Ecclesiastical Maintenance Services

70 320 NLRB No. 6 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 1 The stipulated record does not assert the direct inflow facts. Those facts, however, are contained in the petition filed in this mat- ter, and are not disputed by the Union. 2 The Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. 3 See Grace Church in the City of New York, 317 NLRB 961 fn. 1 (1995). See also Fifth Avenue Assn., 319 NLRB 383 (1995), and cases cited therein. Ecclesiastical Maintenance Services, Inc. and Local 74, Service Employees International Union, AFL–CIO. Case AO–331 December 18, 1995 ADVISORY OPINION BY CHAIRMAN GOULD AND MEMBERS BROWNING AND TRUESDALE Pursuant to Sections 102.98(a) and 102.99 of the National Labor Relations Board’s Rules and Regula- tions, on November 29, 1995, Ecclesiastical Mainte- nance Services, Inc. (the Employer), filed a Petition for Advisory Opinion as to whether the Board would as- sert jurisdiction over its operations on the basis of its current standards. In pertinent part, the petition alleges as follows: 1. A proceeding, Cases SU–58822 and SU–58851, is currently pending before the New York State Employ- ment Relations Board (NYSERB) in which the Union alleges that the Employer has engaged in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 704 of the New York State Employment Relations Act. 2. The Employer is a nonprofit corporation formed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York under the Membership Corporation Law of the State of New York. It provides cleaning and maintenance serv- ices on a contract fee basis for churches, schools, sem- inaries, and other facilities in the Archdiocese of New York. The Employer performs no other work than cleaning and maintenance services and performs such services only for the facilities in the Archdiocese of New York. 3. During its most recent fiscal year, the Employer had gross revenues in excess of $3.5 million, and pur- chased materials valued in excess of $50,000 directly from outside the State of New York. 4. The foregoing commerce data is contained in a ‘‘Stipulated Record on The Threshold Issue of Juris- diction’’ filed by the Employer and the Union with NYSERB in connection with the matter pending before that agency.1 The NYSERB has made no finding with respect to the commerce data. 5. There are no representation or unfair labor prac- tice proceedings involving the Employer pending be- fore the Board. On December 5, 1995, the Union filed a response to the petition for advisory opinion. The Union does not dispute the Employer’s commerce data, but asserts that the Employer is a religious affiliated entity and that there is a question as to whether the Board would as- sert jurisdiction under the principles set forth in River- side Church, 309 NLRB 806 (1992). On December 8, 1995, the Employer filed a brief in support of its petition for advisory opinion. The Em- ployer asserts that it is within the Board’s jurisdiction and that the Union has acknowledged NLRA jurisdic- tion over it in ancillary Federal court litigation. Having duly considered the matter,2 we are of the opinion that, inasmuch as the Employer has gross an- nual revenue in excess of $1 million and direct inflow in excess of $50,000, the Employer would satisfy any of the Board’s monetary jurisdictional standards. We are unable in this proceeding, however, to resolve the religious-affiliation jurisdictional issue addressed by the parties. As indicated in the Union’s response, that issue is not appropriate for resolution in this proceed- ing; the Board’s advisory opinion proceedings under Section 102.98(a) are designed primarily to determine whether an employer’s operations meet the Board’s commerce jurisdictional standards. Thus, while we are able to advise the Employer that it meets the Board’s monetary standards for asserting jurisdiction, we are unable in this proceeding to resolve the remaining issues addressed by parties.3