The Independent Motion Picture Producers Association

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 20, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1285 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of THE INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS
ASSOCIATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS AFFILIATED THEREWITH ; '
THE SOCIETY OF INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS AND THE
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS AFFILIATED THEREWITH; 2 AND INDIVIDUAL UN-
AFFILIATED MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS,3 EMPLOYERS and INTERNA-
TIONAL ALLIANCE OF THEATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES AND MOTION PIC-
TURE OPERATORS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, A. F. L.,
PETITIONER
Case No. 21-RC-776.-Decided .March 20, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this case was held on January
10, and 12, 1950, before Eugene M. Purver, hearing officer. The
hearing officer's rulings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
:affirmed.
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 [Members Houston, Reynolds, and
Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employers are engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The Petitioner is a labor. organization within the meaning of
the Act.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employers, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties agree that the appropriate bargaining unit should
be composed of all set decorators,' excluding all other employees and
supervisors.
1 Herein called the Independent Producers . See Appendix for list of member companies.
2 Herein called the Society . See Appendix for list of member companies.
a Herein called the Unaffiliated Producers . See Appendix for list of companies involved.
Set decorators, as the record discloses , are engaged in a highly specialized occupation
in the motion picture industry. They function essentially in conjunction with the art
director to conform the architectural background to the script , and possess an intimate
88 NLRB No. 214. 1285
1286 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The sole issue herein pertains to the scope of the unit. The Peti-
tioner requests a single multiple-employer unit to include all the
motion picture producing companies in the industry, with the excep-
tion of those companies who are members of the Association of Mo-
tion Picture Producers, Inc., herein called the Major Producers, as,
to whom 'the Board found appropriate in earlier proceedings a sep-
arate association-wide unit.5 No opposition to the proposed unit was.
indicated at the hearing by either the Independent Producers or the
Unaffiliated Producers; the Society subscribed to the unit position of
the Petitioner.
The alleged basis for the Petitioner's unit request is, the fact that.
there are only a limited number of set decorators, i. e., approximately
20, available as a common pool for all of the companies involved
in this proceeding. The record shows that rarely is more than a single.
set decorator employed by any one of these companies and that such
employment continues only du*ring=the actual production of a picture,
which is generally of brief duration.
Although the bargaining history with respect to set decorators
reveals that the ywere bargained for on a multiple-employer basis
by the Major Producers,, and the resultant contract was generally
adopted by the other .producers in the industry, there is no evidence
,of participation in. joint bargaining .on the part. of the latter com-
panies as a group. Such evidence would support the Petitioner's unit
.positions , '
The unit sought by the Petitioner constitutes, in effect, a residual
industry-wide unit which: excludes the Major Producers.' We have
previously rejected a request for a unit covering the entire industry
based upon similar contentions." The members of the Independent
Producers and of the Society, respectively, have been certified by. the
Board as separate association-wide units embracing other categories
of employees 9 We shall therefore adhere to our practice of following
the pattern of multiple-employer bargaining as to these two groups.1°
In the absence of a history of participation in joint bargaining ne-
gotiations on the part of the. Unaffiliated Producers, separate units
knowledge, inter alia, of furniture, draperies , carpets, china, glass, linens, silver, and
other correlated matter.
B Columbia Pictures Corporation , et at ., 61 NLRB 1030; 64 NLRB 490; 81 NLRB 1313.
0 Associated Shoe Industries of Southern Massachusetts , Inc., et at ., 81 NLRB 224.
We note that in the earlier cases involving the Major Producers, cited supra, note 5,
the Petitioner made no contention for an industry -wide unit of set decorators.
8 Association of Motion Picture Producers , Inc., et at ., 88 NLRB 521 . It does not
appear to be uncommon in the motion picture industry for the producing companies to
engage particular classifications of employees on a temporary and sporadic basis and to
draw such employees from a common labor pool. See also Association of Motion Picture
Producers, Inc., et at ., 87 NLRB 657.
0 Association of Motion Picture Producers , Inc., et at., 88 NLRB 521.
10 Columbia Pictures Corporation , et at., 84 NLRB 647.
THE INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE PRO'DUCE'RS ASSN. 1287
for each of these companies would ordinarily be appropriate. How-
fever, in view of the clear indication in the record that none of the
Unaffiliated Producers employs more than one set decorator at a time,
the petition as to these companies is hereby dismissed, in accordance
with our policy of holding inappropriate one-man units.-
Accordingly, we find that all set decorators employed by the Em-
ployers in the Employer groups set forth below, excluding all other
employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors, consti-
tute separate units appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: 12
(1) Members of the Independent Producers (listed in the
Appendix).
(2) Members of the Society (listed in the Appendix).
5. In view of the relatively brief periods of employment afforded
the set decorators by members of the Independent Producers and the
Society, and the frequent interchange of employment by the set dec-
-orators among these and other companies in the industry,13 we shall
,depart from our usual eligibility rule. We shall direct that a 60-day
eligibility period immediately preceding the date of the elections be
used to determine which of the employees in the appropriate units
.are eligible to vote in the elections. Thus, employees who would
otherwise be eligible to vote will not be disfranchised if, immediately
prior to the elections, they happen to be employed by a producing
,company not involved in the elections.14
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with The Independent Motion Pic-
ture Producers Association and its members, and The Society of Inde-
pendent Motion Picture Producers and its members, elections by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region, and sub-
ject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations, as amended, among the employees in the units
found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were em-
11 Kroger Company, 88 NLRB 194.
12 We do not believe, as was contended at the hearing , that in applying our customary
Principles with respect to the establishment of multiple employer units , the companies
herein will be deprived of the opportunity to draw from a common labor pool of set
decorators, as they have in the past.
is It was testified at the hearing by one set decorator that since 1946 he has worked
for 20 to 24 " independent companies ," and another set decorator testified that during
the past 5 years he was employed by approximately 30 "independent companies ," as well
as by 2 of the Major Producers.
11 See Noreal Packing Company, 76 NLRB 254.
1288 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployed at any time during the 60-day period immediately preceding
the date of the elections, including employees who did not work during
said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated-
prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding employees on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargain-
ing, by International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and.
Motion Picture Operators of the United States and Canada, A. F. L.
APPENDIX
The Independent Producers.-Agay Productions, Inc. ; Albert Coen
Productions ; Belsam Pictures, Inc. ; Boots and Saddles, Inc.; Ed-
ward Finney Productions; Burkett Productions; Monogram Produc-
tions; Cathedral Films, Inc.; Chester Productions; Continental Pic-
tures Corporation; Equity Pictures, Inc.; Esskay Pictures, Tnc ;
Sam Katzman Productions, Inc. ; Kay Pictures, Inc. ; Fortune Filni
Corporation ; Great Western Productions ; Jan Grippo Productions ;
A. W. Hackel Productions; Hygienic Productions, Inc.; King Bros.,.
Inc. ; Max King Productions ; Landres Pictures, Inc. ; Lippert Pro-
ductions, Inc.; Martin Mooney Productions; Neufeld Productions,.
Inc. ; Orbit Pictures, Inc.; Lindsley Parsons; Jack Schwarz Produc-
tions; Screen Guild Productions, Inc.; Supreme Pictures Corpora-
tion ; Vinson Pictures Corporation ; and Emerald Pictures Corpora-
tion.
The Society.-Alcorn Productions; Samuel Bischoff; Benedict
Bogeaus; William Cagney; Lester Cowan; Walt Disney Productions;
Federal Films; Gloria Film Productions, Inc.; Samuel Goldwyn;
Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.; Samuel Goldwyn Studios;
Golden Productions; Stanley Cramer; Sol Lesser; James Nasser;
William and Ed Nassour; Seymore Nebenzahl; Mary Pickford; Al-
bert Rossel; Edward Small; Harry Sherman; Charley Rogers; Hunt-
Stromberg; Vanguard Films, Inc.; Walter Wanger; Jack M. Warner;
Lee Wilder; California Pictures, Inc.; Star Films; Regal Films;
Stiefel Productions; and Nat Holt Productions.-
The Unaffiliated Producers.-Alson Productions, Inc.; Argosy Pic-
tures Corporation; Eagle-Lion Studios, Inc. ; Masque Productions,
Inc.; George Pal Productions, Inc.; Frank Seltzer Productions, Inc.;
Monte Shaff Productions ; Sol M. Wurtzel Productions, Inc. ; Strand-
Milbak-Berthugh.
11 The latter five companies were removed from the list of the Unaffiliated Producers upon
evidence in the record that they are members of the Society.