General Broadcasting Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 31, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 422 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of MIKE BENTON, D/E/A GENERAL BROADCASTING CO.,
EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELL'CTRICAI.
WORKERS, LOCAL 1193 (A. F. OF L.), PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-337.-Decided January 31, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
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 interposed an answer herein denying that he is
engaged in interstate commerce. He operates a radio broadcasting
station in Atlanta, Georgia, on AM and FM wave lengths, known as
Stations WBGE and WBGE-FM, respectively, under license from the
Federal Communications Commission. The station is heard not only
in Georgia, but in other States. A substantial number of the station's
programs are devoted to the broadcast of sporting events which take
place outside the State of Georgia. Descriptions of such events are
generally received by the Employer by telegraph or by other means,
and thereafter broadcast. The Employer occasionally makes direct
broadcasts of out-of-the-State sporting events. Local programs
consist largely of the broadcast of electrical transcriptions. These
' At the hearing, on November 9, 1948, a date agreed upon by the Employer and his
attorney, the Employer's attorney made a motion to adjourn the hearing until November
18, 1948, on the ground that he had a trial engagement in the Civil Court, Fulton County,
Georgia. The hearing officer adjourned the hearing until the following day and denied
counsel's motion for a longer adj ournment, but subject to renewal on the following day.
On the day to which the hearing had been adjourned , neither the Employer , his attorney,
nor other representative appeared, and no further request for adjournment of the hearing
was made. The hearing, therefore, proceeded without the Employer being represented.
Under the circumstances , we believe the hearing officer did not abuse his discretion in
proceeding with the hearing as aforesaid.
*Reynolds, Murdock, and Gray
81 N. L. R B., No. 73.
422
GENERAL BROADCASTING CO. 423
transcriptions are produced and manufactured outside the State of
Georgia. The Employer obtains its news ticker service through the
Press Association, a radio subsidiary of the Associated Press, which
gathers news on a Nation-wide basis and has transmission outlets in
various sections throughout the United States. The Employer adver-
tises in "Broadcast," a trade magazine which has a national circulation.
A considerable portion of the Employer's revenue is obtained from the
broadcast of commercial programs for companies selling nationally
advertised products such as Fels-Naptha soap, Ruppert beer, Adams
hats, Ford motors, Old Gold cigarettes, and Sinclair oil. National
accounts are handled for the Employer by a New York advertising
.agency. We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that he
is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act 2
2. The labor organization named below claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain 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 a unit ap-
propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All studio technicians and transmitter
technicians at the Employer's Atlanta, Georgia, Radio Stations
WBGE and WBGE-FM, excluding the chief engineer and all other
supervisors as defined in the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered
4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or
on vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees
f Matter of West Central Broadcasting Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 366 ; Matter of Western
Gateway Broadcasting Corporation , 77 N. L . R. B. 49; Matter of Station WBRE, 57 N. L.
B. B. 1611 ; Matter of Los Angeles Broadcasting Company, Inc., 4 N L R. B. 443.
424 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been
rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement , to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of
collective bargaining , by International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers , Local 1193 (A. F. of L.).