Opinion ID: 378027
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 16 Section 2(2) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 152(2) (1976), provides that the United States is not to be treated as an employer. It is conceded that except for the work done for the Army by the companies, they were the employer of the strikers and within the Board's jurisdiction. The case law applying section 2(2), however, indicates that an employer who is otherwise subject to the labor laws may share the governmental exemption in certain circumstances. The appellants rely on this case law. They assert they share the United States' exemption with respect to employees on CDEC projects and advance several theories, which they consider distinct, in support of that result: (1) that the Army exercises substantial control over collective bargaining matters; (2) that the companies' operations are intimately bound up with the Army's function, and (3) that they and the Army are joint employers. 17 NLRB v. E. C. Atkins & Co., 331 U.S. 398, 67 S.Ct. 1265, 91 L.Ed. 1563 (1947), is the only applicable Supreme Court precedent. It treated the question of shared exemption as depending entirely on whether the private employer retained enough control over terms and conditions of employment that the employees could fairly be described as the employer's rather than the government's. Id. at 412-13, 67 S.Ct. at 1272-1273. The Court indicated that in these matters the Board's determination deserves much attention: it must be accepted by reviewing courts if it has a reasonable basis in the evidence and is not inconsistent with the law. Id. at 403, 67 S.Ct. at 1268 (citation omitted). The Board has sometimes declined jurisdiction in cases that raised a shared exemption issue, stating that the intimate relationship between the employers made application of the labor laws to the nonexempt employer inappropriate. See, e. g., Roesch Lines, Inc., 224 N.L.R.B. 203, 204 (1976); Toledo District Nurse Association, 216 N.L.R.B. 743 (1975). Whether this inappropriateness rests on a finding of a joint employer situation or on a discretionary abstention by the Board because of the intimate relationship is not entirely clear. In any event, several circuits have held that the decision of the Board in intimate relationship cases regarding its jurisdiction is within its discretion and should not be overturned in the absence of extraordinary circumstances. NLRB v. Pope Maintenance Corp., 573 F.2d 898, 904 (5th Cir. 1978); Compton v. National Maritime Union, 533 F.2d 1270, 1275-76 (1st Cir. 1976); Herbert Harvey, Inc. v. NLRB, 424 F.2d 770, 780 (D.C.Cir.1969). 18 We hold that under no theory do the companies share the United States' exemption. The record supports the Board's conclusion. The companies retain substantial control over such bargaining subjects as wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. The negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement is not precluded. Dress requirements, sharing of facilities, and adoption of the counterpart mode are relevant evidence of the Army's control of labor relations. See, e. g., Toledo District Nurse Association, supra. However, explicit contractual provisions, confirmed by the parties' conduct, clearly do preserve the companies' substantial independence in these respects. In addition, there are no significant limitations on the companies in such common areas of collective bargaining as seniority, grievance procedures, retirement plans, profit sharing, and health insurance. See Pope Maintenance Corp., supra, 573 F.2d at 903. Although the Army wields some influence over wages, promotion, and discharge, it is not sufficient to require that the Board be denied jurisdiction. Nor is this conclusion altered by the cost-plus-fee-award formula. Although the formula may restrict the companies' ability to raise wages, it by no means eliminates all room for negotiation. 19 Nor are the appellants joint employers with the Army. Two Board opinions do appear to resolve shared exemption issues in terms of joint employer status without reference to the substantial control test of E. C. Atkins & Co. Toledo District Nurse Association, supra ; Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 203 N.L.R.B. 98, 99 (1973). 2 We read these cases as applying the substantial control test implicitly. So construed, neither supports the companies' joint employers arguments: the Army did not exercise substantial control over the appellants' labor relations. The appellants' intimate relationship argument fails for the same reasons. 20 Finally, to the extent the appellant is arguing that the Board in the exercise of its discretion should have abstained from exercising its jurisdiction we need only say that no extraordinary circumstances exist in this case.