National Broadcasting Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 28, 1966

160 N.L.R.B. 1440 (N.L.R.B. 1966)

1440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
National Broadcasting Company, Inc. and National Association
of Broadcast Employees and Technicians , AFrL-CIO, CLC,
Petitioner. Case 2O-RC-6522. September 28, 1966
DECISIONS AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing
Officer Hector J. Lesca. 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 National
Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this -case to a three-member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Mem-
bers Brown and Zagoria].
Upon the entire record in this case,2 the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act and it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert juris-
diction herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent employees of
the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Sections 9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of newsmen who do not
do any on-the-air-broadcasting at the Employer's radio station
KNBR, KNBR-FM, San Francisco, California.' The Employer con-
tends that the requested unit is inappropriate on the grounds that a
majority of the employees therein are supervisors and those who are
not supervisors are more appropriately included in the existing unit
of newswriter-announcers 4 represented by American Federation of
Television and Radio Artists, hereinafter called AFTRA.5
Two of the newsmen sought are full-time deskmen, and two are
part-time deskmen. The full-time deskmen work the 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
i After the hearing and pursuant to Section 102 67 of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations , the Regional Director issued an order transferring the case
to the Board for decision
2 The Employer filed a brief with the Board, which brief has been made part of the
record in this case
3 On August 2, 1965 , NABET filed a petition for a unit of nine newswriters and
newswriter -announcers . On August 25, 1965 , it filed its first amended petition for a unit
of six newswriters who do not do on -the-air announcing
4 At present , the Employer has the following collective-bargaining agreements : A con-
tract with NABET coveting technical personnel including 16 radio engineers , a contract
with AFTRA covering actors, singers, announcers , and newscasteis ; and a contract with
the International Union of Operating Engineers , Stationary Local 39 , covering 2 watch-
engineers in air conditioning
5 AFTRA intervened in this proceeding for the purpose of protecting its interest in em-
ployees who make appearances "on-the-air " It does not claim to represent newsmen who
do no announcing.
160 NLRB No. 109.
NATIONAL BROADCASTING CO. 1441
and 4 p.m. to midnight shifts, and the two part-time deskmen relieve
them on weekends. During the midnight to 6 a.m. shift, there is only
one deskman on duty. At the time of the hearing, there were five
newsmen, each of whom regularly worked as a deskman for at least
part of his normal workweek.
The Employer's newsroom department operates under the direction
and control of Albert S. Burchard, manager of news. At full comple-
ment, the newsroom has 10 employees, 1 secretary, 3 reporter-
announcers, and 6 newsmen. All newsmen may serve as deskmen,
reporters in the field, telephone interviewers, and tape editors. They
are responsible for writing all of the news material broadcast over
the Employer's San Francisco radio facilities.
When serving as deskmen, newsmen have final responsibility for all
material broadcast over the air during their shifts as deskmen. They
edit material submitted by other newsmen and reporter broadcasters,
and in a case of a difference of opinion, the deskman's judgment con-
trols. The deskman has authority to reassign newsmen from previously
assigned story to a later breaking story and may in emergencies
call in newsmen who are off duty. Generally, however, in making
assignments, the deskman is required to conform the assignments to
the newsmen's regularly scheduled working hours. The deskmen have
no voice in scheduling such hours. Deskmen do not have authority to
hire or fire employees or to recommend personnel action except that
their opinion of other employees will be considered by Burchard in
evaluating employees or determining suitability for salary increases.
Burchard testified that he has never hired a man solely on the recom-
mendation of a deskman. He emphasized that he is in charge of the
newsroom, and has the responsibility for its operation, and that desk-
men are in charge during their shifts only by virtue of his authority
and under his direction.
Based on the foregoing, we reject the Employer's contention that
the deskmen are supervisors within the meaning of the Act. We are
satisfied from the record that the supervisory responsibility for the
operation of the newsroom has been lodged by the Employer solely in
the person and office of the news manager. Although Burchard has
delegated to the newsman while he is on the newsdesk some degree of
responsibility for the efficient functioning of the newsroom, we
believe such responsibility calls for the exercise of only such judg-
ment and the execution of only such tasks as appropriately fall within
the scope of the newswriting craft or profession rather than within
the area of supervisory responsibility relating to the work of
others. The functions of the deskman in editing copy, in determining
the content of broadcast material, and even in keeping newsmen
assigned to the most newsworthy stories, are but a part of the group
257-551-67-vol. 160-92
1442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
or team effort required for the production of up-to-the-minute, pro-
fessionally prepared news programs in keeping with the standards
maintained by the Employer. That such work is essentially produc-
tion rather than supervisory work seems all the clearer to us when we
consider that five of the six newsmen regularly perform work both
as deskmen and as newsmen under deskmen, and thus at different
times come under the direction of each other, depending upon which
one is performing as deskman at a particular time. In view of all the
foregoing, we find that the deskmen are not supervisors within the
meaning of the Act.6
We also reject the Employer's contention that the newsmen should
be included in the unit of actors, singers, announcers, and newscast-
ers. The newsmen do not perform on-the-air duties and, in any event,
the Union representing the "talent" unit does not seek to represent
the newsmen.
On the basis of the foregoing and the entire record in this case, we
find that the following employees constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) (2) of the Act.
All newsmen who do not do any on-the-air announcing employed
in the Newsroom Department of the Employer's radio station,
KNRB, KNRB-FM in San Francisco, California, excluding all
other employees.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 7
9 We do not view the deskmen's authority to make assignments to employees who are off
duty as establishing their supervisory status within the meaning of the Act. Such authority
is exercised only in emergencies, and such emergency duty is a normal and expected func-
tion of employees in this field . We thus view the exercise of the authority as little more
than routine. In any event, the record does not establish that it is exercised on other than
a sporadic basis
7 An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters,
must be filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 20 within 7 clays
after the date of this Decision and Direction of Election The Regional Director shall
make the list available to all parties to the election. No extension of time to file this list
shall be granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances Failure
to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever
proper objections are filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.
Exber, Inc., d/b/a El Cortez Hotel and American Federation of
Casino and Gaming Employees . Case 20-CA-3151. Septem-
ber 09, 1966
DECISION AND ORDER
On May 18, 1966, Trial Examiner Maurice S. Bush issued his Deci-
sion in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respondent
160 NLRB No. 115.