Muscle Shoals Broadcasting Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 17, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 171 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of MUSCLE SHoALS BROADCASTING COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and RADIO BROADCAST TECHNICIANS LOCAL UNION No. 1564 OF THE
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS (AFL),
PETITIONER
Case No. 10-R-,2561.Decided June 17, 1947
Mr. Henry B . Clay, of Muscle Shoals City, Ala., for the Employer.
Mr. Benjamin B. Lipton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon an amended petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held
at Tuscumbia, Alabama, on April 9, 1947, before Charles M. Paschal,
Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.:,
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Muscle Shoals Broadcasting Corporation is an Alabama corporation
engaged in operating Radio Station WLAY at Muscle Shoals City,
Alabama. Its annual advertising amounts to between $50,000 and
$75,000, more than $10,000 of which consists of national advertising.
Approximately 29 percent of its broadcasting time is devoted to pro-
grams originating with Mutual Broadcasting Company with which
it is affiliated, and an additional 3 percent of its time is devoted to
broadcasting United Press Release News. The Employer operates
18 hours a day on 250 watts and its signal can be heard within a radius
of 40 miles which includes a portion of the States of Tennessee and
Mississippi.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
1 All formal pleadings were amended at the hearing to show the correct name of the
Employer. The Petitioner failed to appear at the hearing.
74 N. L. B. B., No. 36.
171
172 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the°Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
1V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Petitioner seeks a unit of the Employer's announcer -engineers?
The Employer contends that such a unit is inappropriate because (1)
there is only one employee in the unit at the present time, and (2) in
any event the unit does not include announcer-operators who perform
essentially the same duties as announcer-engineers.
All of the Employer's broadcasting activities are conducted in one
small building. The broadcasting studio and transmitter are located
in one room , separated only by a glass partition. The announcer-
engineer announces the regular shows, operates the control board,
runs the turntables, cuts transcriptions, and pulls and files records.
In addition, every half-hour he is required to take readings on the
transmitter and other engineering equipment of the station. How-
ever, testimony indicates that only 1 percent of this employee's time
is consumed in taking such readings. The announcer-engineer is
licensed by the Federal Communications Commission which requires
the radio station to have a first-class radio telephone licensee present
during all operating periods of the station. Only one such employee
is employed at the present time.'
The Employer also employs three announcer-operators who are
trainees under the G. I. Bill of Rights.' Except for the half-hourly
readings on the transmitter and other equipment which only a Fed-
eral Communications Commission licensee can take, the duties of an-
nouncer-operators and announcer-engineers are the same. At the
end of a 2-year training period, these trainees will be qualified to
receive a first-class Federal Communication Commission license at
which time the Employer will offer them continuous employment as
'First-class licensed radio telephone technicians.
8 One announcer -engineer resigned subsequent to the filing of the petition herein. The
Employer intends to replace him as soon as someone with equal qualifications becomes
available. -
4 Servicemen 's Readjustment Act, as amended , Public Law 346, 79th Congress.
MUSCLE SHOALS BROADCASTING COMPANY 173
announcer-engineers. The general manager of the station hires all
employees and all are subject to discharge by the general manager or
the chief engineer.
The record is clear that there is substantially no difference between
the duties and general working conditions of the announcer-engineers
and the announcer-operators. The fact that the latter are G. I.
trainees is no reason for excluding them from the appropriate unit.5
On the basis of the entire record, we are of the opinion that the unit
of all announcer-engineers and announcer-operators of the Employer
is appropriate.6
Accordingly, we find that all announcer-engineers and announcer-
operators of the Employer at Radio Station WLAY, Muscle Shoals
City, Alabama, excluding the chief engineer, and all other supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively rec-
ommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Muscle Shoals Broadcasting
Company, Muscle Shoals City, Alabama, an election by secret ballot
shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Sections 203.55 and 203.56 of National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations-Series 4, 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, in-
cluding employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because
they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em-
ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves
in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated
prior'to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by Radio Broadcast Technicians Local Union No.
1564 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (AFL),
for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
6 Matter of The Plaster Corporation , 72 N. L. R. B. 1341 ; Matter of Westbrook Manu-
facturing Co., 72 N. L R. B 851.
6 Matter of Atlanta Journal Company, d/b/a Radio Station WSB , 70 N. L. R. B. 1168.