Desilu Productions, Inc.

DESILU PRODUCTIONS, INC 179 ARTICLE III: UNION MEMBERSHIP Upon compliance with the requirements of Section 8 (a) (3) (i) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, as amended, or upon a change in the law eliminating such requirements, good standing membership in the Union shall be a condition of employment for all employees* on and after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such employment but not before completion of the worker's trial period. (* who are included in the bargaining unit). This provision could be interpreted to mean that employees who had been hired before the date of the contract were subject to discharge forthwith for nonmembership in the Union. How- ever, we do not believe that the wording of the provision makes such interpretation logically imperative, for it could as well be argued that the time limitation of the clause is applicable to new employees only. Because we, like the hearing officer, believe the union-security clause is ambiguous, we shall examine the testimony of the parties so as to determine the meaning of the clause, as well as the practice under it.4 The union representative who negotiated the contract testified that the union-security clause was not intended to apply to employees employed before the date of the contract. The Employer testified that he was under the impression that such employees were permitted 30 days in which to join the Union. In any event, no attempt has been made to enforce the union- security clause. On these facts, we conclude that the contract did not deprive employees employed before the contract date of the 30-day grace period required by Section 8 (a) (3) of the Act. We, therefore, find that the union-security clause is not unlawful. In view of the foregoing and upon the entire record in this case, we find that the contract is a bar to an election at this time. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition. [The Board dismissed the petition.] 4Bath Iron Works Corporation, 101 NLRB 181. DESILU PRODUCTIONS, INC.' and TELEVISION WRITERS OF AMERICA, Petitioner. Case No. 21-RC-2847. July 15, 1953 DECISION AND ORDER Upon consolidated petitions' duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held com- 1 Name appears as amended at the hearing. 2 This case was consolidated at the first hearing with Cases Nos. 21-RC-2782. 21-RC-2791, 21-RC-2872, and 21-RC-2849 reported as National Broadcasting Company, Inc., et al., 104 NLRB 587. 106 NLRB No. 26. 322615 0 - 54 - 13 180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD mencing on December 11, 1952, before Norman H. Greer, hearing officer. On March 24, 1953, the Board issued its Order severing this case from the others with which it had bees heard, reopening the record for the taking of further evidence, and remanding it to the Region for the purpose of further hearing. Such further hearing was held commencing on April 21, 1953, before Ben Grodsky, hearing officer. The hearing officers' rulings made at the hearings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.I Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Murdock, Styles, and Peterson]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean- ing of the Act. 2. The labor organizations4 involved claim to represent em- ployees of the Employer. 3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the mean- ing of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following reasons: The Employer and Intervenor contend that the petition should be dismissed, because the Petitioner is not qualified to repre- sent employees of the Employer due to the participation of Jess Oppenheimer, an alleged supervisor, in the Petitioner's affairs. The evidence shows that Oppenheimer is employed byDesilu as head writer and producer of its filmed weekly television show, "I Love Lucy." There are two other writers employed by Desilu for "I Love Lucy" who, with Oppenheimer, write all the scripts for "I Love Lucy." As head writer, Oppen- heimer has control over the story line of each script and edits its final draft before it is submitted for production. In this capacity he also determines the number of casual actors who will be required by the script in addition to the show's regular actors. It is clear that in this capacity Oppenheimer responsibly directs the activities of the other writers. As producer, Oppenheimer organizes the production in preparation for the filming of each script. He directs and coordinates the activi- ties of the prop man, wardrobe lady, assistant director, and art director. At the first reading of the script, he makes changes in the script. He hires casual actors who appear in only a single show. After each show is filmed he participates in the editing and checking of the final print. Desi Arnaz, owner and executive producer of the show, also participates in many of Oppenheimer's activities as producer. It is clear SAt the first hearing, the hearing officer rejected an offer of proof by the Intervenor pertaining to the activities of Jess Oppenheimer in the formation and organization of the Petitioner. Inasmuch as this evidence was admitted at the second hearing, there was no prejudicial error. 4 Authors League of America intervened on behalf of itself and the Screen Writers Guild on the basis of a current showing of interest. DESILU PRODUCTIONS, INC 181 from the foregoing, and we find, that Oppenheimer is a super- visor within the meaning of the Act. On August 15, 1952, Oppenheimer attended a meeting of the Radio Writers Guild at which he spoke in favor of forming a new organization to represent television writers and indicated that he would be willing to join such an organization . Carroll and Pugh, the other two writers for "I Love Lucy," were also present at the meeting. At the close of the regular meeting, and after Oppenheimer left, a rump meeting was held of those television writers interested in such an organization. As a result of the meeting, Charles Isaacs set about investigating the interest of the television writers in a new organization. He arranged a luncheon meeting for August 28, 1952, to which he invited 30 to 35 writers. Oppenheimer was among those in- vited, as were Carroll and Pugh towhomthe invitation was de- livered by Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer testified that between August 15 and August 28, he spoke to Isaacs on several occa- sions about the proposed organization, discussing with him principally as he put it, "How do we do it.-5 At the August 28 meeting , the formation of the new organization was discussed further and the predominant sentiment of those present favored its formation. Anumber of the writers present, including Oppen- heimer, spoke infavor of it. Carroll and Pugh were among those present. At the meeting, membership cards which had been printed in advance were passed among those present. Both Oppenheimer and Carroll signed cards and paidtheir 10-dollar initiation fee at that time. Pugh took her card with her and mailed it back with a 10-dollar check within the next few days. On September 11, 1952, a formal meeting of the Petitioner was held which Oppenheimer did not attend. However, at that meeting he was elected vice president of the Petitioner for a term running until the first annual meeting scheduled for December. As an officer, he also became a member of the executive board. Dur- ing October, Oppenheimer attended a meeting of the Screen Writers Guild at which he represented the Petitioner and attempted to bring about an understanding between the two groups as to their respective jurisdictions. On November 8, 1952, a letter was sent out by the Petitioner to television writers over the signature of Oppenheimer, among other officers, setting forth its position and concluding with the following paragraph: We believe that these facts support our stand that a television writers guild is the best way to bargain for TV writers. If you agree with us, we ask you to join the Television Writers of America. The struggle for better TV working conditions is a fight that will be won by all writers, or lost by a few. If you elect to sit this one out, the only winner will be the employer. slsaacs testified that he only recalled speaking to Oppenheimer once during this period about the organization and on that occasion solely for the purpose of inviting Oppenheimer to the meeting. We accept Oppenheimer's version 182 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD On December 16, 1952, new officers were elected and Oppen- heimer was replaced as vice president. However, he was elected to the executive board of which he is still a member. He was also appointed to several committees of the Petitioner since its formation including the strategy committee, principles com- mittee, liaison committee, finance committee, and membership committee. The evidence also shows that Oppenheimer has regularly paid quarterly dues of $56 to the Petitioner and, in addition, advanced $100 to be applied to dues at his option in the future, and that he has contributed to the Petitioner $15 for an advertisement and $ 10 for a book of raffle tickets. Petitioner contends that, notwithstanding the above facts which it admits to be substantially true, Oppenheimer's activi- ties were not such as to disqualify it from representing em- ployees of Desilu. Petitioner cites the fact that Oppenheimer's attendance at various membership , executive board, and com- mittee meetings was irregular , and, particularly , that there is no evidence that Oppenheimer directly approached any em- ployees of Desilu and solicited their memberships . However, it is not disputed that both Pugh and Carroll were present at the Radio Writers Guild meeting and at the August 28 meeting, where Oppenheimer spoke in favor of a new organization. On these facts, we find that Carroll and Pugh were, in effect, solicited by Oppenheimer to join TWA. Considering Oppen- heimer's position as head writer and producer of "I Love Lucy," we find that the showing of interest, on which this petition was based , is necessarily impaired by his activities in the organization of the Petitioner , and will dismiss the petition- 0 [The Board dismissed the petition.], 6 Toledo Stamping and Manufacturing Company, 55 NLRB 865. See Wells, Inc., 68 NLRB 545. Excluding Oppenheimer, TWA's showing in this case consists of 3 cards in a unit of 8. Without the cards of Carroll and Pugh, the showing would consist of only 1 card, which is insufficient to support the petition. Although the intervenor has made a sufficient showing of its own, the Intervenor took the position that the petition should be dismissed. FRUEHAUF TRAILER C O M P A N Y and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRI- CULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner . Case No. 10 - RC-2151 . July 15, 1953 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS OF ELECTION On March 3 , 1953, pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the Board on January 5, 1953,1 an election by secret ballot was conducted in the above-entitled matter under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director 1 Not reported in the printed volumes of Board decisions. 106 NLRB No. 33.