Booth Radio Stations, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 23, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 964 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of Boom RADIO STATIONS , INC., EMPLOYER and DETROIT
CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTING ENGINEERS
,AND TECHNICIANS „ PETITIONER
Case Nos. 7-RC-118 and 7-RC-$5..-Decided September 23, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed,' hearings were held before a
hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing
officer's rulings made at the hearings are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer owns and operates two federally licensed radio
stations, one situated at Detroit, Michigan, under the call letters
WJLB and WJLB (FM), and the other in Flint, Michigan, under
the call letters WBBC.2
Radio station WBBC has a maximum directional range of 50 miles,
the area serviced being Flint, Michigan, and its environs. It is an
affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting Company, a national network.
Forty percent of WBBC's broadcasts originate with Mutual and 60
percent in the Flint station. The sponsors of the Mutual programs
are principally national advertisers, whereas sponsors of the local
broadcasts are local advertisers. Sixty percent of the local programs
consist of transcription broadcasts, the records coming from outside
the State of Michigan. WBBC's gross revenues are approximately
$9,000 per month.
Radio station WJLB and WJLB (FM) has a maximum radius of
25 miles, the area serviced being Detroit, Michigan, and a small
section of Ontario, Canada. It is an independent station not affiliated
' Since the issues in the two cases are closely related, we hereby consolidate them for the
purpose of decision
*Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray.
2 The Employer has been granted a permit for construction of station WBBC (FM).
79 N. L. R. B., No. 118.
964
BOOTH RADIO STATIONS, INC. 965,
with any national or State network. It broadcasts the Detroit Tigers
baseball games, including those played in other States. Approxi-
mately 92 percent of all broadcasts originate in Detroit, the remainder
being remote pick-ups. Of the broadcasts originating in Detroit, 80
percent are transcription broadcasts, the transcription recordings
being obtained outside the State of Michigan. Of all its advertising
less than 10 percent is sponsored by out-of-State business firms.
WJLB's annual gross revenue is $400,000.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.3
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent the
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute units appro-
priate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act:
(a) All full-time, licensed technicians at Station WBBC, Flint,
Michigan, excluding the chief engineer, the assistant chief engineer '4
and all other supervisors as defined in the Act.
(b) All full-time, licensed radio engineers and technicians at Sta-
tion WJLB and WJLB (FM), Detroit, Michigan, including the trans-
mitter supervisor,5 but excluding the chief engineer, the assistant
chief engineer, and all other supervisors as defined in the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, elections by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region, and subject to Sec-
tions 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the units
found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were em-
ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
this Direction of Elections, including employees who did not work dur-
a Matter of Tes;as Star Broadcasting Company, 67 N. L. R. B. 1033 ; Matter of Ashbacher
Radio Corporation, 60 N. L . R. B. 1003; Matter of KMOX Broadcasting Station, 10
N. L. R. B. 479.
4 The record shows that an assistant chief engineer is not employed at present , but the
employer contemplates hiring one in the near future.
5 The transmitter supervisor is primarily a supervisor of equipment rather than of per-
sons. He does not have the power effectively to recommend a change in the status of other
employees We find that he is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act.
809095-49-vo]. 79-62
966 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
prior to the date of the elections, and also excluding employees -on
strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Broad-
casting Engineers and Technicians.