The Prophet Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 4, 1965

150 N.L.R.B. 1559 (N.L.R.B. 1965)

THE PROPHET CO. ' 1559
The Prophet Co. and Bartenders, Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe-
teria Employees, Local Union No . 453, Petitioner . Case No.
30-RC-107. February 4, 1965
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer- John F.
troth. The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing' 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 [Chairman McCulloch and Members
Brown and Jenkins].
Upon the entire record in this case, including the brief filed by the
Employer, the Board makes the following findings :
The Petitioner seeks to represent certain cafeteria employees work-
ing in the food service facilities operated by the Employer at White-
water State University, in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The Employer
urges the Board to'dismiss the petition on jurisdictional grounds.
Whitewater State University is a nonprofit, educational institution
operated by the State of Wisconsin, with approximately 4,800 students.
The University originally operated its own small dining facility
(capacity of 50 to 60), but since 1959 this has been expanded to include
two cafeterias and a snackbar which are now operated by the Em-
ployer, a nationwide food service management concern. These facili-
ties are for the exclusive use of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni
of the' University, and are not open to the public, although the Em-
ployer sometimes makes its catering service available to outside organi-
zations as a service to, and with the approval of, the University. No
comparable eating facilities are available to the students within a
reasonable distance of the campus.
Almost one-half of the students reside in State-owned housing
units located on the campus, and are required by the University to
subscribe to a board plan whereby they pay the school a set fee which
entitles them to a certain number of meals per week at the cafeterias.
This board plan is also available on a voluntary basis to students who
do not reside in the State-owned units. During the first semester of
the 1964 school year, a total of 2,048 students in both categories
signed meal contracts with the University pursuant to this arrange-
ment. The snackbar operates strictly on a cash basis. Cash pur-
chases may also be made by nonsubscribers to the board plan in the
two cafeterias.
150 NLRB No. 151.
1560 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The largest share of the Employer's income is derived from the
University, which pays it a fixed fee for each student enrolled in the
board plan and receives 16 percent of cash purchases. Most of the
Employer's transactions are tied to the student-board arrangement.
During a typical week, 79 percent of the Employer's sales are made
under student meal contracts; 1 percent are made in the cafeterias
through cash sales; 15 percent through cash sales in the snack-
bar; and 5 percent through special catering services to campus
organizations.
All the fixed equipment and nonperishable goods used in the dining
facilities are supplied and owned by the University. The Employer
owns and controls only the perishable food items required in its daily
operations.
Under the Employer's contract with the Board of Regents of State
Colleges of Wisconsin, the University retains certain supervisory con-
trols over the Employer's operations. The Employer has agreed to
comply with all rules and regulations of the University; to keep its
service open and to maintain adequate service at such hours as the
University and the Employer may from time to time mutually deter-
mine; to submit menus for approval by the University at least 1 week
in advance; to use necessary student help at the campus student wage
scale; and to assign to duty only employees acceptable to the
University.
A similar fact situation was presented to the Board in Crotty
Brothers, N.Y., Inc., 146 NLRB 755, where a union sought to repre-
sent food service employees employed by Crotty at eating facilities
located at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. The Board declined
to assert jurisdiction over Crotty's food service operation since it was
intimately tied to the educational purposes of the nonprofit college.
For the reasons stated by the Board in Crotty, we find that it would
not effectuate the purposes of the Act for the Board to assert juris-
diction here. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Insurance Workers
International Union , AFL-CIO. Case No. 1-CA-4745. Febru-
ary 5, 1965
DECISION AND ORDER
On December 22, 1964, Trial Examiner Harold X. Summers issued
his Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the
Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor
150 NLRB No. 153.