Raphael G. Wolff Studios

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 29, 1953

104 N.L.R.B. 508 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

508 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
RAPHAEL G. WOLFF STUDIOS and INTERNATIONAL ALLI-
ANCE OF THEATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES AND
MOVING PICTURE MACHINE OPERATORS OF THE UNITED
STATES AND CANADA AND ITS LOCAL 839, MOTION
PICTURE SCREEN CARTOONISTS, AFL, Petitioner. Case
No. 21-RC-2947. April 29, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was 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. 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Mur-
dock and Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning 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 agree that the following employees constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining:
All animation-department employees at the Employer's
Hollywood, California, studios, excluding cameramen, pro-
jectionists, laboratory technicians, film editors, filmcutters,
soundmen, actors, musicians, clerical employees, mainte-
nance men, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. The Intervenor contends that temporary employees in the
animation department, including Russell Dyson, are ineligi-
ble to vote in the election. The Petitioner contends that the
temporary employees should be permitted to vote. The Em-
ployer takes no position.
I The Screen Cartoonists Guild, which was permitted to intervene on the basis of its con-
tractual interest , moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that temporary employees are
not eligible to vote and that, therefore , the Petitioner has not made a sufficient showing of
interest in the unit. As discussed below, we find that temporary employees are eligible to
vote . Moreover, it is well settled that the sufficiency of the Petitioner 's showing of interest
is a matter for administrative determination and is not litigable. In any event, we are ad-
ministratively satisfied that the Petitioner has made a sufficient showing of interest. Ac-
cordingly. we shall deny the Intervenor's motion.
104 NLRB No. 77.
RAPHAEL G. WOLFF STUDIOS 509
The Employer employs both permanent and temporary em-
ployees in the animation department. At the time of the
hearing there were 6 permanent and 9 temporary employees.
The temporary employees work under the same supervision
and perform the same work as the permanent employees.
The length of employment of temporary employees depends
upon the availability of work.' Because of the nature of the
industry, their employment is of varying duration. The record
indicates that permanent employees themselves are not given
assurance of more than 6 months' employment a year. The
record also indicates that the Employer has an agreement to
produce 12 three-dimensional pictures in the coming year
which will make work available to temporary employees.
In view of the foregoing, and particularly the character of
the industry, we find that the temporary employees involved
herein have a sufficient interest in the terms and conditions
of employment as to entitle them to vote in the election directed
herein.
One employee, Blundell, hired as a scene planner, has been
assigned part-time duties as a cameraman. He estimated
that during the 6 weeks preceding the hearing in this case he
spent slightly over half of his time performing the duties of
a cameraman. As Blundell works a substantial portion of
his time as a scene planner, which is a classification falling
within the unit, we find that he is eligible to vote in the elec-
tion.'
After the hearing the parties submitted to the Board addi-
tional information that the Employer had laid off all the
temporary and permanent employees because of lack of work.
In these circumstances, we shall direct that an election be
held among the employees in the appropriate unit who are
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the
date of the issuance of the notice of election at a time when
the Regional Director determines that the Employer has re-
sumed operations with a representative number of employees.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
2 The Employer's contract with the intervenor provides that "employment will be con-
sidered temporary for a maximum term of 12 months of continuous employment." This con-
tract is not urged as a bar to this proceeding.
sOcala Star Banner, 97 NLRB 348.
4As an alternative to its contention that temporary employees should not be permitted to
vote, the intervenor suggests that eligibility be determined by the payroll period ending prior
to January 1953. We find that the use of the eligibility period prescribed above will best
effectuate the purposes of the Act.