Directors Guild of America, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 12, 1974

210 N.L.R.B. 46 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

46 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Directors Guild of America , Inc. and Golden West
Broadcasters and its wholly owned subsidiary
Golden West Films , Inc.' and International Alli-
ance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving
Picture Machine Operators of the United States
and Canada, AFL-CIO. Case 31-CD-102
April 12, 1974
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF
DISPUTE
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS JENKINS
AND KENNEDY
This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, follow-
ing a charge filed by Golden West Broadcasters and
its wholly owned subsidiary Golden West Films,
Inc., herein called the Employer, alleging that
Directors Guild of America, Inc., herein called the
Guild, had violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act.
The charge alleges , in substance, that the Guild, by
threats and economic action, violated the Act in that
one of the purposes of such conduct was to force the
Employer to assign certain work to its members
rather than to members of International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture
Machine Operators of the United States and Canada,
AFL-CIO, herein called I.A.T.S.E. Pursuant to
notice, a hearing was held in Los Angeles, California,
before Hearing Officer Noel Shipman on November
26, 1973, and December 3, 1973. All parties appeared
and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses , and to present
evidence bearing on the issues. Thereafter, the
Employer and I.A.T.S.E. filed briefs. These briefs
have been duly considered by the Board.
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.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
makes the following findings:
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Employer, a California corporation with its
principal office and place of business in Los Angeles,
California, is engaged in television and radio
broadcasting. The parties stipulated, and we find,
I As amended at the hearing.
2 "Below-the-line" personnel , including stage manager , generally in-
cludes the technical personnel, laborers, and craftsmen necessary for a
that during the past year the Employer received
goods and materials valued in excess of $50,000
directly from sources outside the State of California
and that its gross revenue during that period was in
excess of $500,000.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act
and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to
assert jurisdiction herein.
II. 1HE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The parties stipulated, and we find, that the Guild
and I.A.T.S.E. are labor organizations within the
meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE DISPUTE
A. Background and Facts of the Dispute
The Employer is engaged in the operation of
television station KTLA and radio station KMPC in
Los Angeles as well as in providing stage and video
facilities to independent tape producers.
Through its Videotape Division the Employer rents
stage or studio facilities, including equipment and
"below-the-line" personnel2 to advertising agencies
and independent producers for their use in the
making of commercials and programs recorded on
videotape.
During such productions it is the principal duty of
a stage manager to assist directors and producers in
the performance of their duties. The stage managers
perform routine functions, such as the relaying of
information from the director to the floor, cueing
talent at the request of the booth director, and
making sure that props , sets , and talent are in the
proper place and available as prescribed by the
director or producer during rehearsal and during
shooting. These directions are given through a
communication system utilizing head sets , that ties
together the director, who is isolated in a glass booth,
with the lighting director, audio engineer, videotape
engineer, cameramen, and stage managers. The
director's only means of visual contact with the stage
is through a closed circuit monitor, and his only
means of verbal communication with the talent and
crew is through the headsets.
As all of the Employer's technical personnel are
represented by the I.A.T.S.E., the stage manager is
normally a member of the I.A.T.S.E. However, many
of the independent producers who use the Employ-
er's facilities and several major film companies
whom the Employer seeks to acquire as customers
"shoot" as opposed to "above-the-line" talent, directors, etc., provided by
the producer.
210 NLRB No. 6
DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA , INC. 47
are bound to agreements with the Guild which
require that a second stage manager be represented
by the Guild. But since at least 1961, when producers
signatory to the guild tape supplement, requiring use
of a guild stage manager, have used the Employer's
Videotape Division facilities, there has been in effect
a waiver of the guild tape contract's requirement in
that the guild stage managers were not required to
wear headsets and, therefore, did not actually
function as stage managers.
However, the Guild notified the Employer by
letters in December 1972 and February 1973 that if
the Employer's subsidiary, Golden West Films, Inc.,
herein called Films, did not recognize the Guild as
the collective-bargaining representative for the stage
managers, the Guild would instruct its members not
to render services to the Employer, either as an
employee of Films or as an employee of an
independent producer using the Videotape Division.
The Guild further notified the Employer that the
Guild would strictly enforce all provisions of the
guild tape supplement against all independent
producers, thereby rescinding the waiver which had
been in effect since 1961.
The Guild implemented its threats to the Employer
by a letter on May 30, 1973, to its members, many of
whom are "above-the-line" supervisors, stating that
they may not work for producers signatory to the
Guild Tape Supplement on productions at the
Employer's Videotape Division facilities unless the
duties of stage manager, including wearing the
headset, are assigned to and performed by guild
members.
The I.A.T.S.E. has continued to demand that,
pursuant to its contract with the Employer, the work
tasks of stage manager, including wearing the
headset, continue to be assigned to members of the
I.A.T.S.E. Thus, the Guild created the jurisdictional
dispute herein over the stage manager's work tasks
being performed at the Employer's Videotape Divi-
sion facilities because of the conflicting jurisdiction
provisions of the Employer-I.A.T.S.E. contract and
the guild tape supplement.
B. The Work in Dispute
The work in dispute involves the functions of the
stage manager on certain productions taped at the
facilities of the Employer's Videotape Division.
C. Contentions of the Parties
The I.A.T.S.E. contends that the disputed work
tasks should be awarded exclusively to employees of
the Employer who are members of or are represented
by the I.A.T.S.E. for all videotape productions on the
Employer's lot.
The Guild's position is that the disputed work
should be awarded to employees of production
companies who are members of or are represented by
the Guild for all videotape productions, at the
Employer's facilities, produced by production com-
panies signatory to a Guild collective-bargaining
agreement.
The Employer contends that the disputed work
should be awarded to employees of the Employer
represented by the I.A.T.S.E. for all productions on
the Employer's lot. However, for productions on the
lot by producers who are signatory to the basic guild
film industry contract where two stage managers are
required and where the producer insists on assigning
a portion of the disputed work, including wearing a
headset, to one of its employees represented by the
Guild, it is the Employer's position that such
assignment should be permitted.
D. Applicability of the Statute
Before the Board may proceed with a determina-
tion of dispute pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act,
it must be satisfied that there is reasonable cause to
believe that Section 8(b)(4)(D) has been violated, and
that there is no agreed-upon method for the
voluntary adjustment of the dispute.
The facts show that the Employer assigned the
work to its employees who are members of or are
represented by the I.A.T.S.E. The Guild demanded
that the Employer take the work away from members
of the I.A.T.S.E. and assign it to its members. In
support of its demand, the Guild threatened a work
stoppage. Based on the foregoing, and the record as a
whole, we find that reasonable cause exists to believe
that the Guild violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act.
The parties have not agreed upon a voluntary
method of settling this jurisdictional dispute. Accord-
ingly, the matter is properly before the Board for
determination.
E. Merits of the Dispute
Section 10(k) of the Act requires the Board to make
an affirmative award of the disputed work after
giving due consideration to all relevant factors
involved . The following factors are relevant in
making a determination of the dispute before us.
1. Certifications and collective -bargaining
agreements
The I.A.T.S.E. was certified by the Board in 1956
as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain
employees , including stage managers , of KTLA,
which was then owned by Paramount Television
Productions , Inc., herein called Paramount . In 1957,
4a DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
KTLA and the IAT.S.E. entered into their first
collective-bargaining amt and have since
entered into successive agreements . The Employer, in
1964, acquired the assets and license of Paramount,
assumed the KTLA-I.A.T.S.E. collective-bargaining
agreement, retained all of the Paramount employees,
and continued to operate KTLA without interrup-
tion. Presently, all stage managers work interchange-
ably between KTLA and the Employer's Videotape
Division and are represented by the I.A.T.S.E. under
the cur ent KTLA-I.A.T.S.E. contract.
Guild has not been certified by the Board as
the collective-bargaining representative for a unit of
the Employer's employees. In 1970, however, the
Employer's subsidiary corporation, Films, entered an
agreement with the Guild which later became the
tape supplement, containing a requirement that a
guild stage manager be used. In April 1973, Films
signed the Guild's tape supplement, which the Guild
terminated as to Films on May 23, 1973.
While the Employer has no agreement with the
Guild requiring that guild members be assigned stage
manager work, some producers who come onto the
Employer's lot for "facilities rental" are signatory to
the guild tape supplement apparently requiring them
to use a guild stage manager. However, since at least
1961, when those signatory producers have used the
Employer's facilities, the Employer has had a verbal
waiver of the Guild contract's requirement in that
guild stage managers in such situations were not
required to wear headsets,3 the Guild furnishing a
stage manager, but only the I.A.T.S.E. stage manager
wearing the headset and actually functioning as stage
manager. This waiver was rescinded by the Guild in
May 1973, with the cancellation of its tape supple-
ment agreement with Films, thereby contributing to
the jurisdictional dispute herein.
2. Employer's assignment and past practice
Pursuant to its contract with the I.A.T.S.E., in
productions by independent producers who are not
signatories to either the guild tape supplement or
guild film contract, the Employer has assigned the
disputed work to an employee represented by the
I.A.T.S.E. Such employee wears a headset and
functions as a stage manager , and no employee
represented by the Guild is involved in the videotape
production.
In cases where the independent producer is a
signatory to the guild tape supplement, the Employer
has assigned the functions of stage manager, includ-
ing the wearing of the headset, to its employee
represented by the I.A.T.S.E., pursuant to the
Employer's collective-bargaining agreement with the
I.A.TS.E. In such situations there has also been
present a "guild stage manager" who does not wear a
headset nor perform the duties of a stage manager.
The Employer has thus far had occasion to assign
the disputed work in situations involving signatories
to the guild film contract only twice . During the first
such production, pursuant to an agreement by the
Employer, the I.A.T.S.E., the Guild, and the film
company, both an I.A.T.S.E. stage manager and a
guild stage manager wore headsets and functioned as
stage managers. The I.A.T.S.E. stage manager was
senior stage manager and exercised primary control
on the stage at all times . All parties agreed, however,
that this arrangement was not to be construed as
precedential.
In the second production by a film company
signatory to the guild film agreement, the Employer
utilized two I.A.T.S. E. stage managers and no guild
stage managers . However, the Employer was subse-
quently notified that under no circumstances would
that film company use the Employer's Videotape
Division facilities again unless there was at least one
guild stage manager wearing a headset for the
production.
Clearly, as to productions involving independent
producers who are not signatory to any guild
agreement and producers signatory to the guild tape
agreement, precedent dictates that, pursuant to the
Employer's contract with the I.A.T.S.E. and pur-
suant to the Guild's waiver of its requirement that an
employee of the producer represented by the Guild
wear a headset and function as stage manager, the
disputed work continue to be assigned to employees
of the Employer represented by the I.A.T.S.E. As to
production involving signatories to the guild film
agreement, the Employer's assignment of the disput-
ed work does not provide substantial precedent.
3. Relative skills, efficiency, and economy of
operations
The Employer strongly favors an award to its
employees represented by the I.A.T.S.E. for all
productions on the Employer's lot because of their
experience in performing the disputed work and the
resulting efficiency and economy of operations.
On the Employer's lot the I.A.T.S.E. stage manag-
ers work interchangeably at the Videotape Division
and KTLA. Each I.A.T.S.E. stage manager currently
employed by the Employer was originally a member
of the stage crew and is, therefore, thoroughly
familiar with the Employer's 10-1/2-acre lot, the
3 Due to the electronic communication system utilized by the dwector in
aping, it is impossible to function as a stage manager without wearing
DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA, INC.
physical facilities, equipment, and other employees
of the Employer used in videotape productions.
Further, the I.A.T.S.E. stage manager assists in
physically moving props, arranging lighting, and
painting sets . As the work tasks and skills required in
the performance of the stage managers ' functions are
similar to and often identical with that performed by
other members of the technical crew, stagehands who
are also represented by the I.A.T.S.E. may perform
work normally performed by stage managers, and on
occasions stagehands are upgraded to stage manag-
ers and perform the same functions as permanent
stage managers.
The guild stage manager, on the other hand, is not
a permanent employee of the Employer and is often
unfamiliar with the Employer's lot facilities, equip-
ment, and personnel. Additionally, the guild stage
manager does not physically assist other members of
the technical crew in setting up the stage or
performing constructionlike functions. Nor does the
guild stage manager possess the interchangeability
among other members of the stage crew as does the
I.A.T.S.E. stage manager.
While it is, therefore, preferable to have an
I.A.T.S.E. stage manager on all productions at the
Employer's Videotape Division, on productions by
producers signatory to the guild film contract the
guild stage manager possesses certain skills and
knowledge acquired in the motion picture industry
and not possessed by the I.A.T.S.E. stage manager.
This enables the guild manager to perform a useful
and essential communications function necessary
only on productions by signatories to the guild film
agreement.4
Hence, greater efficiency of operations results with
only a I.A.T.S.E. stage manager on all productions at
the Employer's facilities except on productions by
the film oriented producers signatory to the guild
film contract. On such productions the addition of a
guild stage manager , also wearing a headset, greatly
enhances the efficiency of operations. We are,
therefore, persuaded that the factors of skill, experi-
ence, and efficiency and economy of operations
dictate the award of the work to the Employer's own
employees who are represented by the I.A.T.S.E. on
all productions at the Employer's facilities except on
productions by signatories to the guild film contract.
4. Loss of jobs
Currently the Employer employs three permanent
stage managers , all represented by the I.A.T.S.E.,
who work interchangeably between the KTLA
4 Film companies have only recently begun to use videotape for some of
their roductiona, and, therefore, the terminology, technical equips lent, and
technique of production are significantly different for production in film
49
broadcast operations and the Videotape Division. As
approximately 75 percent of the productions at the
Videotape Division are for producers signatory to the
guild tape supplement, if the disputed work is
assigned to stage managers represented by the Guild
on productions by those signatory producers, the
Employer would be forced to terminate two
I.A.T.S.E. stage managers because their function
could not be absorbed by the KTLA broadcast
operation.
However, the work of the I.A.T.S.E. bargaining'
unit would be preserved and, in fact, increased if a
portion of the disputed work is assigned, on
productions by producers signatory to the guild film
contract, to one stage manager represented by the
Guild when the production requires two stage
managers. Such an assignment permitting a guild
stage manager selected and employed by a film
company to wear a headset and assist the I.A.T.S.E.
stage manager will result in the Employer's receiving
film companies' business which is necessary to the
Employer's continued operation of the Videotape
Division and which has been conditioned by the film
companies upon having a guild stage manager on
headset.
Conclusion
Upon the entire record in this proceeding and after
full consideration of all of the relevant factors, in
particular the contractual relationship between the
Employer and the I.A .T.S.E., the Employer's assign-
ment of the work and past practice , the skills and
experience required , the efficiency and economy of
operations , and the effect upon the Employer's
potential business , we conclude that the employees of
the Employer who are represented by the I.A.T.S.E.
are entitled to perform the work in question on all
productions at the Employer's facilities , and that in
addition to this award to the employees represented
by the I.A.T.S.E., on productions at the Employer's
facilities by signatories to the Guild Film Contract,
the work is also awarded to employees represented
by the Guild, and we shall determine the dispute
accordingly. In making this determination , we award
the work to the employees of the Employer who are
represented by the I.A.T.S.E., and where specified to
employees who are represented by the Guild, but not
to those labor organizations or their members.
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, and upon the basis of the
from production by vi&otape . Hence, the guild stage manager can act as a
bridge between the director, primarily used to film production , and the
technical crew and stage crew , geared and trained for videotape production
50 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
foregoing findings and the entire record in this
proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board
hereby makes the following Determination of Dis-
pute:
1. Employees employed by Golden West Broad-
casters and its wholly owned subsidiary Golden West
Films, Inc ., who are represented by International
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving
Picture Machine Operators of the United States and
Canada, AFL-CIO, are entitled to perform the
functions of stage manager including wearing the
headset on all videotape productions at the Golden
West Videotape Division.
2. Producers signatory to the Directors Guild of
America, Inc., Basic Agreement of 1968 and succes-
sor agreements whose employees are currently
represented by Directors Guild of America , Inc., are
entitled to have one employee perform the functions
of stage manager , including wearing a headset, on
their productions at the Golden West Videotape
Division, which productions normally require two
stage managers.
3. Directors Guild of America, Inc., is not
entitled by means proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D)
of the Act to force or require Golden West
Broadcasters and its wholly owned subsidiary Gold-
en West Films, Inc., Los Angeles, California, or
independent producers on their productions at the
rGolden West Videotape Division, to assign the above
work to employees represented by Directors Guild of
America, Inc.
4. Within 10 days from the date of this Decision
and Determination of Dispute, Directors Guild of
America, Inc., shall notify the Regional Director for
Region 31, in writing, whether or not it will refrain
from forcing or requiring Golden West Broadcasters
and its wholly owned subsidiary Golden West Films,
Inc., or independent producers on their production
at the Golden West Videotape Division, by means
proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D), to assign the work
in dispute in a manner inconsistent with the above
determination.