Oklahoma Blood Institute, Inc., 1524 (1982)

DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

Oklahoma Blood Institute, Inc. and Oklahoma City Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals,

Local 5009, AFT, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Cases 16-RC-8381 and 16-RC-8386

December 16, 1982 DECISION ON REVIEW AND

DIRECTION OF ELECTION

BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND ZIMMERMAN

Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing Officer Paul Blackwell of the National Labor Relations Board.

On August 31, 1981, the Acting Regional Director for Region 16 issued a Decision and Direction of Election in which he found appropriate a unit of all employees at all five of the Employer's facilities, excluding business office clerical employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the Petitioner filed a timely request for review of the Acting Regional Director's decision on the ground that he erred in finding that only a multilocation unit is appropriate, rather than a unit limited to the Employer's 13th Street facility in Oklahoma City, as sought by the Petitioner. In addition, the Petitioner contended that the Acting Regional Director erred in declining to determine whether the Employer is a health care institution under Section 2(14) of the Act. By telegraphic order dated October 30, 1981, the Board granted the Petitioner's request for review.

The Employer is a nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Oklahoma, where it is engaged in the business of collecting, processing, and distributing blood and blood products. The Employer operates its business at five locations: two in Oklahoma City, at 12th Street and 13th Street, and single facilities in Midwest City, Enid, and Lawton.

As indicated above, the Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all full-time and regular part-time employees at the 13th Street facility in Oklahoma City, excluding office clerical employees, guards, and supervisors. The Employer does not dispute the composition of the unit, but it contends-and the Acting Regional Director so found-that the scope of the unit must include employees of all five of its facilities. For the reasons set forth below, we find that the only appropriate unit consists of employees from three of the Employer's facilities;

namely, the two located in Oklahoma City and the one in Midwest City.

265 NLRB No. 195

The 13th Street facility in Oklahoma City houses some of the Employer's administrative offices, its only laboratory, the hospital services department, and a donor operation. In addition, it is the only Employer facility engaged in a patient treatment called apheresis, which is a blood transfusion procedure administered on a clinic or out-patient basis.

All the blood collected by the Employer at any location is sent to the 13th Street facility for testing, fractionation, storage, and distribution. Approximately 60 employees are employed at the 13th Street location. At the 12th Street location, which is one block away from the 13th Street facility and has about 45 employees, the Employer maintains its business and financial offices, its department of donor recruitment, central supply, and a donor/patient service area utilized by its mobile operations. The Midwest City facility, located about 5 miles from the Oklahoma City sites, is a satellite donor room staffed by three employees. A director of donor-patient services supervises the Midwest City employees as well as phlebotomists stationed in both the 13th Street and 12th Street facilities.

The Enid and Lawton facilities, respectively located approximately 85 miles to the north and south of Oklahoma City, are known as 'subcenters,' employing recruiters, phlebotomists, hospital services employees, and clerical employees.

Enid has about 14 employees and Lawton has approximately 20 employees. Although these subcenters are subject to overall policy and budget control from the Oklahoma City offices of the Employer's director-in-chief, Dr. Ronald Gilcher, they each have their own operational director. These directors exercise independent authority with respect to personnel management, and administer their respective subcenters as autonomous, self-contained donor operations.

Employees at all five of the Employer's facilities are covered by common wages and benefits. In addition, all employees receive their orientation and inservice training at the 13th Street building.

During a period covering at least the past 5 years, only four employees have permanently transferred between Lawton and the Oklahoma City complex, and one employee has permanently transferred from Enid to Oklahoma City. In the year preceding the hearing, there were 32 individual temporary transfers from Lawton to Oklahoma City, 22 from Enid to Oklahoma City, 14 from Oklahoma City to Lawton, and 52 from Oklahoma City to Enid.' These personnel shifts took place I The record is unclear as to the number of actual 'employees,' as opposed to supervisors or managers, included in these figures. The Employer acknowledges that some individuals were temporarily transferred on more than one occasion.

1524

OKLAHOMA BLOOD INSTITUTE primarily during major blood donation campaigns.

Dr. Gilcher testified that such campaigns occur in Oklahoma City probably on an average of once per month, and that three or four individuals at a time may be assigned from...