARTICLE III: UNION MEMBERSHIP
Upon compliance with the requirements of Section 8 (a)
(3) (i) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, as
amended, or upon a change in the law eliminating such
requirements, good standing membership in the Union
shall be a condition of employment for all employees* on
and after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such
employment but not before completion of the worker's
trial period. (* who are included in the bargaining unit).
This provision could be interpreted to mean that employees
who had been hired before the date of the contract were subject
to discharge forthwith for nonmembership in the Union. How-
ever, we do not believe that the wording of the provision makes
such interpretation logically imperative, for it could as well
be argued that the time limitation of the clause is applicable
to new employees only. Because we, like the hearing officer,
believe the union-security clause is ambiguous, we shall
examine the testimony of the parties so as to determine the
meaning of the clause, as well as the practice under it.4
The union representative who negotiated the contract testified
that the union-security clause was not intended to apply to
employees employed before the date of the contract. The
Employer testified that he was under the impression that such
employees were permitted 30 days in which to join the Union.
In any event, no attempt has been made to enforce the union-
security clause. On these facts, we conclude that the contract
did not deprive employees employed before the contract date of
the 30-day grace period required by Section 8 (a) (3) of the
Act. We, therefore, find that the union-security clause is not
unlawful.
In view of the foregoing and upon the entire record in this
case, we find that the contract is a bar to an election at this
time. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition.
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
4Bath Iron Works Corporation, 101 NLRB 181.
DESILU PRODUCTIONS, INC.' and TELEVISION WRITERS OF
AMERICA, Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-2847. July 15, 1953
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon consolidated petitions' duly filed under Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held com-
1 Name appears as amended at the hearing.
2 This case was consolidated at the first hearing with Cases Nos. 21-RC-2782. 21-RC-2791,
21-RC-2872, and 21-RC-2849 reported as National Broadcasting Company, Inc., et al.,
104 NLRB 587.
106 NLRB No. 26.
322615 0 - 54 - 13
180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mencing on December 11, 1952, before Norman H. Greer,
hearing officer. On March 24, 1953, the Board issued its Order
severing this case from the others with which it had bees heard,
reopening the record for the taking of further evidence, and
remanding it to the Region for the purpose of further hearing.
Such further hearing was held commencing on April 21, 1953,
before Ben Grodsky, hearing officer. The hearing officers'
rulings made at the hearings are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed.I
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case
to a three-member panel [Members Murdock, Styles, and
Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the Act.
2. The labor organizations4 involved claim to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for
the following reasons:
The Employer and Intervenor contend that the petition should
be dismissed, because the Petitioner is not qualified to repre-
sent employees of the Employer due to the participation of
Jess Oppenheimer, an alleged supervisor, in the Petitioner's
affairs.
The evidence shows that Oppenheimer is employed byDesilu
as head writer and producer of its filmed weekly television
show, "I Love Lucy." There are two other writers employed
by Desilu for "I Love Lucy" who, with Oppenheimer, write
all the scripts for "I Love Lucy." As head writer, Oppen-
heimer has control over the story line of each script and edits
its final draft before it is submitted for production. In this
capacity he also determines the number of casual actors who
will be required by the script in addition to the show's regular
actors. It is clear that in this capacity Oppenheimer responsibly
directs the activities of the other writers. As producer,
Oppenheimer organizes the production in preparation for the
filming of each script. He directs and coordinates the activi-
ties of the prop man, wardrobe lady, assistant director, and
art director. At the first reading of the script, he makes
changes in the script. He hires casual actors who appear in
only a single show. After each show is filmed he participates
in the editing and checking of the final print. Desi Arnaz,
owner and executive producer of the show, also participates
in many of Oppenheimer's activities as producer. It is clear
SAt the first hearing, the hearing officer rejected an offer of proof by the Intervenor
pertaining to the activities of Jess Oppenheimer in the formation and organization of the
Petitioner. Inasmuch as this evidence was admitted at the second hearing, there was no
prejudicial error.
4 Authors League of America intervened on behalf of itself and the Screen Writers Guild
on the basis of a current showing of interest.
DESILU PRODUCTIONS, INC 181
from the foregoing, and we find, that Oppenheimer is a super-
visor within the meaning of the Act.
On August 15, 1952, Oppenheimer attended a meeting of the
Radio Writers Guild at which he spoke in favor of forming a
new organization to represent television writers and indicated
that he would be willing to join such an organization . Carroll
and Pugh, the other two writers for "I Love Lucy," were also
present at the meeting. At the close of the regular meeting,
and after Oppenheimer left, a rump meeting was held of those
television writers interested in such an organization. As a
result of the meeting, Charles Isaacs set about investigating
the interest of the television writers in a new organization.
He arranged a luncheon meeting for August 28, 1952, to which
he invited 30 to 35 writers. Oppenheimer was among those in-
vited, as were Carroll and Pugh towhomthe invitation was de-
livered by Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer testified that between
August 15 and August 28, he spoke to Isaacs on several occa-
sions about the proposed organization, discussing with him
principally as he put it, "How do we do it.-5 At the August 28
meeting , the formation of the new organization was discussed
further and the predominant sentiment of those present favored
its formation. Anumber of the writers present, including Oppen-
heimer, spoke infavor of it. Carroll and Pugh were among those
present. At the meeting, membership cards which had been
printed in advance were passed among those present. Both
Oppenheimer and Carroll signed cards and paidtheir 10-dollar
initiation fee at that time. Pugh took her card with her and mailed
it back with a 10-dollar check within the next few days. On
September 11, 1952, a formal meeting of the Petitioner was held
which Oppenheimer did not attend. However, at that meeting he
was elected vice president of the Petitioner for a term running
until the first annual meeting scheduled for December. As an
officer, he also became a member of the executive board. Dur-
ing October, Oppenheimer attended a meeting of the Screen
Writers Guild at which he represented the Petitioner and
attempted to bring about an understanding between the two groups
as to their respective jurisdictions. On November 8, 1952, a
letter was sent out by the Petitioner to television writers over
the signature of Oppenheimer, among other officers, setting
forth its position and concluding with the following paragraph:
We believe that these facts support our stand that a
television writers guild is the best way to bargain for
TV writers. If you agree with us, we ask you to join the
Television Writers of America. The struggle for better
TV working conditions is a fight that will be won by all
writers, or lost by a few. If you elect to sit this one out,
the only winner will be the employer.
slsaacs testified that he only recalled speaking to Oppenheimer once during this period
about the organization and on that occasion solely for the purpose of inviting Oppenheimer
to the meeting. We accept Oppenheimer's version
182 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On December 16, 1952, new officers were elected and Oppen-
heimer was replaced as vice president. However, he was elected
to the executive board of which he is still a member. He was
also appointed to several committees of the Petitioner since
its formation including the strategy committee, principles com-
mittee, liaison committee, finance committee, and membership
committee. The evidence also shows that Oppenheimer has
regularly paid quarterly dues of $56 to the Petitioner and,
in addition, advanced $100 to be applied to dues at his option
in the future, and that he has contributed to the Petitioner
$15 for an advertisement and $ 10 for a book of raffle tickets.
Petitioner contends that, notwithstanding the above facts
which it admits to be substantially true, Oppenheimer's activi-
ties were not such as to disqualify it from representing em-
ployees of Desilu. Petitioner cites the fact that Oppenheimer's
attendance at various membership , executive board, and com-
mittee meetings was irregular , and, particularly , that there
is no evidence that Oppenheimer directly approached any em-
ployees of Desilu and solicited their memberships . However,
it is not disputed that both Pugh and Carroll were present at
the Radio Writers Guild meeting and at the August 28 meeting,
where Oppenheimer spoke in favor of a new organization. On
these facts, we find that Carroll and Pugh were, in effect,
solicited by Oppenheimer to join TWA. Considering Oppen-
heimer's position as head writer and producer of "I Love
Lucy," we find that the showing of interest, on which this
petition was based , is necessarily impaired by his activities
in the organization of the Petitioner , and will dismiss the
petition- 0
[The Board dismissed the petition.],
6 Toledo Stamping and Manufacturing Company, 55 NLRB 865. See Wells, Inc., 68 NLRB
545. Excluding Oppenheimer, TWA's showing in this case consists of 3 cards in a unit of 8.
Without the cards of Carroll and Pugh, the showing would consist of only 1 card, which is
insufficient to support the petition. Although the intervenor has made a sufficient showing
of its own, the Intervenor took the position that the petition should be dismissed.
FRUEHAUF TRAILER C O M P A N Y and INTERNATIONAL
UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRI-
CULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO,
Petitioner . Case No. 10 - RC-2151 . July 15, 1953
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
RESULTS OF ELECTION
On March 3 , 1953, pursuant to a Decision and Direction of
Election issued by the Board on January 5, 1953,1 an election
by secret ballot was conducted in the above-entitled matter
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
1 Not reported in the printed volumes of Board decisions.
106 NLRB No. 33.