Wodaam Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 2, 1949

83 N.L.R.B. 335 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of WODAAM CORPORATION (RADIO STATION WOV) , EM-
PLOYER and RADIO & TELEVISION BROADCAST ENGINEERS UNION, LOCAL
1212, IBEW, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. O-RC-743.Decided May 2,1949
DECISION •
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held before War-
ren H. Leland, 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 this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations named below claim to represent em-
ployees 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 certification as the exclusive bargaining rep-
resentative of all radio technicians, including control room and trans-
mitter technicians, employed at the Employer's radio station, WOV.
The Intervenor, American Communications Association, CIO, urges
that the petition be dismissed on the ground that the employees in the
proposed unit do not constitute a homogeneous grouping of craft em-
ployees, and on the further ground that the history of collective bar-
gaining since December 1946 between the Intervenor and the Employer
covering a broader unit of employees renders a separate unit of radio
technicians inappropriate.
There are 14 employees in the proposed unit. Five work at the
transmitter and 9 work in the control room at the studio. The trans-
I The Intervenor urges that the petition , filed on October 1, 1948, be dismissed on the
ground that it was prematurely filed with respect to the contract between the Intervenor
and the Employer , which was dated August 12, 1948, and which by its terms expired on
March 15, 1949 . Because the expiration date of the agreement has now passed, we find
that the contract is not a bar to a present determination of representatives . Matter of
Pfeffer Manufacturing Company , 77 N. L. R. B. 1190.
83 N. L. R. B., No. 41.
335
336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mitter technicians operate the equipment associated with the trans-
mitter and assume responsibility for compliance with Federal regu-
lations. In addition, they do the maintenance work on the trans-
mitter equipment. Transmitter technicians must have considerable
radio engineering experience and are required to hold a license from
the, Federal Communications Commission. The transmitter techni-
cians are technical employees engaged in work of a highly skilled
nature.2
The control room technicians are responsible for the operation of
the radio equipment in the control room at the studio. Their work
is of the same general character as that of the transmitter technicians,
but they do not require the same degree of technical knowledge and
skill. Thus, it is not necessary for the control room technicians to
be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. However,
four of the nine control room technicians at the Employer's radio
station hold licenses from the Federal Communications Commission.
The Employer's general policy has been to hire experienced control
room technicians. Although, as a general rule, the maintenance work
on the control room equipment is done by the maintenance technician
or the control room supervisor, the other seven control room tech-
nicians are capable of making emergency repairs.
Both the control room and the transmitter technicians are in a
separate department under the supervision of the chief engineer. All
the technicians receive the same base pay. There is some interchange
of technicians between the studio and the transmitter. There is no
interchange of duties or functions between the technicians and other
employees. We find that the control room technicians and the trans-
mitter technicians together constitute a homogeneous departmental
group of technical employees.' The Board has recognized that tech-
nical employees because of their special interests, background, and
functions, are entitled to separate bargaining representation, despite
prior inclusion in broader units' Consistent with this practice, the
Board has usually found that separate units of radio technicians are
appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining .5 Accordingly,
since the unit petitioned for is a homogeneous, functionally coherent,
8 See Matter of Radio Stations WIAC et al., 80 N. L . It. B. 1395; Matter of Colorado
Radio Corporation, 55 N. L . It. B. 423 ; Matter of Marcus Loew Booking Agency, 3 N L.
R. B 380, 385
8 The Board , on many occasions , has found that control room and transmitter techni-
cians together constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. Matter of General Broadcasting
Co., 81 N. L. R. B. 442 ; Matter of Associated Electronic Enterprises , Inc., 80 N . L. R. B.
29; Matter of Western Gateway Broadcasting Corporation , 77 N. L. R. B. 49; Matter of
Radio Station WSB, 70 N. L . R B. 1168.
4 Matter of American Smelting and Refining Company, 80 N. L. R. B . 68; Matter of
Continental Motors Corporation , 73 N. L . R. B. 888; Matter of, E. I . QluPont de Nemours.d
Company, 69 N. L. It. B . 509; Matter of Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, 68
N. L. R. B. 153.
6 Footnote 3, supra.
WODAAM CORPORATION 337
departmental group of technical employees, we shall permit the em-
ployees in the proposed unit an opportunity to express their desires
with respect to separate representation, notwithstanding the history
of collective bargaining on a broader basis.
An issue was raised as to whether the so-called control room super-
visor and transmitter ssupervisor should be excluded from the unit
as supervisors. It was stipulated that the supervisory authority of
these two employees is the same. These employees are in charge of
operation and maintenance of the radio equipment at their respective
stations and preparation of duty schedules for the technicians. There
was evidence indicating that within the past 11/2 years the control.
room supervisor recommended the hiring and discharge of two em-
ployees. However, the control room supervisor testified that his
authority is limited to supervision of equipment and does not extend
to the supervision of personnel. The evidence considered as a whole
indicates that the exercise of supervisory authority by these employees
is, at most, sporadic in nature. We find that these employees are not
supervisors within the meaning of the Act.
We find that all the radio technicians, including the control room
supervisor and the transmitter supervisor, employed at the em-
ployer's radio studio at 730 Fifth Avenue, New York City, and at its
radio transmitter in Carlstadt, New Jersey, but excluding the chief
engineer and other supervisors as defined in the Act, may constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. However, we shall make no
final unit determination at this time, but shall first ascertain the de-
sires of these employees as expressed in the election hereirntfter di-
rected. If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to
have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION"
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses 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-Series 5, as amended
among the employees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
'Since American Communications Association , CIO, has not complied with the reg-
istration and filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the amended Act, we
shall not place its name on the ballot.
338 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 bargain-
ing, by Radio & Television Broadcast Engineers Union, Local 1212,
IBEW, AFL.