Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 14, 1973

204 N.L.R.B. 159 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF NEWARK
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark and Lay Fa-
culty Association of Regional Secondary Schools of
the Archdiocese of Newark. Case AO-147
June 14, 1973
ADVISORY OPINION
The petition herein was filed on February 22, 1973,
by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, here-
in called the Employer, on behalf of the 13 regional
secondary schools of the archdiocese pursuant to Sec-
tion 102.98 and 102.99 of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as
amended, requesting an Advisory Opinion that the
Board would assert jurisdiction over the Employer's
13 regional secondary schools, herein also called the
schools.
On March 1, 1973, the Lay Faculty Association of
Regional Secondary Schools of the Archdiocese of
Newark, herein called the Association, submitted an
answer to the petition for Advisory Opinion, admit-
ting in part and denying in part the allegations of the
petition and opposing the assertion of jurisdiction by
the Board. On March 5, 1973, John J. Cuneo, the
Regional Director for Region 22 of the National La-
bor Relations Board, filed a Motion To Intervene in
which he set forth commerce information developed
in the course of his investigation of the unfair labor
practice charge in Case 22-CP-126 and the represen-
tation petition in Case 22-RC-1289. Thereafter on
March 12, 1973, the Employer submitted its response
to the Regional Director's motion to intervene and a
response to the answer of the Lay Faculty Associa-
tion. The Regional Director's Motion To Intervene is
hereby granted.
In pertinent part, the petition, the answer to peti-
tion, the intervention, and the responses allege as fol-
lows:
(1) The Association brought in the Superior Court
of New Jersey, herein called the state court, an action
(Docket C-2458-70) requesting that the Employer be
ordered to bargain collectively with the Association
or participate in a representation election. Following
the court-directed election which was conducted on
June 4, 1971, and won by the Association, the state
court, on July 22, 1971, entered a final judgment di-
recting bargaining. After appealing to the appellate
division (Docket A-2398-70), the Employer on June
14, 1972, bargained to an agreement with the Associa-
tion, subject to the appeal. Thereafter, on February 2,
1973, the appellate division directed the Employer to
file with the Board the instant petition for Advisory
159
Opinion to resolve the preemption question pending
before it.
(2) The Employer, a New Jersey corporation, owns
and operates in the State of New Jersey, inter alia,
numerous churches, primary and secondary schools,
orphanages, a seminary, and six cemeteries. The 13
regional secondary schools involved herein are pri-
vate, nonprofit educational institutions whose admin-
istration and day-to-day operations are left to the
various religious orders. During the school year 1971
-72, the schools had revenues of approximately $6
million and paid out a similar sum to lay and religious
personnel. During that same period, the schools made
purchases directly from outside the State of New Jer-
sey, in an amount exceeding $400,000 for such items
as furniture, books, chemicals, laboratory supplies,
office and athletic equipment, etc.
(3) The Employer contends that the Board should
advise that it would assert jurisdiction because the
revenues and operations of the schools meet any of
the Board's jurisdictional standards and have a sub-
stantial impact on interstate commerce.
(4) Neither the state court nor the appellate divi-
sion has made findings with respect to the aforesaid
commerce data.
(5) No representation or unfair labor practice pro-
ceeding involving this labor dispute is pending before
the Board.
On the basis of the foregoing the Board is of the
opinion that:
As indicated above, the Union won the court-di-
rected representation election conducted on June 4,
1971, and thereafter on July 22, 1971, the state court
entered its final judgment, directing the Employer to
bargain. Although the Employer appealed to the Ap-
pellate Division, it complied with the state court's
direction to bargain. As a result, on June 14, 1972, the
Employer and Union entered into an agreement sub-
ject to the appeal. Presumably, the parties are com-
plying with and acting pursuant to the provisions of
the agreement. On February 22, 1973, the Employer,
at the direction of the Appellate Division, petitioned
for advisory opinion. The state court-directed repre-
sentation election had been conducted nearly 2 years
ago, and a year later, as a result of bargaining between
the Employer and Union, an agreement was executed
under which the parties presumably have been operat-
ing for nearly a year. In these circumstances and in
view of our policy of according the same effect to a
state-directed election and certification as we do to
our election and certifications, we would not entertain
a representation petition involving the employees
herein at this time. We therefore do not believe that
204 NLRB No. 21
160 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
any useful purpose would be served by the issuance diction over the Employer's secondary schools.
of an advisory opinion on the issue of commerce juris- Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the petition
for advisory opinion be, and it hereby is, dismissed.