The National Lutheran Home for the AgedDownload PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsApr 30, 1973203 N.L.R.B. 408 (N.L.R.B. 1973) Copy Citation 408 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The National Lutheran Home for the Aged and Service Employees International Union, Local 82, AFL- CIO, Petitioner . Case 5-RC-8333 April 30, 1973 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS JENKINS AND KENNEDY Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Wegner. Following the hearing and pursuant to Section 182.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula- tions and Statements of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, by direction of the Regional Director for Region 5, this case was transferred to the National Labor Relations Board for decision. Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul- ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. The rulings are hereby af- firmed.' Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is a nonprofit, District of Colum- bia corporation engaged in the operation of a home for the aged at its site location at 18th and Douglas Streets, Northeast, in Washington, D.C. During the preceding 12 months, a representative period, it re- ceived gross revenues in excess of $100,000 and dur- ing the same period of time it made purchases from outside the District of Columbia valued in excess of $5,000. The Employer contends that the Board should not assert jurisdiction in this case primarily because it would not effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction over the Home because it is a church owned, operated, and controlled institution which it operates in furtherance of its basic religious objec- tives. The National Lutheran Home for the Aged is owned and operated by the Maryland and Virginia Synods of the Lutheran Church of America. The i The Employer and the Petitioner objected to the Hearing Officer's grant- ing of the motion to intervene by 1199-DC, National Union of Hospital and Nursing Home Employees a/w RWDSU, AFL-CIO, on the grounds that a proper investigation of its showing of interest had not been made We are administratively satisfied that the Intervenor has an adequate showing of interest and the Hearing Officer 's ruling is therefore affirmed board of trustees of the Home is comprised of 12 representatives from Maryland and 6 from Virginia. There is an executive committee of 10 of 18 trustees who live within 25 miles of the District of Columbia. The board of trustees meets three times a year and the executive committee of the Board meets monthly. At the meetings of the executive committee the superin- tendent or assistant superintendent apprises the com- mittee of the needs of the Home and how its operations are functioning. The executive committee has authority for making such changes as may be necessary. For the calendar year 1973 the Virginia Synod is contributing $24,000 and the Maryland Synod is con- tributing $114,500. The Lutheran Church in America itself makes no grant supplementing the contributions of the two synods. The Home also received interest from an endowment fund during the past year in the amount of $180,000. In addition, the Home derives payments from the District of Columbia Welfare De- partment which vary with the care provided the pa- tient . Last year it received approximately $394,000 from this source, consisting of $191,000 for intermedi- ate care and $203,000 for Medicaid. It received $39,000 from Medicare last year. Of the 283 patients 92 paid for their own care at a rate of $580 per month or about $640,000 on an annual basis. The superintendent and assistant superintendent of the Home are ordained Lutheran ministers and both are licensed nursing home administrators. Religious services are conducted in the Home on Sunday morn- ings and Bible studies are conducted within the Home. Preference in admissions is given to Luther- ans, but there are some non-Lutheran residents in the home. There are four categories of care rendered by the Home , ranging from minimum institutional care to care for those who are acutely ill. There is a physician who is a full-time medical director and he and his associates are there daily and on call. There are also registered nurses and liscensed practical nurses. In case of severe illness illness residents are transferred to a hospital. The Home has 283 patients of whom approximately 150 are ambulatory. We conclude, on the foregoing facts, that the Home is not an institution over which we should refuse to assert jurisdiction. In Bethany Home for the Aged,2 a case remarkably similar to the one now before us, we applied our decision in DrexeP in which we held that an institution's effect upon commerce was not to be 2 185 NLRB 191 3 Drexel Home, Inc, 182 NLRB 1045. Accord Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society d/b/a Eugene Good Samaritan Center, 191 N LRB 35; The Swanholm , an operation of The Martin Luther Foundation, Inc, 186 NLRB 45, Good Samaritan Hospital, a/k/a Good Samaritan Home for the Aged, 185 NLRB 198; Carroll Manor Nursing Home , 202 NLRB No. 7 203 NLRB No. 71 NATIONAL LUTHERAN HOME FOR THE AGED 409 measured by its nonprofit status, its title, its religious affiliation, or its occupants. We perceive no reason in this case for not adhering to the principles enunciated in our Drexel and Bethany decisions, and we therefore find that the Home is not an institution over which we would refuse to assert jurisdiction. We therefore find that it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction over the Employer's operations at the Home.' 2. The labor organizations involved claim to repre- sent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of certain employees of the 4 The Board asserts jurisdiction on a plenary basis within the District of Columbia M S Ginn & Company, 114 NLRB 112, The Westchester Corpora- tion, 124 NLRB 194, Herbert Harvey, Inc, 159 NLRB 254 Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The parties have stipulated, and we find, that the following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All full-time and regular part-time services and maintenance employees employed by the Em- ployer at its 18th and Douglas Streets, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20018, location, including lead employees, orderlies, porters, maids, nursing and geriatrics assistants, licensed practical nurses, and practical nurses, but excluding office clerical employees, professional employees, dietary em- ployees, kitchen employees, guards and supervi- sors as defined in the Act. [Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote omit- ted from publication.] Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation