1 - National Labor Relations Board

II
Jurisdiction of the Board
The Board's jurisdiction under the Act, as to both representation
proceedings and unfair labor practices, extends to all enterprises
whose operations "affect" interstate or foreign commerce.1
However, Congress and the courts 2 have recognized the Board's
discretion to limit the exercise of its broad statutory jurisdiction
to enterprises whose effect on commerce is, in the Board's opinion,
substantial—such discretion being subject only to the statutory
limitation 3 that jurisdiction may not be declined where it would
have been asserted under the Board's self-imposed jurisdictional
standards prevailing on August 1, 1959. 4 Accordingly, before the
Board takes cognizance of a case, it must first be established that
it has legal or statutory jurisdiction ; i.e., that the business operations
involved "affect" commerce within the meaning of the Act.
It must also appear that the business operations meet the Board's
applicable jurisdictional standards.5
The following cases among those decided by the Board during
the report year involving issues concerning its jurisdiction are
of note.
A. Jurisdiction Over Dispute Involving State Agencies
In the City of Juneau case 6 the Board held that it had, and
should assert, jurisdiction in a proceeding where a union was
i See secs 9(c) and 10(a) of the Act and also definitions of "commerce" and "affecting commerce"
set forth in secs. 2(6) and (7), respectively. Under sec. 2(2), the term "employer"
does not Include the United States or any wholly owned Government corporation, any
Federal Reserve Bank, any State or political subdivision, any nonprofit hospital, any person
subject to the Railway Labor Act, or any labor organization other than when acting
as an employer. "Agricultural laborers" and others excluded from the term "employee"
as defined by sec. 2(3) of the Act are discussed, inter aho, in the Twenty-ninth Annual
Report (1964), p p . 52-55, and Thirty-first Annual Report (1966), p. 36.
2 See Twenty-fifth Annual Report (1960), p 18.
3 See sec. 14(c) (1) of the Act.
' These self-imposed standards are primarily expressed in terms of the gross dollar volume of
business in question.
5 While a mere showing that the Board's gross dollar volume standards are met is ordinarily
insufficient to establish legal or statutory jurisdiction, no further proof of legal or statutory
jurisdiction is necessary where it is shown that its "outflow-inflow" standards are
met. Twenty-fifth Annual Report (1960), pp. 19-20. But see Sioux Valley Empire Electric
Assn., 122 NLRB 92 (1958), as to the treatment of local public utilities
a Local 16, Intl. Longshoremen & Warehousemen's Union, 176 NLRB No. 121.
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