American Broadcasting Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 30, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 100 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

100 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and upon the entire record ill
the case, the undersigned makes the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAw
1. United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, United Elec-
trical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, and Steel, Metal and Alloy
Warehousemen and Handlers' Union, Local 785 of the International Brother-
hood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations within the
meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act.
2. By contributing support and assistance to Steel, Metal and Alloy Ware-
housemen and Handlers' Union, Local 785 of the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Respondent
has engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning
of Section 8 (a) (2) of the Act.
3. By discriminating in regard to the hire and tenure of employment of
Charles Todd, thereby discouraging membership in a labor organization, Re-
spondent has engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8 (a) (3) of the Act.
4. By interfering with, restraining, and coercing its employees in the exercise
of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act, Respondent has engaged in
and is engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8 (a) (1)
of the Act.
5. The unfair labor practices aforesaid are unfair labor practices affecting
commerce within the meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
[Recommended Order omitted from publication in this volume.]
AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY (KGO-TV) and NATIONAL Asso-
CIATION OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS, SAN FRANCISCO
CHAPTER, PETITIONER. Oa,9e No. 20-RC-1014. April 30, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Harry V. Bamford,
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 Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Styles].
i The Employer moved at the hearing to dismiss the petition on the ground that many
of the employees in the proposed unit are supervisors. Inasmuch as the exclusion of
those individuals found to be supervisors does not substantially affect the makeup of
the unit requested, we find that the Employer's motion to dismiss is without merit.
Accordingly, we deny the motion. Compare American Broadcasting Company, Inc.
(ICECA-TV), 93 NLRB 1410. The supervisory status of the employees in dispute-
is discussed in paragraph 4, infra.
94 NLRB No. 26.
AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY (KGO-TV) 101
Upon the entire -record in this case, the Board finds : 2
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the -meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain
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 of all .employees in the Employer's
program department at San Francisco, California, including all TV
directors,, program assistants, the film.editor, the assistant-Alm editor,
the art director, -the , assistant art directors, and the program coordi-
nator, but excluding all clerical employees and supervisors as defined
in -the Act. The 'Employer contends 'that its program department
,is divided •into•separate divisions and that all of the employees in the
various divisions -should not the grouped into one bargaining unit.
The Employer ,would,have'the Board establish a separate -unit for
,each of the following groups: (a) Program assistants,who aid in
,the direction. of:programs; (b) program assistants who act in tthe
capacity of stagehands;, (c) program assistants.who help in the art
department, constructing and- handling scenery; and (d) - film depart-
ment employees and'the program 'coordinator. 'There is.no bargain-
ing history with:respect-to the employees in- the-requested unit.
The Employer's -television, operations,. including its , broadcasting
studio, an auxiliary studio, -a control 'room,,,a; projection room, -and a
,number of divisional, offices,•:are all. located in one. building. Except
for` the work in connection-.with remote, broadcasts and work, on the
construction of sets -at another location,; substantially all, of the time
of:the,. employees, included in-.theirequested unit is spent at the, TV
station under the supervision of the progi;am manager.' The program
manager, is iultimately responsible for ;all, television- programs broad-
- cast•by the Employer. =Under,the_program'•manager, inla liaison posi-
- tion, is-the .program 'coordinator, who, among other functions, sees
'to it that studios are available for -rehearsals and:auditions, that tech-
nical' equipment and - scenery ,is ;availablewhen it is, needed, that films
are scheduled for broadcast at the proper times, -and that the traffic
- department obtains ,dines"-for remote broadcasts. • In short,, as,, the
' Employer?s. engineering manager: • stated,- the program, coordinator's
,:department acts ."as a coord-inator;of-,a11the functions that go ,to make
up the show."
zThe' Employer 's request•for ••oral. argument, is denied as the parties ', briefs. and record
In the case adequately present the positions of the . parties.
' S Although -the program manager is also nominally in. charge of all AM radio . programs
he has turned over most of his duties in that -regard, to the assistant program - manager.
The program manager therefore devotes almost all of his time to television programs.
102 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Each program is under the supervision of a TV director, herein re-
ferred to as a director, who is responsible for the proper production
of the program. In carrying out his functions he is directly aided
by a program assistant, two in the case of a live broadcast 4 The
program assistants help generally in seeing that all of the cast is as-
sembled, and that the scenery, title cards, and any other necessary items
are at hand. During the show one assistant acts as a floor manager.
He receives instructions from the director by means of an intercom-
munications system and relays the instructions to the actors. The
other program assistant remains in the control booth with the direc-
tor and times the show to see that it is running on schedule.
The film department is charged with the responsibility of obtain-
ing and caring for the films and video recordings. It must see that
each film is cleared for broadcast and is properly screened for tech-
nical defects. It is the film department's duty to see that the films
and video recordings are in the projection room for use at the proper
times and are returned to the sender after they have been used. Dur-
ing the screening of the films, the film department personnel may
notice parts of the film where commercials should be cued in and may
also notice factors which could cause the director difficulty in recog-
nizing the cues. It is then the duty of the film department to notify
the director involved and point out these matters to him.
The art department is divided into two parts. In the offices at the
TV station, sets are planned and designed according to the desires of
the directors needing them. If there is little time within which to
obtain a particular set, the art director will use his discretion to create
something which will fill the needs of the show. The scenery is actu-
ally built at an office located in another building. The art director
directs the placing of the scenery on'the stage. In the past, program
assistants who regularly aid in the production of programs, on occa-
sion have aided in moving scenery and also in repairing any damaged
scenery, if the situation demanded. However, the Employer has in-
creased its personnel in a continued effort to departmentalize its opera-
tions as much as possible, and it did not appear that program assistants
had engaged in any work on scenery within a month or two before the
hearing in this case.
From the foregoing facts, it is apparent that the program depart-
ment of the Employer functions as an integrated and coordinated unit
under the ultimate supervision of the program manager, with the em-
4 The Employer broadcasts live shows , video recordings , and films. Live shows may
consist of studio shows produced and directed by the Employer , utilizing personnel
employed by the Employer , they may consist of "package " shows produced by a "packager,"
utilizing personnel selected by the "packager" but directed by the Employer , or they may
consist of remote shows such as sporting events.
AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY (KGO-TV) 103
ployees of the different subdivisions working together as a team, in
order to produce finished programs. We have previously held that
the program department of a television station may constitute an ap-
propriate unit.5 Accordingly we find that the employees in the Em-
ployer's program department have similar interests and may consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.6
There remains for consideration only the question as to the super-
visory status of several of the categories of personnel in the program
department :
TV directors.-The Petitioner seeks to have the directors included
in the unit whereas the Employer desires to have them excluded on
the ground that they are supervisors within the meaning of the Act.
As indicated above, the directors supervise the production of each
program and are responsible for its quality. The duties and respon-
sibilities of the directors are greatest during the production of live
shows, conceived, produced, and directed by the Employer. In these
shows the director may make minor changes in the format of the show
and must exercise complete control over the show to see that it is
properly rehearsed and timed, and must in general see that the acting,
the setting, the televising, and all other elements of the show produce
the proper artistic effect. The director has at his command, in addi-
tion to his program assistants, a number of technicians from the Em-
ployer's engineering department.7 By means of a combination of
orders to the actors, relayed through the program assistant on the
floor, orders to the cameraman as to the angles, distance, and manner
in which the program should be photographed, orders to the technical
director as to which picture should be broadcast over the air, and
orders to the sound boom man and sound mixer as to which micro-
phones should be activated, where the sound boom should be placed,
and how the sound should be modulated, the director is able to control
completely the contents of the show. During live "package shows"
the director is limited more in his duties in that the effect which he
strives for has been determined for him and his duty is to produce
the program accordingly. During programs consisting of video re-
cordings or films, because of the limitations of the medium, the direc-
tor performs only technical functions. However, film broadcasts are
usually accompanied by live commercials which the director must pro-
duce and direct in exactly the same manner as live broadcasts. In
5KMTR Radio Corporation (KLA C-TV), 85 NLRB 99; WC4U, Inc, 93 NLRB 1003
In view of this holding we find it immaterial that in the future the Employer will
seek to eliminate all interchange of functions between the various divisions of the program
department . For, even without any interchange of functions , the various divisions
together constitute an appropriate unit.
* The technical engineering employees are separately represented by the National
Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians which has a contract with the
Employer covering a system-wide technical unit.
104 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
broadcasting remote shows such as sporting or special events, the
director's duties are again concerned with obtaining the proper tech-
nical effects, inasmuch as he has no control over the action being
broadcast.
In addition to the duties described above, it also appears that di-
rectors have, on occasion, procured talent for broadcasts and have
effectively recommended the transfer of talent from their .programs
when they believed that someone else could ,perform the task better.
One director regularly hires a small amount of talent on a ,limited
budget program. One of,the directors also effectively recommended
that a particular program assistant be hired. Moreover, although
the program assistants are regularly scheduled, it appears,that a di-
rector could request the services of a particular program assistant and
the request would, if practicable, be granted. The same situation
exists with regard to the use of engineering personnel, and^in at least
one instance a director was instrumental in seeing that a cameraman
I-as_replaced. In accord with recent cases 8 involving similar factual
situations we find that directors s are supervisors within, the meaning
of the amended Act,and should therefore, be excluded from the, unit
herein found appropriate.
The art director.-The record contains little, in, regard to the duties
of the art director. However, it appears that, the art director hired
both of his assistants and in one case,effectively, recommended a raise
for one of.his assistants. For this reason we[find that'the art director
is a supervisor, and, is therefore excluded from, the, unit herein found
appropriate.
The ftlrm editor.-The, film editor is in charge of the film depart-
ment. She was promoted to, this position from that of assistant to
the, former, film editor. She is aided by an assistant,who does,a great
deal of the, same workand who also does, a slight, amount of, clerical
work which is incidental to her other duties. It appears that the
editor effectively recommended the , hiring of the ,assistant and has
thee authority, effectively to recommend her dismissal. We therefore
find that she is a, supervisor within the.meaning,of the Act. .We shall
accordingly exclude the film editor.
The coordina,ator.-None.of the parties contends that this individual
is,a supervisor. • However, the Employer's program manager testified
at the hearing that the coordinator would be' permitted to effectively
recommend the hiring of her assistant. Inasmuch as the coordinator
is not now a supervisor, we. shall include her in the unit.
8 American Broadcasting, Companpp, Inc (KECA-TV), 93 NLRB 1,410; WCAU,, Inc.,
93 NLRB 1003. '
11,
1 Is,
9In0uding Adair, who, although listed as a program assistant, acts solely in, the
capacity of a drector. } ' '
HANNA MOTOR COMPANY 105
We find that all of the employees in the Employer's program de-
partment, excluding the TV directors and the program assistant who
acts in the capacity of a director, the art editor, the film editor, and
air supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (b) of the Act.
5. The Employer contends that the petition in this case is premature
because of the prospective expansion of the program department.
The Employer contemplated hiring six employees immediately after
the hearing with a possibility of further expansion at a later date, if
plans for increased programming materialize. However, the record
shows that the present complement of the program department con-
stitutes a substantial and essentially representative proportion of the
expected full complement of the program department 10 Under these
circumstances we see no reason for departing from our usual policy
of directing an immediate election."
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
10 This is true particularly in view of the fact that the contemplated addition of six
employees presumably will have been completed prior to the election.
11 Cf. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 87 NLRB 463.
HANNA MOTOR COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHIN-
ISTS, PETITIONER . Case No. 10-BC-1268. April 30, 1951
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before J. S. Patton, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju-
dicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the 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. The Employer, an Alabama corporation, is engaged in the sale
and servicing of new and used automobiles and trucks. The sales of
new automobiles and trucks is made under an exclusive sales agree-
ment granted to the Employer by the Ford Motor Company. During
the calendar year 1950 the Employer made purchases in excess of
$1,400,000. Over $1,100,000 of this amount was shipped to the Em-
ployer from points outside the State of Alabama. On the basis of the
foregoing facts we find that the Employer is engaged in commerce
94 NIJRB No. 29.