Don Lee Broadcasting System

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 27, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 204 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of THOMAS S. LEE ENTERPRISES, INC., DOING BUSINESS
AS DON LEE BROADCASTING SYSTEM, EMPLOYER and AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF GUARDS, LOCAL 1, PETITIONER -
Case No. 21-RC-379.-Decided August 27, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. 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 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 is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. No 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, for the following
reasons:
Petitioner seeks a unit of a single individual, Richter, who, it con-
tends, is4,guard.' The Employer denies.that Richter is a guard.
Until May 17, 1948, the Employer had contracted with the Califor-
nia Building Maintenance Company to perform its janitorial and
custodial work. The Maintenance Company also operated as a detec-
tive agency licensed by the State of California. The Maintenance
Company hired Richter and stationed him at the Employer's televi-
sion broadcasting station to clean the buildings and maintain the
grounds. Richter had no regular patrol duties, but, if the occasion
* Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 27.
204
DON LEE BROADCASTING SYSTEM 205
arose, he was expected to warn trespassers off the grounds. On May
17, 1948, the Employer terminated its contract with the Maintenance
Company and retained Richter as its own employee to do the same
work as before.
The record is clear that Richter spends the greater part of his time
as an ordinary janitor and only a small part as a guard. In these
circumstances, we find that Richter is not a guard within the meaning
of the Act.' As an ordinary maintenance employee, he belongs in
the same unit with other production and maintenance employees, and
the separate unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate. Accord-
ingly, we shall dismiss the petition 2
ORDER
-Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, and upon the entire
record in this proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board hereby
orders that the petition for investigation and certification of repre-
sentatives of employees of Thomas S. Lee Enterprises, Inc., doing
business as Don Lee Broadcasting System, Los Angeles, California,
filed herein by American Federation of Guards, Local 1, be, and it
hereby is, dismissed.
'.Matter of Central Sash and Door Co., 77 N. L. R. B. 418; Matter of Warwick Lumber
Co., 78 N. L. R. B. 107.
2 In view of our disposition of the case , we find it unnecessary to pass upon the question
of whether or not a one -man unit may be appropriate under Section 9 (b) of the Act.