The Catholic Bishop of Chicago

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 16, 1975

220 N.L.R.B. 359 (N.L.R.B. 1975)

CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CHICAGO
The Catholic Bishop of Chicago , A Corporation Sole
and Quigley Education Association , an affiliate of
Illinois Education Association, Petitioner. Case
13-RC-13402
September 16, 1975
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS , AND PENELLO
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a
hearing was held before Hearing Officer Katherine
Gerstenberger. After the hearing and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8 , as amended,
and by direction of the Regional Director for Region
13, this proceeding was transferred to the Board for
decision. Thereafter the Employer and the Petitioner
filed briefs in support of their respective positions.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free
from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the
Board finds:
1. The Petitioner seeks to represent certain lay
professional employees of two private religiously ori-
ented high schools Quigley North and Quigley South,
located within the Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois.
The schools are operated by the Archbishop of Chi-
cago who designates and appoints the rectors of each
school. Both schools are situated within the city of
Chicago, Quigley North and Quigley South being so
designated northern and the other in the southern
portions of the city.
The Employer contends (1) that the schools in-
volved herein are minor seminary schools operating
independently of each other and beyond the Board's
purview, and (2) that assertion of jurisdiction would
constitute an impermissible entanglement between
the State and Church. The Board's policy is to de-
cline jurisdiction over religiously sponsored organiza-
tions "only when they are completely religious, not
just religiously associated." 2 We find no merit in the
contention or that the two schools involved are mi-
The Employer filed a motion for oral argument which is hereby denied,
as the record and briefs adequately present the issues and positions of the
parties.
Z Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archdiocesan High Schools,
216 NLRB No. 54 (1975).
359
nor seminary schools and therefore "completely" re-
ligious.
The record shows that prior to 1970 admissions to
the schools were limited to boys 12 or 13 years of age
who had a positive desire to be priests. On October 5,
1970, the Archbishop adopted a broader admissions
policy opening the schools to students not exhibiting
a positive desire to be priests, who in the judgment of
their parish priests, had "the kind of character, abili-
ty and termperament which might lead to the person-
al discovery of a vocation to the priesthood." While
this policy reflects the desires of the Church to admit
those who might adopt the vocation of the priest-
hood, the record clearly shows that the two Quigley
schools in reality operate primarily as college prepa-
ratory schools within the class over which the Board
has heretofore asserted jurisdiction. The schools hold
themselves out to potential students as "a secondary
school . . . to educate young men of quality charac-
ter, idealism, and intelligence for dedicated Christian
lives of service to others, including, hopefully, voca-
tions for many to the priesthood and religious life."
At another point, the schools' literature describes
Quigley South as "a metropolitan, contemporary,
college preparatory, seminary high school." The
schools also point out to the potential students that
the overwhelming number of their graduates matri-
culate at either their first or second choice of col-
leges. Notwithstanding the numbr of graduates who
advance into higher education, the record shows that
of those students who enrolled prior to the 1970
change in admissions only 25-30 percent of the grad-
uates matriculate at Niles College, the Diocesan
Seminary College. As to the 1974 graduating class,
the most recent prior to the hearing, only 16 percent
of the class went on to Niles College. In addition to
the fact that the academic curriculum is similar to
that of other high schools, both private and public,
the Quigley schools also maintain a substantial num-
ber of extracurricular activities including interschool
sports and intramural activities similar to those en-
gaged in by students in other high schools. In these
circumstances, we find that the Quigley schools,
while religiously associated, are not completely reli-
gious, and are of the type over which the Board has
asserted jurisdiction.
The Employer also contends that the two schools
are operated independently of each other and that,
inasmuch as neither school has gross income in ex-
cess of $1 million, jurisdiction should not be asserted
herein. The record shows that each of these schools is
under the immediate direction of a rector appointed
by and responsible to the Archbishop and neither
school is accountable to or under the jurisdiction of
the Archdiocesan school board. The curriculum of
220 NLRB No. 63
360 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
each is basically the same, the conditions of employ-
ment of the lay teachers including fringe benefits are
identical, and, unlike the other parochial schools
within the Archdiocese, the Archbishop's office pro-
vides direct financial assistance to the operating costs
of. the two schools, approves their budgets, and ad-
ministers or oversees the administration of all funds
for the schools. While the two schools operate with a
degree of independence from each other, the record
clearly shows that the basic functions of both schools
are carried out under a specifically circumscribed
program emanating from the Archbishop's office and
that Quigley South is an offshoot or extension of
Quigley North. We therefore conclude that the two
schools operate as an integrated enterprise and may
be considered as such for the purposes of assertion of
the Board's jurisdiction.' As the operating budgets of
the two schools total in excess of $1 million, and the
dollar value of purchases received from outside the
State of Illinois exceeds $65,000, we find that it will
effectuate the purposes of the Act. to assert jurisdic-
tion in this proceeding.
2. The labor organization involved claims to rep-
resent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of employees of the Employer
within the meaning of Sections 2(6) and (7) and
9(c)(1) of the Act.
4. During the course of the hearing, the parties
stipulated with certain reservations that the appropri-
ate unit should include all full-time and regular part-
time lay teachers including physical education teach-
ers, employed at the Quigley Schools; and excluding
rectors, procurators, dean of studies, business man-
ager, director of student activities, director of forma-
tion, director of counseling services, office clerical
employees, maintenance employees, cafeteria. work-
ers, watchmen, librarians, nurses, all religious facul-
ty, and all guards and supervisors as defined in the
Act. The Employer would exclude department chair-
men on the ground that they are supervisors. Peti-
tioner contends that they should be ,included in the
unit.
The record shows that the faculty members of each
department elect on an annual basis the department
chairman. The term is for 1 year with the right of
succession. The chairmen receive no extra pay or
other benefits as a result of the position and general-
ly maintain their normal teaching hours. Although
they interview new applicants for teaching jobs with-
in their departments, this interviewing generally ap-
pears to be on a "peer group" basis with other mem-
bers of the department talking to the applicant and
3 See Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore,. Archdiocesan High
Schools, supra.
_.
the resulting recommendation representing a consen-
sus of the department's faculty opinion. The record
also shows that, although recommendations are
made to the dean of studies, the ultimate decision as
to hiring is made by the rector after consultation with
the dean of studies and the director of formation,
and without the presence of the department chair-
man. As to discipline and discharge, there is nothing
in the record to show that the department chairmen
have disciplined or reprimanded other faculty mem-
bers or that they have recommended that any mem-
bers be disciplined or reprimanded, and, as to dis-
charge, the record shows that one department
chairman recommended annually that the contract
of one member of the faculty-not be renewed which
recommendations were rejected. In addition, the rec-
ord does not support the Employer's contention that
the department chairmen prepare departmental bud-
gets, select textbooks, disburse department funds, or
evaluate teachers within the department. Rather, the
record shows that the department chairmen are in
reality coordinators of their departments, acting as
liaison between the faculty members of their depart-
ments and the administration. In these circum-
stances, including the fact that they receive no addi-
tional compensation for their status as department
chairmen, and continue to carry their regular teach-
ing loads, we find that they are not supervisors with-
in the meaning of the Act and shall, accordingly, in-
clude them in the unit.4
We find that the following employees of the Em-
ployer-The Catholic Bishop of Chicago, A Corpo-
ration Sole-have a sufficient community'of interest
to constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All full-time and regular part-time lay teachers
including physical education teachers employed
by the Employer at the Quigley North and Quig-
ley South Schools, Chicago, Illinois, excluding
rectors, procurators, dean of studies, business
manager, director.of student activities, director
of formation, director of counseling services, of-
fice clerical employees, maintenance employees,
cafeteria workers, watchmen, librarians, nurses,
all religious faculty, and all guards and supervi-
sors as defined in the Act.
[Direction of Election 5 and Excelsior footnote om-
itted from publication.]
Florida Southern College, 196 NLRB 888 (1972). During the course of
the hearing, the parties stipulated that the athletic director at Quigley South
was not a supervisor.
We leave the setting of the date for the election to the discretion of the
Regional Director in consultation with the parties in view of the special
considerations involved in'conducting elections at educational, institutions.