United Basketball Players Association

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 15, 1989

294 N.L.R.B. 1191 (N.L.R.B. 1989)

BASKETBALL PLAYERS (HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS)
United Basketball Players Association and Harlem
Globetrotters , Inc., a Division of International
Broadcasting Corporation . Cases 31-CB-6816
and 31-CB-6946
June 15, 1989
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN STEPHENS AND MEMBERS
CRACRAFT AND HIGGINS
Upon charges filed by the Employer on October
2, 1986 (amended on October 28 , 1986), and Janu-
ary 30, 1987, the General Counsel of the National
Labor Relations Board issued a second consolidat-
ed amended complaint against the Union , the Re-
spondent , alleging that it has violated Section
8(b)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act.' Al-
though properly served copies of the charge and
complaint , the Respondent has failed to file an
answer.
On February 23, 1989, the General Counsel filed
a Motion for Summary Judgment . On February 27,
1989, the Board issued an order transferring the
proceeding to the Board and a Notice to Show
Cause why the motion should not be granted. The
Respondent filed no response . The allegations in
the motion are therefore undisputed.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegat-
ed its authority in this proceeding to a three-
member panel.
Ruling on Motion for Summary Judgment
Section 102.20 of the Board's Rules and Regula-
tions provides that the allegations in the complaint
shall be deemed admitted if an answer is not filed
within 14 days from service of the complaint,
unless good cause is shown. The complaint states
that unless an answer is filed within 14 days of
service, "all the allegations in the Second Consoli-
dated Amended Complaint shall be deemed to be
admitted to be true and may be so found by the
Board." Further, the undisputed allegations in the
Motion for Summary Judgment disclose that coun-
sel for the General Counsel, by letter dated Janu-
ary 10, 1989, notified the Respondent that unless an
answer was received by January 24, 1989, a
Motion for Summary Judgment would be filed.
' On September 8, 1988, the Respondent and the Employer entered
into an informal settlement agreement in settlement of the captioned
cases That agreement was approved by the Acting Regional Director for
Region 31 on September 13, 1988 Thereafter, the Respondent failed and
refused to comply with the provisions of the agreement By letter dated
November 1, 1988, the Acting Regional Director withdrew his approval
of the settlement agreement and informed the Respondent that the cap-
tioned cases were subject to further proceedings
1191
In the absence of good cause being shown for
the failure to file a timely answer, we grant the
General Counsel's Motion for Summary Judgment.
On the entire record, the Board makes the fol-
lowing
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. JURISDICTION
The Employer, a Delaware corporation, is en-
gaged in the operation of professional basketball
teams at its facility in Hollywood, California. In
the course and conduct of those operations, the
Employer annually sells and ships goods or serv-
ices valued in excess of $50,000 directly to custom-
ers located outside the State of California, and an-
nually derives gross revenues in excess of $500,000.
We find that the Employer is an employer engaged
in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6)
and (7) of the Act and that the Respondent is a
labor organization within the meaning of Section
2(5) of the Act.
II. ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
The Employer and the Respondent were parties
to a collective-bargaining agreement that was effec-
tive from September 1, 1983, to August 31, 1986.
The employees of the Employer described in arti-
cle 1, section 1, and article 2, section 1 of that
agreement constitute a unit appropriate for collec-
tive bargaining under Section 9(b) of the Act.
Since at least 1980, and at all material times, the
Respondent has been the lawfully designated col-
lective-bargaining representative of the employees
of the Employer. Such recognition has been em-
bodied in successive collective-bargaining agree-
ments, the most recent of which has been described
above. At all relevant times, the Respondent, by
virtue of Section 9(a) of the Act, has been and is
the exclusive collective-bargaining representative
of the employees in the unit described above.
At various times during July, August, Septem-
ber, and October 1986, the Employer and the Re-
spondent met to engage in negotiations regarding
wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment of the employees in the unit described
above. During those negotiations, the Respondent
demanded as a condition of consummating any col-
lective-bargaining agreement that the Employer
agree to include the following provisions:
Public Relations. The Company shall have the
right to use [e]mployees to assist and take part
in public relations and other promotional ac-
tivities in a reasonable manner, and the Com-
pany will endeavor to give all of the players a
reasonable opportunity to participate in such
294 NLRB No. 91
1192 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
activities . . . . Whenever the Company re-
ceives compensation for such appearances, the
Company shall pay the [Respondent] and/or
player who appears, one third (1/3) of the pro-
ceeds it receives for such appearances within
ten (10) days of receipt.
Network Television Shows. Whenever a network
television show, such as ABC Wide World of
Sports, is contracted by the Company, then
the [Respondent] shall receive additional com-
pensation over and above the individual con-
tracts of the various employees and said com-
pensation shall be a sum equal to one third
(1/3) of the net revenue generated by such
contract. The one third (1/3) net revenue shall
also be applicable for any second showing of
the network television show for which any ad-
ditional money is received by the Company.
Bonus. Employees shall share and participate
at the end of each regular season in a bonus
fund which shall not be less than One Hun-
dred Fifty Thousand ($150,000.00) Dollars.
The Bonus fund shall be paid directly to . . .
[the Respondent] . . . and . . . [the Respond-
ent] shall distribute the money to the employ-
ees in such proportion as . . . [the Respond-
ent] shall determine.
The provisions demanded by the Respondent as
set forth above, insofar as they would require the
Employer to make payments to the Respondent,
are prohibited by Section 302 of the Act. In fur-
therance and support of those demands, the Re-
spondent bargained to impasse and, about Septem-
ber 17, 1986, engaged in a strike. By demanding as
a condition of consummating any collective-bar-
gaining agreement that the Employer make pay-
ments to the Respondent that are prohibited by
Section 302, and by bargaining to impasse and
striking in support of those demands, the Respond-
ent has violated Section 8(b)(3) of the Act.
Since about November 11, 1986, the Employer
has requested the Respondent to furnish the follow-
ing information, which is relevant and necessary
for the purposes of collective bargaining:
Documents, records or other information indi-
cating (a) the names and addresses of individ-
uals who received payments from the Emer-
gency Relief Fund and Scholarship Funds
during 1983-86, (b) the amounts received by
each individual in either Emergency Relief or
Scholarship Fund payments, (c) whether [the
Respondent] retained any of the Emergency
Relief and/or Scholarship Fund monies, and if
so, for what years and in what amounts, and
(d) the criteria used by [the Respondent] in se-
lecting recipients for these payments.
Since about November 21, 1986 , the Respondent
has failed and refused to furnish to the Employer
the information described above . By failing and re-
fusing to provide that information to the Employer,
the Respondent has violated Section 8(b)(3) of the
Act.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
By demanding, as a condition of consummating
any collective-bargaining agreement, that the Em-
ployer make payments to the Respondent that are
prohibited by Section 302 of the Act, by bargaining
to impasse and striking in support of those de-
mands, and by failing and refusing to provide infor-
mation requested by the Employer that is relevant
and necessary to collective bargaining, the Re-
spondent has failed and refused, and is failing and
refusing, to bargain collectively and in good faith
with the Employer as required by Section 8(d) of
the Act, and thereby has engaged in unfair labor
practices affecting commerce within the meaning
of Section 8(b)(3) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the
Act.
REMEDY
Having found that the Respondent has engaged
in certain unfair labor practices, we shall order it
to cease and desist and to take certain affirmative
action designed to effectuate the policies of the
Act. We shall require the Respondent, on request,
to furnish the Employer with information that is
relevant and necessary to collective bargaining.
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board orders that
the Respondent, United Basketball Players Associa-
tion, Detroit, Michigan, its officers, agents, and
representatives, shall
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Demanding , as a condition to consummating
any collective-bargaining agreement, that Harlem
Globetrotters, Inc., a Division of International
Broadcasting Corporation (the Employer) make
payments to the Respondent that are prohibited by
Section 302 of the Act, and bargaining to impasse
and striking in support of such demands.
(b) Failing and refusing to furnish the Employer
with information that is relevant and necessary to
collective bargaining.
(c) In any like or related manner restraining or
coercing employees in the exercise of the rights
guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act.'
BASKETBALL PLAYERS (HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS)
2. Take the following affirmative action neces-
sary to effectuate the policies of the Act.
(a) On request , furnish the Employer with infor-
mation that is relevant and necessary to collective
bargaining . Specifically , the Respondent shall, on
request , furnish the Employer with documents,
records, or other information indicating the names
and addresses of individuals who received pay-
ments from the Emergency Relief Fund and Schol-
arship Funds during 1983-1986; the amounts re-
ceived by each individual ; whether the Respondent
retained any moneys from either fund and, if so,
for what years and in what amounts; and the crite-
ria used by the Respondent in selecting recipients
for such payments.
(b) Post at its facility in Detroit , Michigan,
copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix."2
Copies of the notice , on forms provided by the Re-
gional Director for Region 31, after being signed
by the Respondent 's authorized representative,
shall be posted by the Respondent immediately
upon receipt and maintained for 60 consecutive
days in conspicuous places including all places
where notices to employees and members are cus-
tomarily posted . Reasonable steps shall be taken by
the Respondent to ensure that the notices are not
altered , defaced , or covered by any other material.
2If this Order is enforced by a judgment of a United States court of
appeals, the words imthe notice reading "Posted by Order of the Nation-
al Labor Relations Board" shall read "Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of
the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National
Labor Relations Board "
1193
(c) Notify the Regional Director in writing
within 20 days from the date of this Order what
steps the Respondent has taken to comply.
APPENDIX
NOTICE To EMPLOYEES AND MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
The National Labor Relations Board has found
that we violated the National Labor Relations Act
and has ordered us to post and abide by this notice.
WE WILL NOT demand , as a condition to con-
summating any collective-bargaining agreement,
that Harlem Globetrotters , Inc., a Division of
International Broadcasting Corporation (the Em-
ployer), make payments that are prohibited by Sec-
tion 302 of the Labor-Management Relations Act,
as amended , and WE WILL NOT bargain to impasse
or strike in support of such demands.
WE WILL NOT fail and refuse to furnish the Em-
ployer with information that is relevant and neces-
sary to collective bargaining.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner re-
strain or coerce you in the exercise of the rights
guaranteed you by Section 7 of the Act.
WE WILL, on request, furnish the Employer with
information that is relevant and necessary to collec-
tive bargaining.
UNITED BASKETBALL PLAYERS ASSO-
CIATION