Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 27, 1943

47 N.L.R.B. 1225 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC., and INTER-
NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFFILIATED WITH
THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. B-4836.-Decided February 27, 1943
Jurisdiction : radio broadcasting industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : recog-
nition refused without Board's certification ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all regular and part-time staff an-
nouncers employed by company at its Minneapolis and St. Paul station,
excluding all other employees who occasionally act as announcers.
Messrs. A. E. Joscelyn and Hugh McCortney, both of Minneapolis,
Minn., for the Company.
Messrs. J. C. McCowen, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Lawson
Wimberly, of Washington, D. C., for the IBEW.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
herein., called., the, IBEW, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (Station WCCO), Minneapolis,
Minnesota, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board 'provided for an appropriate hearing before Harry
Brownstein, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Minneapolis,
Minnesota, on February 4, 1943. The Company and the IBEW
appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine' and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error' and -are ' hereby
affirmed. . '
The IBEW filed a brief which the Board has considered. ' '
47 N. L. R. B., No. 147.
1225
1226 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
i
FINDINGS OF FACT
I.. THE • BUSINESS OF THE .COMPANY•
Columbia Broadcasting System is a New York corporation with
its principal place of business in New York City. It owns and oper-
ates several radio stations, one of which, operating under the call letters
WCCO, is located'in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a branch in St. Paul,
Minnesota. We are concerned herein with the Company's operation
of Station WCCO, which is operated under a license from the Federal
Communications Commission. WCCO broadcasts programs supplied
by the Columbia Broadcasting System as well as locally produced
programs. WCCO is on a Nation-wide hook-up between 10 and 12
hours daily, in which case the programs emanate from points outside
the State -of 'Minnesota. ' We find.that the Company, with respect to
its operation of Station WCCO, is engaged in, commerce within the
meaning of. the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE" ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company refuses to`'recognize the IBEW as bargaining rep-
resentative for certain.of its employees unless certified by the Board.
A statement of the 'Regional Director, introduced in evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the IBEW represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.':
, We find.that a, question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7.) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The. IBEW, contends that the appropriate unit should consist of
"all,, staff announcers and others who occasionally perform an. an-
nouncer's work.", The Company contends that the,unit.should consist
of. staff, announcers only. ; ; . .
' The Regional Director reported that the IBEW submitted eight application cards,
bearing apparently genuine original signatures , containing names appearing upon the
pay roll of the Company of January 18, 1943. Said pay roll contained seven names in
the appropriate unit.
{ COLUMBIA BROADCASTITTG SYSTEM, Iik. 1227
The `cisputed group contains three employees.' One of'these, Brock,
is a part-time N orker who is employed as a Master of Ceremonies on
an early morning program which he announces and produces. He
gives station identifications, reads commercials on this program, and
because of this, appears regularly on the announcers' schedules. In
addition to this, he works a relief shift as a stand-by announcer from
1 a. in. to 6 a. In. on Saturdays. It appears that he may be considered
a part-tine staff announcer. We shall include him within t1le unit.
The other two disputed employees, Douglas McNamee and Max
Karl Schiffmann, are listed in the records of the Company as Assist
ant Production Manager and Assistant Director attached to the Pro-
duction Department, respectively. Announcing is incidental to and
not an integral part of their duties, and takes up a comparatively
small portion of their total workweek. These men 'are paid at a
higher rate than all staff announcers save one. They do not receive
overtime pay, whereas staff announcers do. Their, workweek is con-
siderably longer than that of the staff announcers. Schiffmann, at
least, is considered a junior executive, although he does not have the
right to hire or discharge. We shall exclude them from the unit.
In accordance with the above, we find that all regular and part-
cime staff announcers employed by the Company at its Minneapolis
and St. Paul, Minnesota, station (Station WCCO), excluding all other
employees who occasionally act as announcers, constitute a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec-
tion herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III; Section 9. of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that; as part of the-investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Columbia Broad-
casting System, Inc. (Station WCCO), Minneapolis, Minnesota, an
election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but
1228 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RElLATIONS BOARD
not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eight-
eenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
.Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, ofnsaid Rules
and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate
in Section IV above, who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including any such
employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees
in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in
person at the polls, but excluding any who have since- quit or been
discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to' be
represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affili-
ated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
MR. WM. M. LEISERSON took no part- in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.