Carter Publications, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 8, 1951

92 N.L.R.B. 1190 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

In the Matter of CARTER PUBLICATIONS, INC., EMPLOYER and INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETI-
TIONER
Case No..16-RC-611.Decided Ja'ivuary 8, 1951
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before J. Carnie Russell,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit:
The Petitioner seeks a unit of all broadcast technicians and engi-
neers of the Employer at its Forth Worth, Texas, studios and trans-
mitters, and at its Arlington, Texas, transmitter, excluding office and
clerical employees, announcers , television dolly and lighting men,
and supervisors. The Employer agrees generally as to the compo-
sition of the unit except that it would exclude the Arlington trans-
mitter employees.
The Employer is a Texas corporation engaged in the publication
of newspapers and in the operation of Radio Station WBAP-AM,
FM, and TV, Fort Worth, Texas. The Employer's radio station and
transmitter operations only are involved in this proceeding. The
Employer and A. H. Belo Corporation,' which is not a party to this
proceeding, operate under licenses from the Federal Communications
I Hereinafter referred to as Belo.
92 NLRB No. 177.
1190
CARTER PUBLICATIONS, INC. 1191
Commission to broadcast for one-half the time in each 24 hours.'
In connection with these licenses, the Employer and Belo jointly
own the radio broadcasting transmitter and broadcast equipment at
Arlington, Texas. On April 26, 1947, the Employer and Belo entered
into agreements providing for the joint selection of a superintendent
to have charge of the joint facilities and the employees at such facili-
ties. The superintendent is subject to control and direction by both
employers, except that when either party is broadcasting it has ex-
clusive control over the superintendent, the employees under him, and
the joint facilities. The superintendent and the transmitter em-
ployees are paid from a common fund established by. the joint em-
ployers. Checks on this account may be drawn by the superintendent,
or jointly by Belo and the Employer.
Under all the foregoing circumstances, including the part played
by Belo in determining the terms and conditions of employment of
the transmitter employees at Arlington, we are of the opinion that
their inclusion in a unit with the Employer's studio and transmitter
employees at Fort Worth would be inappropriate for collective bar-
gaining purposes.3 However, we conclude that a unit confined to
the Fort Worth studios and transmitters is appropriate and we shall
direct an election in such unit.
We find that all broadcast technicians and engineers of the Em-
ployer at its WBAP-AM, WBAP-FM, and WBAP-TV studios and
transmitters at Fort Worth, Texas, excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, announcers, television dolly and lighting men, employees at
the Arlington, Texas, transmitter, and supervisors, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act 4
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
2 Belo operates Radio Station WFAA, Dallas, Texas.
I Cf. Joseph R. 0sherenko , 71 NLRB 418.
4 If, however , the Petitioner does not desire to participate in an election in such a unit
at this time , we shall permit it to withdraw its petition without prejudice upon notice
to the Regional Director within 10 days after the issuance of the Decision and Direction
of Election herein.