Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 27, 1971

188 N.L.R.B. 157 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

WESTINGHOUSE BROADCASTING CO. 157
Westinghouse Broadcasting Company , Inc.; and Amer-
ican Federation-of Television & Radio Artists, San
Francisco Local ;^Branch of Associated Actors & Art-
ists of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 20-
RC-9455'-
January 27, 1971
1 11.
'DECISION -AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND JENKINS "
Upon a petition duly,filed under Section 9(c) of the
Act by American Federation of Television & Radio
Artists; San Francisco Local, Branch -of Associated
Actors & Artists of America, AFL-CIO, on July 14,
1970, a hearing was held on August 27, 1970, before
Jerrold C. Schaefer, Hearing Officer of the National
Labor Relations Board. On October 2, 1970, the Re-
gional Director for Region 20 issued an order trans-
ferring the case to the Board. Thereafter, briefs were
timely filed by the Employer and Petitioner.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers
in connection with this case to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free
from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, 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 jurisdiction herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to repre-
sent certain employees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of certain employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Employer is an Indiana corporation with its
principal office in New York City. The Employer op-
erates television station KPIX in San Francisco,
which annually hasgross receipts in excess of $100,000
and annually purchases services valued in excess of
$50,000 from outside the State of California.
The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of all full-
time and part-time news producers. The Employer
contends that the requested unit is inappropriate for
collective-bargaining purposes because the news
producers are supervisors within the meaning of Sec-
tion 2(11) of the Act, and that the one desk assistant
sought to be included cannot by himself constitute an
appropriate unit.
The news department is under the overall supervi-
sion of the news director of KPIX who reports to the
program manager of the station. In addition,to the
director, the news department consists of an assistant
news director, an assignment editor, 7 news producers
(at issue here), a producer-director, 14 staff newsmen
(newscasters, reporters, sports reporter, 'weekend
sports reporter, and meteorologist), 2 film processors,
7 news cameramen, 6news film technicians, I desk
assistant,-and 1 production assistant. At the time of
the hearing the newsroom operated from 3 a.m. to
11:45 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 11:45 p.m.
on weekends. The news director's normal hours are
from9:15 a:m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The assistant news director's' normal hours are from
9:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. Monday through Friday. The
assignment editor's hours are from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday through Friday. The assignment editor oper-
ates the assignment desk which is the communications
center of the newsroom and assigns seven reporters
and seven cameramen to cover stories in the field as
they break. In the absence of the assignment editor,
the assignment desk is operated by a news producer.
The news department originates five half-hour
shows daily at 7 a.m., 12 noon, 6 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11
p.m., and two half-hour shows on both Saturday and
Sunday. Each daily news show has its own producer.
Two news producers are responsible for the four
weekend news programs.
Each news producer is completely responsible for
the content of his news program. To this end he re-
views the script prepared by the news reporters and
the film of the cameraman; determines which talent
(newscasters/reporters) will present what stories, in-
cluding the assignment of persons not scheduled; de-
cides the time for each news segment ; sets the places
for commercials; assigns news reporters the writing of
necessary story lead-ins, oversees the work of the film
processor; supervises the editing of the film techni-
cian; and reviews the total script of the program for
continuity, accuracy, and adherence to company poli-
cy.
Additionally, news producers review films from
"stringers" (free agents who offer news films for sale)
and decides whether to purchase such films. If string-
er films are purchased, the news producer contacts a
news processor at his home and-directs him to report
to work and process the film. The news producer su-
pervises the editing of stringer film by the news pro-
cessor . News processors are paid overtime for this
work.
Whenever a newsroom employee fails to report to
work for any reason, it is the responsibility of the news
producer to secure a replacement.
In the absence of the assignment editor, news pro-
ducers assign news reporters and cameramen to sto-
ries and reassign them as needed. They have the au-
thority to assign cameramen , reporters, film
188 NLRB No. 24
158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
processors, and film editors overtime work, and to call
employees in to work outside of their scheduled shifts.
News producers meet with the news director daily
to determine and formulate company policy deci-
sions . The discussion in these meetings include assign-
ment of news stories, company policy matters,
utilization of manpower, critique of the previous day's
programs , personnel problems, and evaluation and
review of the performance of employees.
News producers are considered by the employees as
part of management and the supervisory structure.
They are paid from the supervisory payroll-bi-
monthly instead of weekly as other employees. They
are eligible for participation in a management disabil-
ity plan, a right accorded only supervisory and man-
agement employees.
The news director has informed each news pro-
ducer that his is the "boss" of the newsroom and that
he is responsible for the entire content of the news
program and all the people that work on it.
Based on the foregoing and the record as a whole,
we are persuaded that the news producers responsibly
direct the work of other employees, and that they
possess other indicia of supervisory authority as noted
above. We therefore conclude and find that they are
supervisors within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the
Act.
Accordingly we will dismiss the petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.