WTVO Television Station

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 27, 1969

177 N.L.R.B. 126 (N.L.R.B. 1969)

126 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Winnebago Television Corp., d/b/a WTVO
Television Station and Local 1220, International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO.
Case 38-CA-614
June 27, 1969
DECISION AND ORDER
By CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
On May 8, 1969, Trial Examiner Herbert
Silberman issued his Decision in the above-entitled
proceeding, finding that the Respondent had
engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor
practices and recommending that it cease and desist
therefrom and take certain affirmative action, as set
forth in the attached Trial Examiner' s Decision.
Thereafter, the Respondent filed exceptions to the
Trial Examiner's Decision and a supporting brief
and the General Counsel filed a brief in support of
the Trial Examiner's Decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a
three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial
Examiner made at the hearing and finds that no
prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are
hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Trial
Examiner's Decision, the exceptions and brief, and
the entire record in this case, and hereby adopts the
findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the
Trial Examiner.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended , the National Labor
Relations Board hereby adopts as its Order the
Recommended Order of the Trial Examiner and
orders that the Respondent , Winnebago Television
Corp., d/b/a WTVO Television Station , Rockford,
Illinois , its officers , agents, successors , and assigns,
shall take the action set forth in the Trial
Examiner ' s Recommended Order.
TRIAL EXAMINER'S DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
HERBERT SILBERMAN, Trial Examiner: Upon a charge
filed on February 4, 1969, Local 1220, International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO , herein
called the Union, a complaint dated February 13, 1969,
was duly issued alleging that Winnebago Television Corp.,
d/b/a WTVO Television Station , herein called the
Respondent , has engaged in and is engaging in unfair
labor practices within the meaning of Sections 8(a)(l) and
(5) and 2(6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act,
as amended . In substance , the complaint alleges that on
January 17, 1969, the Union was duly certified as the
exclusive collective-bargaining representative of
Respondent's employees in an appropriate unit, and that
since said date Respondent has refused and is refusing to
recognize and to bargain with the Union as such exclusive
bargaining representative , although the Union has
requested and is requesting it to do so. Respondent's
answer, as amended at the hearing, denies that it has
violated the Act. Respondent's defense, in substance, is
that in the underlying representation proceeding the Board
erred with respect to the unit which it found appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining and, more
specifically, that the Board's findings of fact therein were
not supported by substantial evidence and the Board's
decision was arbitrary and capricious. A hearing in this
proceeding was held on April 17, 1969, in Rockford,
Illinois.
Upon the entire record in the case, I make the
following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Respondent , an Illinois corporation , operates a
television broadcasting station in Rockford, Illinois.
During the 12 months preceding the issuance of the
complaint, which period is representative of Respondent's
business activities, Respondent sold goods and services
valued in excess of $50,000 to customers located outside
the State of Illinois, and purchased and received goods
and services valued in excess of $50,000 from suppliers
located outside the State of Illinois. During the same
period, Respondent, in the course and conduct of its
operations, derived a gross income in excess of $500,000.
Respondent admits, and I find, that it is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of
the Act.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Union is a labor organization within the meaning
of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
After a hearing in the consolidated cases numbered
38-RC-567 and 38-RC-568, following petitions duly filed
by the Union under Section 9(c) of the Act, the Regional
Director for Region 13 issued a Decision, Order and
Direction of Election dated November 18, 1968, in which
he found appropriate for collective bargaining the
following unit of Respondent's employees:
All news department employees, including news
cameramen , news reporters , news writers and news
editor , but excluding the newscaster , supervisors as
defined in the Act and all other employees.
On November 29, 1968, Respondent filed with the
Board a request for review of the unit determination. On
or about January 9, 1969, the Board issued its denial of
said request for review.
On January 9, 1969, pursuant to the Decision and
Direction of Election, an election was held in which two
valid votes were cast for the Union, no vote was cast
against the Union, and one vote was challenged. On
January 17, 1969, said Regional Director certified the
Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative
177 NLRB No. 25
WINNEBAGO TELEVISION CORP.
of the employees in the above-described unit.
On January 17, 1969, and on various dates thereafter,
the Union requested Respondent to bargain collectively
with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment,
and other terms and conditions of employment for the
employees in the above-described unit . At all times since
said date Respondent has refused to bargain collectively
with the Union. On January 31, 1969, Respondent's
attorney and agent wrote the Union a letter which, in
pertinent part, reads as follows:
This will confirm our phone conversation of January
30, 1969, in which I informed you as legal
representative of Winnebago Television Corporation
that the management of WTVO will not enter into
collective bargaining negotiations with your union.
The reason for the refusal to bargain is that
Winnebago Television Corporation believes that the
ruling by the Labor Board in which they found the unit
to be appropriate is erroneous and contrary to other
established legal precedents.
Upon the foregoing, I find that the Union was duly
certified by the Board as the collective-bargaining
representative of the employees of Respondent in the
appropriate unit described above and that the Union at all
times since January 17, 1969, has been, and now is, the
exclusive bargaining representative of all the employees in
the aforesaid unit, within the meaning of Section 9(a) of
the Act. I further find that Respondent since January 17,
1969, has refused to bargain collectively with the Union as
the exclusive representative of its employees in the
appropriate unit and that by such refusal Respondent has
engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices within
the meaning of Section 8(a)(1) and (5) of the Act.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES UPON
COMMERCE
The activities of the Respondent set forth in section III,
above, occurring in connection with its operations
described in section I, above, have a close, intimate, and
substantial relationship to trade, traffic, and commerce
among the several States and tend to lead to labor
disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free
flow of commerce.
V. THE REMEDY
Having found that the Respondent has engaged in
unfair labor practices , I shall recommend that it cease and
desist therefrom and that it take certain affirmative action
designed to effectuate the policies of the Act.
As I have found that the Respondent has refused to
honor the Certification of Representative issued by the
Board , and in order to insure that the employees in the
appropriate unit will have the opportunity to enjoy the full
benefits that may be derived from their selection of a
bargaining agent as contemplated by the Act, I
recommend that the initial year of certification be deemed
to begin on the date that the Respondent commences to
bargain in good faith with the Union as the recognized
bargaining representative for the employees in the
appropriate unit . See Mar-Jac Poultry Company, Inc.,
136 NLRB 785; Commerce Company d/b/a Lamar
Hotel, 140 NLRB 226, 229 , enfd . 328 F .2d 600 (C.A. 5),
cert. denied 379 U.S. 817.
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and
upon the entire record in this case , I make the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
127
1. All news department employees at Respondent's
television broadcasting station in Rockford, Illinois,
including news cameramen, news reporters, news writers,
and news editor, but excluding the newscaster, supervisors
as defined in the Act, and all other employees constitute a
unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act.
2. Since January 17, 1969, and at all times material
herein, Local 1220, International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, has been the exclusive
collective-bargaining representative within the meaning of
Section 9(a) of the Act of the employees in the
above-described unit.
3. By refusing, on and after January 17, 1969, to
bargain collectively with the Union as the exclusive
representative of the employees in the aforesaid
appropriate unit, Respondent has engaged in and is
engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of
Section 8(a)(5) of the Act.
4. By the aforementioned refusal to bargain,
Respondent has interfered with, restrained, and coerced
and is interfering with, restraining, and coercing
employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them in
Section 7 of the Act, and has thereby engaged in and is
engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of
Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
5. The aforesaid unfair labor practices are unfair labor
practices affecting commerce within the meaning of
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Upon the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of
law and upon the entire record in the case, and pursuant
to Section 10(c) of the Act, I hereby recommend that
Winnebago Television Corp., d/b/a WTVO Television
Station, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively with Local 1220,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
AFL-CIO, as the exclusive collective-bargaining
representative of its employees in the following
appropriate unit:
All news department employees, including news
cameramen , news reporters, news writers and news
editor, but excluding the newscaster, supervisors as
defined in the Act and all other employees.
(b) In any like or related manner interfering with,
restraining , or coercing employees in the rights guaranteed
them by Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action, which is
deemed necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Upon request, bargain collectively concerning rates
of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions
of employment with Local 1220, International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, as the
exclusive representative of all the employees in the
appropriate unit described above, and, if an agreement is
reached, embody it in a signed contract.
(b) Post at its place of business in Rockford, Illinois,
copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix."' Copies
'In the event that this Recommended Order is adopted by the Board, the
words "a Decision and Order" shall be substituted for the words "the
Recommended Order of a Trial Examiner " in the notice. In the further
128 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of said notice , on forms provided by the Officer-in-Charge
for Subregion 38, after being duly signed by its
representative , shall be posted by the Respondent,
immediately upon receipt thereof , and be maintained by it
for 60 consecutive days thereafter , in conspicuous places,
including all places where notices to employees are
customarily posted . Reasonable steps shall be taken by
Respondent to insure that said notices are not altered,
defaced , or covered by any other material.
(c) Notify said Officer-in-Charge , in writing , within 20
days from the receipt of this Decision , what steps have
been taken to comply herewith.'
event that the Board ' s Order is enforced by a decree of a United States
Court of Appeals , the words "a Decree of the United States Court of
Appeals Enforcing an Order" shall be substituted for the words "a
Decision and Order."
'In the event that this Recommended Order is adopted by the Board,
this provision shall be modified to read - "Notify said Officer-in-Charge, in
writing, within 10 days from the date of this Order , what steps Respondent
has taken to comply herewith."
WE WILL, upon request , bargain collectively with
Local 1220, International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, AFL-CIO, as the exclusive bargaining
representative of all the employees in the bargaining
unit described below concerning rates of pay, wages,
hours of employment, and other conditions of
employment , and, if an understanding is reached,
embody it in a signed agreement . The bargaining unit
is:
All news department employees , including news
cameramen , news reporters , news writers and news
editor, but excluding the newscaster , supervisors as
defined in the Act , and all other employees.
Dated By
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
Pursuant to the Recommended Order of a Trial
Examiner of the National Labor Relations Board and in
order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended , we hereby notify our
employees that:
WINNEBAGO TELEVISION
CORP., D/B/A WIVO
TELEVISION STATION
(Employer)
(Representative ) (Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days
from the date of posting and must not be altered , defaced,
or covered by any other material.
If employees have any question concerning this notice
or compliance with its provisions , they may communicate
directly with the Board ' s Subregional Office, Fourth Floor
Citizens Building , 225 Main Street , Peoria , Illinois 61602,
Telephone 309-673-9061 , Extension 282.