The Julliard School

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