Port Arthur College

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 20, 1950

92 N.L.R.B. 152 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of PORT ARTHUR COLLEGE, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL, BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL 'PORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 39-RC-224.-Decided November 20, 1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition, duly filed, . a hearing 7 was held before Chas., Y.
Latimer, 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Murdock and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Port Arthur College, herein called the Employer, is an educa-
tional institution in Port Arthur, Texas, organized under the laws
of the State of Texas as a nonprofit corporation. It conducts courses
in business and radio studies, and is operated under the direction of
the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The
Employer also owns and operates a radio station with the call letters
KPAC which is under license from the Federal Communications Com-
mission. The broadcasting studio of the station is located on the
college campus while its transmitter station is located 7 miles from
the campus. This proceeding is concerned only with the employees
attached to Station KPAC, which up to the present time has not been
used by the Employer for instructional purposes in connection with
its courses of study.
Station KPAC is affiliated with the Mutual Broadcasting System.
It utilizes the wire services of the Associated Press, the telephone serv-
ices of the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, and the time serv-
ices of Western Union. Approximately 471/2 percent of the station's
broadcasting time is devoted to national network or hook-up programs.
The reception range of Station.KPAC extends into Louisiana.
During the year preceding the date of the hearing, the gross revenues
of Station KPAC from broadcasting amounted to $147,000, of which
75 percent, derived from the sale of services and broadcast time to
advertising agencies and customers located outside the State of Texas.
92 NLRB No. 40.
152
:PORT . ARTHUR'. COLLEGE 153
The net earnings of Station KPAC are used. for the. upkeep and
improvement of the buildings and facilities of the college.
The Employer contends that the activities of its.radio station do
not subject it to the Board's jurisdiction because the earnings of the
station inure not to the benefit of private shareholders or individuals,
but to the college which is an educational institution operated by the
Methodist Church without profit. We do not agree with this conten-
tion: It is beyond question that the Employer's broadcasting activities
as carried on at Station KPAC are conducted on a commercial basis
for profit. That these profits are used to further the cultural objectives
of a nonprofit educational organization with religious affiliations does
not in our opinion alter the business character of the station's activi-
ties.' Accordingly, we find that as to the operation of Station KPAC,
the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act 2
We further find in accordance with our recently announced policy in
WBSR, Inc.,3 that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction in this case.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the college.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The petitioner seeks a unit composed of the transmitter station
technicians of. Station KPAC. In the alternative, it requests that
two units be established, one to consist of the transmitter station
technicians and the other to consist of all the employees at the broad-
casting studio of Station KPAC who operate and maintain the radio
control equipment. The Employer, on the other hand, urges as appro-
priate a single broad unit embracing both the transmitter station'
employees and all the employees who operate and maintain the radio
control equipment at the studio.
As previously noted, the transmitter station of Station KPAC is
7 miles from the broadcasting studio which is located on the college
campus. The transmitter station employs three technicians whose
function it is to operate and maintain the radio transmitting equip-
ment. These employees are required to be licensed by the Federal
Communications Commission. The broadcasting studio employs six
1 Nor do we believe that these circumstances support the Employer's claim that it is
not an employer within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly, we reject this claim and
find on the facts before us that the Employer is an employer within the meaning of the Act.
2 Illinois Institute of Technology et al., 81 NLRB 201 ; Henry Ford Trade School,. 58
NLRB 1535 ; Polish National Alliance v. N . L. R. B., 322 U. S . 643, affirming 136 F.
175 (C. A. 7).
1 91 NLRB 630.
154 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees to operate and maintain the radio equipment in the control
room, none of whom is licensed. These employees also work as an-
nouncers while they are on duty in the control room. Of this' group,
only three devote their full time to these dual functions. These three
employees are hereinafter referred to as operator-announcers.4 The
remaining three employees who devote only a part of their time to
their operator-announcer duties are separately discussed infra.
Although the operator-announcers and the transmitter station tech-
nicians are not interchanged, they work closely with each other in
order to achieve technical coordination. Both groups of employees
are under the supervision of the chief engineer. There is nothing in
the record to indicate that the Employer distinguishes between the
transmitter station technicians and the operator-announcers with
rega'rd to their general working conditions.
In recent cases involving the broadcasting industry, the Board
has found appropriate, units of transmitter station technicians and
operator-announcers, especially, where, as here, the employees form
a small closely knit group with common interests 5 Accordingly, we
find that the transmitter station technicians and the, operator-an-
nouncers of Station KPAC constitute an appropriate unit.'
The remaining question to be decided is whether or not to include
the three employees who function as operator-announcers only part
of the time. These employees are Pinell, Baxter, and Swanson.
Pinell spends 36 hours a week as an operator-announcer and devotes
the balance of his time to selling activities. Baxter works as an op-
erator-announcer for 101/2 hours per week and as a salesman for the
remainder of the time. Swanson devotes 121/4 hours per week to his
operator-announcer duties and divides the balance of his time between
selling and writing continuity. As these employees are regularly
assigned operator_announcer functions, we shall include them in the
unit but only for the purpose of collective bargaining as to their
operator-announcer work.7
We find that all the transmitter station technicians and all the
broadcasting studio employees who work as operator-announcers at
4 These employees are Razza, Earl, and Vines. Although regularly employed, Razza
works only about 221/2 hours per week at the studio.
, Radio Station IVCIL, 86 NLRB 1302; Associated Electronic Enterprises, Inc., 80 NLRB
295 ; Western Gateway Broadcasting Corporation, 77 NLRB 49.
6 We find no merit in the Petitioner's claim that difference in mode of payment between
the transmitter station technicians who are hourly paid and the operator-announcers who
are paid a salary is a reliable criterion for determining how these employees shall be
grouped. Geneva Forge, Inc., 90 NLRB No. 212; Wilson & Company, Inc., 64 NLRB 1124.
7 However, as Baxter and Swanson spend less than one-half their time in work which
qualifies them to be in the unit, we find that they are not eligible to vote in the election
hereinafter directed. Ridson, Inc. Radio Station WDSM, 91 NLRB No. 59; Delaware
Broadcasting Company, 82 NLRB 727.
PORT ARTHUR COLLEGE 155
the Employer's radio station KPAC in Port Arthur , Texas, excluding
all other employees and all supervisors as defined in the Act , constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]