The Association of Motion Picture Producers, Inc., et al.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 14, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1097 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of THE ASSOCIATION OF MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS,
INC., ET AL., ,EMPLOYERS and INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THE-
ATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES AND MOVING PICTURE OPERATORS OF THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADA, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 21-RC-728
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 1950
Pursuant to a Decision, Direction of Election, and Order- issued
by this Board on December 15, 1949, an election by secret ballot was
conducted on January 6, 1950, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region, among the
employees in the unit found appropriate in said Decision.
Following the election the parties were furnished a Tally of Ballots
which shows that there were approximately 133 eligible voters, ' and
that 130 valid ballots were cast, of which 62 were for the Petitioner,
64 were for the Intervenor,2 1 was cast against the participating labor
organizations, and 3 were challenged. The number of challenged
ballots was sufficient to affect the results of the election.
On January 12, 1950, the Petitioner filed a "Statement of Objections
to Representation Election," and thereafter the Intervenor filed a
reply thereto.
Thereafter, the Regional Director investigated the issues raised by
the challenges and objections and on January 23, 1950, issued a
Report on Challenges and Objections to Election. The Petitioner
filed timely exceptions to the Regional Director's Report in its entirety.
The Intervenor filed exceptions to the failure of the Regional Director
to make a, recommendation in his Report concerning the disposition
of two of the challenged ballots. On February 10, 1950, the Petitioner
filed a motion before the Board on the issues raised by its exceptions
to the Regional Director's Report.
137 NLRB 657.
2 Screen Publicists Guild.
88 NLRB No. 240.
1097
1098 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog 3 and Members
Reynolds and Murdock].
The Petitioner's Objections, the Regional Director's Report, the
.exceptions of the Petitioner and the Intervenor , and the substantive
material contained in the Petitioner 's Motion for Hearing, in our
opinion, adequately present the issues and the positions of the parties.
Accordingly, the Petitioner's request for oral hearing is hereby denied.
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
Objection 1: The Petitioner contends that the name of Harry Loud
was improperly added to the eligibility list on the date of the election.
The Petitioner also contends that his ballot was not challenged because
the Petitioner 's first choice of an observer at the election had been im-
properly rejected thereby necessitating the substitution of an unin-
formed observer . The Regional Director found that Harry Loud's
employer inadvertently left his name off the eligibility list and that
the Petitioner was not in any way limited in its selection of observers
so as to prejudice its right to challenge Loud's or any other voter's
ballot. He further found that the Petitioner 's final observer was
aware of the addition of Loud's name to the eligibility list and was in-
formed of his right to challenge Loud's ballot . In excepting to the
Regional Director 's findings , the Petitioner merely repeats the sub-
stance of the objection , noting that the Regional Director failed to find
that Loud was an eligible voter.
In essence , this objection is in the nature of a post-election challenge.,
As it does not appear that the Petitioner 's right to challenge was in
any manner prejudiced by the rejection of its initial choice of observer,
we find no merit to this objection as it is ,well established that the
Board need not entertain post-election challenges 4
Objection ? : The Petitioner contends that certain of the Employers
knowingly and wrongfully neglected to place the names of certain pub-
licists, including the names of Edith Lynch and Frank McFadden, on
the eligibility list, and that these two named publicists did not appear
at the election to cast ballots as they feared such action would cause
loss of their employment . The Regional Director found that the elec-
tion was adequately publicized and that in accord with usual election
procedure , it was incumbent upon any employee to assert his eligibility.
He further found that there was no evidence that either Lynch or
McFadden was subjected to any coercion . No unfair labor practice
charge has been filed with respect to this alleged coercion . The peti-
3 Chairman Herzog took no part in the consideration of this case.
4 A. J. Tower Co ., 60 NLRB 1414, enfd. 329 U. S. 324.
THE ASSOCIATION OF MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS, INC. 1099'
tioner excepts to these findings contending that publication of notices
is no warrant for believing that all eligible voters had knowledge of
the election and that the charges of coercion with respect to Lynch
and McFadden could not be thoroughly investigated by questioning
only these employees-the course taken by the Regional Director. We
find that this objection raises no substantial or material issue and in
accordance with the Regional Director's recommendation, we shall
overrule this objection.
Objection 3: This objection relates to °the ballot cast by Martin
Lewis, which was challenged by the Intervenor on the ground that
Lewis is a supervisor. The Regional Director found that Lewis is a
supervisor within the meaning of the Act and recommended that the
challenge be sustained and the ballot not opened. As no exception has
been filed, we hereby adopt the Regional Director's finding and rec-
ommendation concerning this ballot.
In substance, however, the Petitioner contends that after the elec-
tion it discovered that many other individuals who were on the eligi-
bility list and who voted were, like Lewis, supervisors but that the
Petitioner was unaware of this at the time of the election, thus de-
priving it of the right to challenge the ballots of such individuals.
The Regional Director found in substance that the Petitioner had
ample time to examine the eligibility lists and ascertain the status of
all employees contained thereon, as the Petitioner was furnished copies.
of the eligibility lists more than a week before the date of the election.
Contrary to the position taken by the Petitioner in its exceptions, we
are of the opinion that 1-week advance notice of the eligibility list is
sufficient. Accordingly, we hereby overrule this objection.
Objection %: The Petitioner contends that the Board agent erred in
challenging the ballots of two employees employed by Samuel Gold-
wyn Productions, Inc., hereinafter called Goldwyn. These ballots,
were challenged because some doubt existed at the time of the election-
as to whether or not Goldwyn's employees were eligible to vote. As
reported by the Regional Director, the undisputed facts pertaining to
Goldwyn are as follows. Goldwyn was a member of The Association
of Motion Picture Producers, Inc., hereinafter referred to as the Asso-
ciation, and was one of the Employers included in the petition filed
herein for an Association-wide unit of publicists, which unit was found
appropriate by the Board in its Decision issued on December 16, 1949.
However, on January 17, 1949, Goldwyn had given notice of intention
to terminate such membership, and the termination became effective
and final on July 17, 1949, shortly after the close of the hearing in this
matter. As Goldwyn was not a member of the Association at the time
1100 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Board issued its Decision, it is clear that Goldwyn was improperly
included in the Association-wide unit,5 especially as it had taken no
position with respect to its placement in a multiple-employer unit.e
Accordingly, we hereby amend the description of the appropriate unit
in this case by striking therefrom "Samuel Goldwyn, doing business
as Samuel Goldwyn Studios."
As Goldwyn was not one of the Employers whose employees were
included in the appropriate unit, Goldwyn's employees were not eligi-
ble to vote. We therefore sustain the challenges to the ballots cast by
the two publicists employed by Goldwyn and order that those ballots
not be opened.
As we have sustained the challenges to the -three challenged ballots,
the Tally of Ballots shows that the Intervenor has received a majority
of the valid vQtes cast in the election. We shall therefore certify the
Intervenor as the collective bargaining representative of the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit, as amended herein.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Screen Publicists Guild has been desig-
nated and selected by a majority of the employees in the following
appropriate unit-all publicists, that is, those persons who create or
disseminate advertising or publicity for promotion of motion picture
stars, motion pictures, or studios, employed in the State of California
by the following Employers who are members of the Association of
Motion Picture Producers, Inc., namely, Columbia Pictures Corpora-
tion, Loew's Incorporated, Paramount Pictures, Inc., R K 0 Radio
Pictures, Inc., Republic Productions, Inc., Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.,
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., and Universal Pictures Com-
pany, Inc., but excluding all other employees, professional employees,
guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act-as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining and that pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the Act, as amended, the said organization is the ex-
clusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages,
hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.
Associated Shoe Industries of Southeastern Massachusetts, Inc., et al ., 81 NLRB 224.
See the Decision in the present case where we stated that it would be impossible to make
a multiple unit finding with respect to the independent producers "because of the failure
of some of the Independents to take a position with respect to such a unit."