WDXB Broadcasting Station

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 18, 1949

85 N.L.R.B. 752 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of JOE V. WILLIAMS, JR., D/B/A WDXB BROADCASTING
STATION, EMPLOYER and RADIO WORKERS, LOCAL 662, INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERII00D OP ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 10-RC-601.-Decided August 18, 1949
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon an amended petition duly filed, a hearing was held before
Jerold B. Sindler, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby afTirmed.
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
Houston and Murdock].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer has owned and operated a radio station in Chatta-
nooga, Tennessee, with a power output of 250 watts, under license
from the Federal Communications Commission, since July 4, 1948.
The station is not affiliated with a national broadcasting system.
In addition to the studio in Chattanooga, the Employer has a trans-
mitter located outside the city about 5 miles from the Tennessee-
Georgia State line, which serves an area approximately 35 miles in
radius. The Employer transmits one regular church broadcast from
outside the State, and occasionally special broadcasts, such as football
games, which originate outside the State. The Employer subscribes
to the wire services of The International News Service at a cost of
about $200 per month, and rents wire facilities from Southern Bell
Telephone Company, at a monthly rental of about $600, for the trans-
mission of remote broadcasts: The Employer pays royalties to
ASCAP, and to various companies located in New York City.
The Employer's gross revenue from January 1 to June 30, 1949,
was approximately $40,000. About $50 per month is derived from
sales of advertising to firms located outside the State of Tennessee, and
$160 per month for the church broadcast originating outside the State.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.'
' See Matter of Western Gateway Broadcasting Corporation , 77 N. L. R. B. 49; Matter
of Mike Benton, d/b/a General Broadcasting Co., 81 N. L. R. B. 422.
85 N. L. It. I3., No. 134.
752
WDXB BROADCASTIIIG STATION 753
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization, claiming to represent cer-
tain employees 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 seeks a unit composed of all the engineers and
operators, excluding employees not engaged in technical work, clerical
employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors. The Em-
ployer contends that engineers, operators, and announcers should be
included in any unit found appropriate.
The Employer has six employees who work as engineer-operators
under the direction of the chief engineer of the station.2 There is no
specific job classification as engineer or as operator in the station;
technicians working at the transmitter are generally referred to as
engineers, and those operating the control board and the record turn-
table in the studio as control operators. There are three employees
who work almost exclusively as control operators, and who have had no
previous radio experience, though they have had some schooling in
technical work. Two men work for the most part at the transmitter;
and one man, as well as the chief engineer, works on both the trans-
mitter and studio equipment.
There are three full-time announcers and two part-time announcers
who read script and announce programs. One of them is licensed as
an operator by the FCC and has worked as an engineer and operator
at other stations, but none of them has operated the control board or
turntable at the Employer's station. Announcers and engineer-opera-
tors receive approximately' the same rate of pay and have the same
general working conditions.
The Employer contends that a small independent radio station can-
not.operate efficiently with announcers and operators functionally
separated; that announcers should operate record turntables and the
control board; and that announcers, therefore, should be included in
a unit of technicians. However, as the Employer has not established
an integrated operation, but has assigned announcers exclusively to
announcing, and technicians exclusively to control board, turntable,
and engineering work, we shall exclude the announcers from the unit in
accordance with the Union's request. Control room operators, who do
no announcing, are properly included in the unit with the transmitter
technicians, even though they are less skilled than such technicians .3
2 One of the operators was in the hospital at the time of the hearing. The Employer
expects him to return to work.
2 Matter of Sunshine Broadcasting Company, et at., 83 N. L. R. B. 1244 ; Matter of
Wodaam Corporation, 83 N. L. R. B. 335; Matter of Mike Benton, d/b/a General Broad-
casting Co ., 81 N. L. R . B. 422.
754 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Accordingly, we find that engineers and operators at the Em-
ployer's broadcasting station, Chattanooga, Tennessee, excluding em-
ployees not engaged in technical work, the chief engineer,' and clerical
employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors 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 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, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were em-
ployed during the pay-roil 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 who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by Radio Workers, Local 662, International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, AFL.
4 The Petitioner would include and the Employer exclude the chief engineer from the
bargaining unit. The record reveals that he has recommended the hiring of two of the
present employees and the discharge of another , and that he responsibly directs the
employees in his department. Therefore we shall exclude him from the unit as a
supervisor.