Joan Davis Enterprises

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 30, 1953

104 N.L.R.B. 584 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

5 84 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and the drivers. Reports are also made to the Employer on
the proficiency of new operators.
In addition to the foregoing instances pointing to the super-
visory status of the bus supervisors, for example their use of
discretion and their responsible direction of the bus drivers,
there is the further fact that to find the bus supervisors to be
employees within the meaning of the Act would create a ratio
of 15 supervisors over approximately 1,714 employees in the
transportation department , or 1 supervisor for 114 men.' The
Board will not overlook the impracticability and unreasonable-
ness of a ratio of 1 supervisor to 114 employees, especially
where the operation is spread over approximately 100 miles
of bus routes .'o We are mindful that large ratios do not appear
to be unusual in the bus transportation industry,' but we do
not believe this sufficient cause for eliminating the ratio of
supervisors to nonsupervisory employees as a factor to be
considered, and we note that it is higher in this matter than in
other cases heretofore considered. Accordingly, the Board
finds that the bus supervisors responsibly direct the bus
operators in their work, and that they are, therefore, super-
visors within the meaning of Section 2 (11) of the Act.
In the light of our findings above, of the approximately 113
individuals in the unit sought by the Petitioner, 93 are super-
visors as defined in the Act. Moreover, the president of the
Union is a bus supervisor. Accordingly, as the Petitioner is
predominantly controlled by supervisors and as such control
renders it incapable of serving as the bargaining representative
of the nonsupervisory receivers , '2 we shall dismiss the
petition.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
9 When the "bus supervisors " are considered "supervisors" as defined in the Act (the
acting bus supervisors are admitted employees), the ratio is 1 to 18.
10 Warren Petroleum Corporation , 97 NLRB 1458 ; J. P. Stevens & Co., Inc., Republic
Cotton Mills Division, 93 NLRB 1513.
u See Capital Transit Company , 98 NLRB 141 ; and The Baltimore Transit Company and
The Baltimore Coach Company, 92 NLRB 688.
12 Columbia Pictures Corporation , et aL , 94 NLRB 466.
JOAN DAVIS ENTERPRISES and TELEVISION WRITERS OF
AMERICA, Petitioner
FILMCRAFT PRODUCTIONS and TELEVISION WRITERS OF
AMERICA, Petitioner
DON W. SHARPE d/b/a DON SHARPE ENTERPRISES and
TELEVISION WRITERS OF AMERICA , Petitioner. Cases
Nos. 21 -RC-2846, 21-RC- 2850 , and 21-RC-2851. April 30,
1953
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was
104 NLRB No. 69.
JOAN DAVIS ENTERPRISES 585
held before Norman H. Greer, 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 Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with these cases
to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Styles and Peterson].
Upon the entire record in these cases the Board finds:
1. The Employers are engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employers.*
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employers within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the
Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to represent all television writers
of Joan Davis Enterprises, hereinafter called Davis, Film-
craft Productions, hereinafter called Filmcraft, and Don
Sharpe Enterprises, hereinafter called Sharpe, in single
employer units. The Intervenor moved to dismiss on the
ground that the single employer units are inappropriate
and contended that a multiemployer unit, for which the
Employers indicate a preference is alone appropriate. Neither
the Intervenor nor the Employers, however, contend that the
Employers belong or will belong to any multiemployer
bargaining group. There is, in fact, no history of any type
of collective bargaining for the employees involved. Under
these circumstances, we find no merit in the Intervenor's
contention and its motion to dismiss on this ground is denied.
Apart from the foregoing, there was no objection to the
composition of the units sought. We find from the record
that the following units, excluding all supervisors as defined
in the Act, are appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
Unit I: All writers employed by Joan Davis Enterprises in
the preparation and presentation of television shows and pro-
grams produced by it.
Unit II: All writers employed by Filmcraft Productions in
the preparation and presentation of television shows and pro-
grams produced by it.
Sharpe, the Employer in Case No. 21-RC-2851, moved to
dismiss the petition in that case on the ground that it had no
employees in the proposed unit. The record shows that the
employees sought by the Petitioner in that case are not
1 The hearing officer referred to the Board the Intervenor 's motion to dismiss the peti-
tion in the Filmcraft case because of the alleged inadequacy of the Petitioner's showing of
interest in that case. As the adequacy of a petitioner 's showing is a matter for administra-
tive determinations , not litigable at a hearing on the petition , the motion is denied. T. P.
Stevens Co., Inc., 93 NLRB 1513, 1514.
'Screen Writers Guild intervened on behalf of itself and the Authors League of America.
586 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees of Sharpe. Accordingly, we shall grant Sharpe's
motion and dismiss the petition in Case No. 21-RC-2851.3
5. The Intervenor requests that anyone employed in one
of the appropriate units since January 1, 1951, be allowed to
vote in that unit. The Petitioner requests that those em-
ployed in such a unit only within 6 months before the direction
of election be allowed to vote. It appears from the record that,
unlike some other occupations in the television industry,4 the
employment conditions of the employees in the foregoing units
are relatively stable. Of the 3 writers employed by Joan Davis
at the time of the hearing, 1 had been so employed throughout
the 24 weeks preceding the hearing, and the others for shorter
periods. These writers prepare scripts for a serial show, I
Married Joan. There was no evidence as to the term of their
contracts. At the time of the hearing Filmcraft had 2 writers
in its employ, 1 of whom had been hired 3 weeks before, and
the other 1 day before, the hearing. Filmcraft testified that
it was negotiating for the employment of 2 other writers. The
4 writers will work on pilot scripts for shows which, if success-
ful, will become serial shows, running for indefinite periods,
in which event, Filmcraft has the privilege of extending the
writers' contracts.
There was no evidence of any pattern of intermittent or
casual employment of writers by Filmcraft or Davis. Nor
was there any evidence to indicate that any of the writers
formerly employed by these Employers during any past
period has any expectancy of reemployment by these Em-
ployers in the foreseeable future, or that such former em-
ployees have in the past been so reemployed.
In view of the foregoing, we find no reason to depart from
our usual eligibility practice.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that the petition in Case No. 21-RC-2851 be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publicatidh.]
$The Petitioner moved to substitute Official Films for Sharpe. Althdugh it appears that
Official Films is, in fact, the employer of the employees sought , it was not notified of this
proceeding nor was it present or represented at the hearing . The motion is therefore denied.
4See American Broadcasting Company, Inc., 96 NLRB 114 (talent); Television Film
Producers Association, 93 NLRB 929 (actors)