Paramount Pictures, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 9, 1942

42 N.L.R.B. 221 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of PARAMOUNT PICTURES , INC , and SCREEN READERS
i
GUILD OF NEW YORK
In the -Mattel of TWENTIETH CENTURY Fox FILM CORP , and SCREEN
READERS GUILD OF NEW YORK
In the Mattel of R K O. RADIO PICTURES, INC , and SCREEN READERS
GUILD OF NEW YORK
In the Matter Of UNIVERSAL PICTURES CO, INC , and SCREEN READERS
GUILD OF NEW YORK
In the Matter of COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. and SCREEN READERS
GUILD OF NEW YORK
In the Matter of LoEw's, INC and SCREEN READERS GUILD OF NEW YORK
Cases Nos R-250 to R-.557, inclusive, respectively
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
ORDER
July 9, 194
On July 15, 1941, the National Laboi Relations Board issued a
Decision and Direction of Elections in the above-entitled pioceedings 1
On September 17, 1941, the Board issued a Certification of Repiesent-
atives 2 On December 22, 1941, counsel for Screen Readers Guild of
New York, herein called the Guild, the labor organization certified
as exclusive repiesentative of the employees in the units found ap-
piopriate heiein, notified the Board that the Guild had affiliated with
Screen Office & Professional Employees Guild, Local 109, affiliated
with the United Office & Professional Employees Woikers of Amei-
ica, C I O, herein called the C I 0., and iequested that the Boaid
substitute the name of the C I 0 for the name of the Guild in its
Certification of Representatives On Januaiy 3, 1942, the Board
issued a notice, duly served on the paities, stating that it would
amend the Certification of Representatives unless sufficient cause to
the contrary was presented. Thereafter, one of the Companies in-
133 N L R B 447
z 35 N L R B 464
42NLR B,No50
221
222 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
volved contested the proposed amendment On March 12 , 1942, the
Board issued an order reopening the record and authorized the Re-
gional Director for the Second Region (New Yoik City) to issue a
notice of supplemental hearing Thereafter , a hearing was held on
April 20 and 21, 1942 , at New York City, before Fiederick Living-
stone, Trial Examiner . All parties appeared , participated , and were
afforded full opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross -examine
witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues The Trial
Examiner 's rulings made at the hearing are free from piejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following.
SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF FACT
In its Decision and Direction of Elections of July 15, 1941, the
Board found that the inside readers of each of the Companies in-
volved constituted an appropriate unit The Board held that the
outside readers employed by the Companies were not employees
within the meaning of the Act and excluded them from the units
On July 18, 1941, the Guild held a meeting attended by 32
of its 40 members in good standing Eighteen of the persons present
were outside readers and 14 were inside readers within the marts
found appropriate by the Board The Guild held this meeting to
decide what to do in view of the fact that the Board excluded out-
side readers from the units The persons attending the meeting voted
unanimously for a resolution, the sense of which was to affiliate with
the C I O, subject to ratification by a majority of the membership 3
On August 6, 1941, the elections were conducted as directed by
the Board Nineteen inside readers were eligible to vote and voted
for the Guild 4 -
On September 19, 1941, the C I 0 held a meeting attended by 20
persons All members present were also members of the Guild
Nineteen of those present, of whom 8 were outside readers and 11
inside readers, voted to deed all property of the Guild to the C I O.
i The resolution reads as follons
Finally, the question of affiliation with the UOPWA-CIO vas iaised as the only
really practical solution of the problem of the Guild in the face of the NLRB
decision
After full discussion a motion was made that the Screen Readers Guild recommend
to the screen Guild Council that one or more member guilds of the Council investi-
gate the possibilities of obtaining a charter from the UOPWA-CIO for a Motion
Picture Local, and that if such a local be set up, that the Screen Readers Guild affili-
ate with it, subset only to ratification of the charter by a ni Jority vote of the
'membership of the Readers Guild This MOTION was passed unanimously The
record is barren of any evidence of ratification by the membership of the Guild
except as may be inferred tiom the evidence of the September 19 meeting of the
C I 0, discussed below, and from the members' designation of the C 1 o ,
discussed below -
There are three employees in the appropriate unit at Paramount , five it twentieth
Century , two at R K 0, two at Universal , two at Columbia and five at Loew s
PARAMOUNT PICTURES, INC. 223
At the further hearing, the C I. O. presented 57 membership
application cards, 41 of which bore apparently genuine signatures
of former members of the Guild 6
The Companies contend that the Board should give no effect to
the alleged affiliation of the Guild with the C. I 0 unless it be
shown that a majority of the inside readers in each unit voted to
affiliate.
Although the record indicates that the members of the Guild voted
to affiliate with the C I 0 in a body, and that 14 of the 19 inside
readers participated in the move, theie is no evidence as to the
participation of a majority in any one of the 6 appropriate units In-
asmuch as the certification of the Guild has been in effect for almost
a year, and to allay any doubt on the part of any of the Companies
as to the bargaining repiesentative of its employees, we shall deny
the motion to amend without piejudice to the filing of new petitions
for investigation and certification of *repiesentatives of employees
of the Companies
- ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the motion for amendment of our Certifi-
cation of Representatives in this proceeding, be, and it hereby is,
denied
6 The C I 0 appeared at the further healing by the same attorney as appeared
originally for the Guild The statement in the text constitutes the Trial Examiners
oral statement on the record on a check made by him of C I 0 application cards
against a membership roster of the Guild