Greensboro News Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 27, 1950

92 N.L.R.B. 245 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of GREENSBORO NEws COMPANY STATION WFMY-FM
AND WFMY-TV, EMPLOYER and NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROAD-
CAST ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS, PETITIONER
Case No. 34-RC-208.Decided November 97, 1950
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 John K. Pickens, 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, Reynolds, 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 Petitioner and the Employer agree that all technical em-
ployees at the Employer's Greensboro, North Carolina, television
studio, excluding office and clerical employees, program director,
chief engineer, producer, announcer, production manager, executives,
and all other supervisors, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit.
They agree that the engineers and the camera-technician are within
the technical unit. The Petitioner, however, would include in the
technical unit the cameraman-projectionist. The Employer, char-
acterizing this employee as a film editor, contends that his work is
not technical and urges that he be excluded from the unit. There has
been no bargaining history among these employees.
The cameraman-projectionist inspects, cleans, repairs, and prepares
film for projection. In preparing a reel which will run for several
hours, he cuts and splices the film, inserting commercial announce-
ments. This part of his work is under the direction of the program
92 NLRB No. 56.
245
246 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
director and consumes approximately 6 hours of his 8-hour day.
After a reel is used on a program, he reverses the process, removes
the commercials, restores the film and prepares it for shipment.
In addition to the above work, the cameraman-projectionist uncaps
and sets the lights and gets ready for the program. He loads the
projector with film, and may, on occasion, replace a lamp. He does
not, however, service or maintain the projector or replace tubes or
other worn-out parts. In loading and unloading the projector, or
starting and stopping it in the event of a film break, he works with
the cameraman-technician who is conceded by both parties to be in
the appropriate unit. During a live broadcast, the cameraman-pro-
jectionist focuses the camera upon the performer who appears before
a moving television camera. In film broadcasts, he focuses on a fixed
television camera. In performing this part of his job he works with,
and is constantly advised by, the engineer on duty, as to how a better
image may be obtained. The cameraman-projectionist receives $39
per week, whereas the engineers receive from $40 to $57.50 per week.
The cameraman-projectionist has had 4 months' training at a nontech-
nical school. No type of license is required for his work. All engi-
neers are required to have a license.
The Petitioner submitted Bight contracts with television stations
throughout the country and two network contracts with American
Broadcasting Company and National Broadcasting Company. In all
of these contracts the cameraman and/or projectionist was included
in the unit except where the unit excluding them was established be-
fore the Petitioner began bargaining for technicians.,
Although the cameraman-projectionist is not as highly skilled as
the engineers, considerable technical skill is required to perform his
job properly. In the instant case, the cameraman-projectionist per-
forms the work of film man, cameraman, and projectionist. His work
is closely integrated with that of the engineers; he enjoys the same
working conditions, and for at least 2 or 3 hours a day he is under the
supervision of the chief engineer. In television, the cameraman or
projectionist is but one of a group of technically trained employees
working as a cohesive team toward a common goal. In an earlier case
we included a projectionist in a technical unit of broadcasting em-
ployees.2 In view of these facts, and the fact that thus far cameramen
1 Contracts introduced into evidence showed that cameramen and film men had been
included in a unit with engineers at the following stations : WAGA ( Atlanta, Georgia)';
WTOP-TV (Washington. D. C.) ; WHAM, WHFM, and WHTM ( Rochester , New York) ;
WMAL, WMAL-TV, and WMAL-FM (Washington , D. C.) ; WLAV, WLAV-TV, and
WLAV-FM ( Grand Rapids, Michigan ) ; WWJ, WWJ-TV, and WWJ-FM ( Detroit, Michi-
gan); WGY, WPGC, WGEA, WGEO, WGEX, WRGB, and WGFM ( General Electric
Company , Schenectady , New York).
2 The Fort Industry Company, 88 NLRB 527; cf . KMTR Radio Corporation (KLAC-
TV), 85 NLRB 99.
GREENSBORO NEWS COMPANY STATION WFMY-FM AND WFMY-TV 247
and,/or projectionists have generally been included in an over-all
technical unit in the television broadcasting industry, we shall include
the Employer's cameraman-projectionist in the appropriate unit .a
We find that all technical employees at the Employer's Greensboro,
North Carolina, television studio, including the cameraman-projec-
tionist, but excluding office and clerical employees, program director,
chief engineer, producer, announcer, production manager, executives,
and all other supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
8 Although Member Houston dissented on the issue of unit placement of projectionist
in the Fort Industry case, he feels bound by the majority decision in that case, and
concurs in the result here.