National College of Business

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsNov 9, 1970

186 N.L.R.B. 490 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

490 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD National College of Business and American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 18-RC-8307 November 9, 1970 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND JENKINS Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer W. Allen Erickson of the National Labor Relations Board. Following the hearing, pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, and by direction of the Regional Director for Region 18, this case was transferred to the Board for decision. Thereafter, the Petitioner and the Employer filed timely briefs, which have been duly considered. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case 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, including the briefs of the parties, the Board finds: 1. The National College of Business is a South Dakota corporation. Since 1963 it has been privately owned, and operated for profit, by Harold D. Buckingham who, with his family, owns 99 percent of its stock. He is chairman of the board. The corpora- tion's principal activity is operation of the school,' whose instructional facilities are located in Rapid City, South Dakota. The corporation's gross receipts for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1969, were over $1,100,000, of which more than $900,000 came from tuition, dormitory income, and book sales. During the same period, the corporation purchased approximately $50,000 worth of books (for resale to students) directly from suppliers outside the State of South Dakota. Also I During the fiscal year which ended May 31, 1969, the Tip Top Motel and Restaurant , owned and operated by the school, had gross receipts of $217,427. One fourth of that amount derived from its partial use as a dormitory for the school , and three fourths, from its use as a motel facility open to the general public. At the hearing (May 28, 1970), Buckingham testified that the motel was originally purchased to meet a dormitory shortage . He further testified that, at the end of the fiscal year, May 31, 1970, "(i It will either be purchased by me individually or I may sell it to somebody else." The corporation recently let construction contracts for dormitory facilities worth about $600 ,000 to accommodate an additional 146 students. 2 Veterans Administration (about 100 students), Bureau of Indian during that period the corporation paid $12,672, for the rental of various business machines, to in-state representatives of suppliers located outside the State. Student enrollment during the fall, winter, and spring quarters of 1969-70, was 893, 765, 699, respectively, a substantial number coming from out-of-State. Federal and State government agencies sponsored over 200 students 2 during the 1969-70 school year, for whom these agencies paid the school, directly or through the student, tuition exceeding $200,000. These agencies also paid the school, directly or indirectly, about $35,000 for dormitory charges for some of these students. The school offers course programs ranging from 1 to 4 years, for which it awards diplomas, associate degrees, or bachelor degrees. These course programs include accounting, business administration, junior business administration, general business, data proc- essing management, computer science, computer programming, secretarial training (executive, legal, medical, senior, private), stenographic and office machines, and airline career courses. Graduation from high school, or passing an equivalency examina- tion, is a requirement for admission to the school. The school uses a wide area telephone service (WATS) covering a 10-State area surrounding South Dakota. Although the record does not show the specific amount the corporation pays for the WATS system, its total telephone and telegraph expense, which includes the WATS line, was $23,761 for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1969. The WATS system is used byl.31 the i school ^ for, I inter, alia,, job placement calls.3 The foregoing makes plain that the Employer is engaged in the sale of a service (training and education) and its operations have substantail impact on commerce. Its volume of business satisfies existing Board jurisdictional standards for both retail and nonretail enterprises. We find, accordingly, that the Employer is an employer engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act, and conclude that, because its volume of business exceeds the minimum amounts required under the aforementioned stand- ards, it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction in this proceeding.4 Affairs (about 20), Work Incentive Program (about 25 ), Service to the blind (about 15), and State vocational rehabilitation (about 40). 3 According to the NCB Catalog for 1968-70 (Petitioner's Exh . 2), each student is required shortly before graduation "to take any Civil Service or State Merit Examination for which he is qualified .... Our interest in this matter is very keen because the success of our institution depends in large measure on the achievements of our graduates and on their continuing success in the business world." The catalog also notes that the school "keeps in touch with the employment needs of hundred of firms" and works closely with State Employment Services. 4 Even when the Board was not asserting jurisdiction over nonprofit educational institutions , it regularly , albeit infrequently , asserted 186 NLRB No. 76 NATIONAL COLLEGE OF BUSINESS 2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. Based on the agreement of the parties, we find that the following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of jurisdiction over for-profit employers engaged in educational activities. See, e.g , Henry Ford Trade School, 58 NLRB 1535, Federal Electric Corp., 162 NLRB 512; Training Corporation of America, Inc., 162 NLRB 286. 5 In order to insure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all parties to the election should have access to a hst of voters and their addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior Underwear Inc, 156 NLRB 1236 ; N LR B. v. Wyman-Gordon Company, 394 U S 759 Accordingly, it is hereby directed that an election eligibility 491 collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All full-time and regular part-time teaching faculty of the Employer; excluding all nonprofessional employees, substitute teachers, guards and super- visors as defined in the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. [Direction of Elections omitted from publication.] list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 18 within 7 days of the date of this Decision and Direction of Election The Regional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election. No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper objections are filed.