The Catholic Bishop of Chicago

CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CHICAGO The Catholic Bishop of Chicago, A Corporation Sole and Quigley Education Association, an affiliate of Illinois Education Association, Petitioner. Case 13-RC-13402 September 16, 1975 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, 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 Katherine Gerstenberger. After the hearing and pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, and by direction of the Regional Director for Region 13, this proceeding was transferred to the Board for decision. Thereafter the Employer and the Petitioner filed briefs in support of their respective positions.' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul- ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the Board finds: 1. The Petitioner seeks to represent certain lay professional employees of two private religiously ori- ented high schools Quigley North and Quigley South, located within the Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois. The schools are operated by the Archbishop of Chi- cago who designates and appoints the rectors of each school. Both schools are situated within the city of Chicago, Quigley North and Quigley South being so designated northern and the other in the southern portions of the city. The Employer contends (1) that the schools in- volved herein are minor seminary schools operating independently of each other and beyond the Board's purview, and (2) that assertion of jurisdiction would constitute an impermissible entanglement between the State and Church. The Board's policy is to de- cline jurisdiction over religiously sponsored organiza- tions "only when they are completely religious, not just religiously associated." 2 We find no merit in the contention or that the two schools involved are mi- The Employer filed a motion for oral argument which is hereby denied, as the record and briefs adequately present the issues and positions of the parties. Z Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archdiocesan High Schools, 216 NLRB No. 54 (1975). 359 nor seminary schools and therefore "completely" re- ligious. The record shows that prior to 1970 admissions to the schools were limited to boys 12 or 13 years of age who had a positive desire to be priests. On October 5, 1970, the Archbishop adopted a broader admissions policy opening the schools to students not exhibiting a positive desire to be priests, who in the judgment of their parish priests, had "the kind of character, abili- ty and termperament which might lead to the person- al discovery of a vocation to the priesthood." While this policy reflects the desires of the Church to admit those who might adopt the vocation of the priest- hood, the record clearly shows that the two Quigley schools in reality operate primarily as college prepa- ratory schools within the class over which the Board has heretofore asserted jurisdiction. The schools hold themselves out to potential students as "a secondary school . . . to educate young men of quality charac- ter, idealism, and intelligence for dedicated Christian lives of service to others, including, hopefully, voca- tions for many to the priesthood and religious life." At another point, the schools' literature describes Quigley South as "a metropolitan, contemporary, college preparatory, seminary high school." The schools also point out to the potential students that the overwhelming number of their graduates matri- culate at either their first or second choice of col- leges. Notwithstanding the numbr of graduates who advance into higher education, the record shows that of those students who enrolled prior to the 1970 change in admissions only 25-30 percent of the grad- uates matriculate at Niles College, the Diocesan Seminary College. As to the 1974 graduating class, the most recent prior to the hearing, only 16 percent of the class went on to Niles College. In addition to the fact that the academic curriculum is similar to that of other high schools, both private and public, the Quigley schools also maintain a substantial num- ber of extracurricular activities including interschool sports and intramural activities similar to those en- gaged in by students in other high schools. In these circumstances, we find that the Quigley schools, while religiously associated, are not completely reli- gious, and are of the type over which the Board has asserted jurisdiction. The Employer also contends that the two schools are operated independently of each other and that, inasmuch as neither school has gross income in ex- cess of $1 million, jurisdiction should not be asserted herein. The record shows that each of these schools is under the immediate direction of a rector appointed by and responsible to the Archbishop and neither school is accountable to or under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocesan school board. The curriculum of 220 NLRB No. 63 360 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD each is basically the same, the conditions of employ- ment of the lay teachers including fringe benefits are identical, and, unlike the other parochial schools within the Archdiocese, the Archbishop's office pro- vides direct financial assistance to the operating costs of. the two schools, approves their budgets, and ad- ministers or oversees the administration of all funds for the schools. While the two schools operate with a degree of independence from each other, the record clearly shows that the basic functions of both schools are carried out under a specifically circumscribed program emanating from the Archbishop's office and that Quigley South is an offshoot or extension of Quigley North. We therefore conclude that the two schools operate as an integrated enterprise and may be considered as such for the purposes of assertion of the Board's jurisdiction.' As the operating budgets of the two schools total in excess of $1 million, and the dollar value of purchases received from outside the State of Illinois exceeds $65,000, we find that it will effectuate the purposes of the Act. to assert jurisdic- tion in this proceeding. 2. The labor organization involved claims to rep- resent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 2(6) and (7) and 9(c)(1) of the Act. 4. During the course of the hearing, the parties stipulated with certain reservations that the appropri- ate unit should include all full-time and regular part- time lay teachers including physical education teach- ers, employed at the Quigley Schools; and excluding rectors, procurators, dean of studies, business man- ager, director of student activities, director of forma- tion, director of counseling services, office clerical employees, maintenance employees, cafeteria. work- ers, watchmen, librarians, nurses, all religious facul- ty, and all guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer would exclude department chair- men on the ground that they are supervisors. Peti- tioner contends that they should be ,included in the unit. The record shows that the faculty members of each department elect on an annual basis the department chairman. The term is for 1 year with the right of succession. The chairmen receive no extra pay or other benefits as a result of the position and general- ly maintain their normal teaching hours. Although they interview new applicants for teaching jobs with- in their departments, this interviewing generally ap- pears to be on a "peer group" basis with other mem- bers of the department talking to the applicant and 3 See Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore,. Archdiocesan High Schools, supra. _. the resulting recommendation representing a consen- sus of the department's faculty opinion. The record also shows that, although recommendations are made to the dean of studies, the ultimate decision as to hiring is made by the rector after consultation with the dean of studies and the director of formation, and without the presence of the department chair- man. As to discipline and discharge, there is nothing in the record to show that the department chairmen have disciplined or reprimanded other faculty mem- bers or that they have recommended that any mem- bers be disciplined or reprimanded, and, as to dis- charge, the record shows that one department chairman recommended annually that the contract of one member of the faculty-not be renewed which recommendations were rejected. In addition, the rec- ord does not support the Employer's contention that the department chairmen prepare departmental bud- gets, select textbooks, disburse department funds, or evaluate teachers within the department. Rather, the record shows that the department chairmen are in reality coordinators of their departments, acting as liaison between the faculty members of their depart- ments and the administration. In these circum- stances, including the fact that they receive no addi- tional compensation for their status as department chairmen, and continue to carry their regular teach- ing loads, we find that they are not supervisors with- in the meaning of the Act and shall, accordingly, in- clude them in the unit.4 We find that the following employees of the Em- ployer-The Catholic Bishop of Chicago, A Corpo- ration Sole-have a sufficient community'of interest to constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All full-time and regular part-time lay teachers including physical education teachers employed by the Employer at the Quigley North and Quig- ley South Schools, Chicago, Illinois, excluding rectors, procurators, dean of studies, business manager, director.of student activities, director of formation, director of counseling services, of- fice clerical employees, maintenance employees, cafeteria workers, watchmen, librarians, nurses, all religious faculty, and all guards and supervi- sors as defined in the Act. [Direction of Election 5 and Excelsior footnote om- itted from publication.] Florida Southern College, 196 NLRB 888 (1972). During the course of the hearing, the parties stipulated that the athletic director at Quigley South was not a supervisor. We leave the setting of the date for the election to the discretion of the Regional Director in consultation with the parties in view of the special considerations involved in'conducting elections at educational, institutions.