The Julliard School

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 7, 1974

208 N.L.R.B. 152 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

152 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Juilliard School and Theatrical Costume, Ladies'
Tailors, Custom Dress & Alteration Workers'
Union, Local 38, I.L.G.W.U., Petitioner. Case
2--RC-16154
January 7, 1974
DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, KENNEDY, 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 Clifford P.
Chalet. Following the hearing, and pursuant to
Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of
Procedures, Series 8, as amended, by direction of the
Regional Director for Region 2, the case was
transferred to the Board for decision.'
Briefs were filed by the Juilliard School, herein
referred to as the Employer,2 and Theatrical Cos-
tume, Ladies' Tailors, Custom Dress & Alteration
Workers' Union, Local 38, I.L.G.W.U.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
The Petitioner seeks to represent certain employees
of the Employer. The Employer urges the Board to
dismiss the petition on the grounds that the unit
requested is inappropriate.
The Employer is an educational corporation and
maintains its principal office in New York City. It
has more than 1,400 students enrolled in its program.
As a function of its educational programs, the
Employer presents certain operatic, musical, dance,
and dramatic productions. To assist in these pro-
ductions the Employer employs personnel in its stage
department, which consists of an electrical shop,
carpentry shop, property shop, and costume shop.
The Petitioner requests a unit of all employees
engaged in the manufacture, repair, and alteration of
costumes.3 The Petitioner contends that the costume
employees requested are a homogeneous group,
located on a floor separate from other stage
department employees, separately supervised, and
having a strong community of interest separate and
1 This case was considered with Case 2-RC-16037, which involves this
Employer A petition was filed seeking a unit of stage department
employees other than those sought herein
2 The Employer has requested oral argument This request is hereby
apart from all other employees. It further contends
that this group is traditionally represented separately
from stagehands for collective-bargaining purposes,
frequently in outside shops patronized by most
theatres. The costume employees are hired by the
supervisor and work as long as there is work for them
to do.
The Employer argues that the employees sought
are casuals and a sufficient nucleus of employees is
absent due to the lack of a continuing employment
relationship. In addition, the Employer contends that
the only appropriate unit should include all electri-
cians, carpenters, property men, and costume em-
ployees. All these employees, the Employer argues,
constitute a homogeneous group working under one
roof and performing interrelated tasks.
Unlike commercial theatres, the Employer houses
four shops in its stage department. The employees of
these shops constitute a homogeneous group. They
are hired on a need basis for a production presented
in adjunct to the Employer's educational function.
They are paid on an hourly basis, work the same
hours, use some of the same equipment, and work
together in close proximity during rehearsal and
performance time. They all receive free tickets to the
Employer's productions and have access to the
school's eating and locker facilities, as well as the
music and reading libraries. All have I.D. cards
stamped "Temporary Employees."
The evidence of past collective bargaining in the
industry pertains to commercial theatre operations
unlike, for the most part, the Employer's nonprofit
educational program. In addition, there is no
evidence of craft skills, and it does not appear that
this is a department to which the Board has
traditionally granted separate representation.
For the reasons set forth herein and in the Decision
and Direction of Election, in Case 2-RC-16037, we
find the unit petitioned for to be inappropriate and
we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition herein be, and
it hereby is, dismissed.
MEMBER FANNING, dissenting:
For reasons set forth in my dissent in Case
2-RC-16037, I dissent from the dismissal of the
petition in this case.
denied as the record and briefs adequately present the issues and positions
of the parties
' The parties agree that students so employed are to be excluded.
208 NLRB No. 18