National Broadcasting Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 24, 1951

95 N.L.R.B. 1334 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1334 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
has engaged in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section S (a) (1)
of the Act.
6. 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 omitted from publication in this volume.]
NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC. and NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS, PETITIONER
AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC. and NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS, PETITIONER. Gases Nos.
R-RC-660 and 2-RC-950. August 24, 1951
Supplemental Decision Clarifying Certification
On May 11, 1950, the Board issued its decision in the above-entitled
case.' Thereafter, pursuant to the direction of election contained
therein, an election by secret ballot was held among the employees in
one of the units found appropriate consisting of all stage electricians,
stage carpenters, and stage property men, excluding all other em-
ployees and supervisors, at station WNBT, New York City, of the
National Broadcasting Company, Inc. As a result of this election,
Theatrical Protective Union No. 1, IATSE, herein called IATSE,
was selected as the representative of the employees in the unit and was
accordingly certified by the Board.2
On July 13,1951, IATSE, NABET, and the Employer, Herein called
NBC, filed a joint petition requesting the Board to clarify the fore-
going unit description by indicating whether or not in its decision the
Board intended the classification "stage electricians" to be limited
only to those employees bearing that title on the NBC payroll, or
whether the Board also intended that NBC employees, regardless of
their job titles, who regularly spend more than 50 percent of their time
in the handling and placing of television lights should be included
in the unit.
In thus presenting the matter to be clarified, the parties are postu-
lating a factual circumstance which did not appear in the record on
which the Board based its decision. That record, as the decision
specifically points out, revealed that two classifications of employees
at NBC's television station WNBT were engaged in handling and
placing television lights, namely stage electricians and lighting engi-
neers, but that the engineers spent less than 50 percent of their time
1 89 NLRB 1289.
2 The Petitioner, herein called NABET, withdiew its name from the ballot in this elecilon.
1)) NLRB No. 181.
NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC.. 1335
at these duties .3 The record, moreover, indicated that the engineers,
according to the prevailing NBC practice, spent only a minor .portion
of their time performing lighting work and devoted most of their time
to performing engineering duties which were indisputably technical.
In addition, because of the NBC practice of interchanging duties
among the engineers, there were substantial periods during which
these employees performed no lighting duties. -
The.fact that the engineers spent only a minor portion of their
time performing lighting duties and were not regularly. assigned to
such duties was a dominant consideration in the determination of
their unit placement. Without deciding whether or not handling and
placing television lights was a technical engineering function, the
Board felt that the limited time spent by engineers in the performance
of this work did not in any event detract from their essential status
as technical engineering employees, and that they belonged in the
technical engineering unit historically represented by NABET.
As to the stage electricians, the Board concluded that their. interests
were inextricably interwoven with those of the stage carpenters and
stage property men 4 The Board was further satisfied that these em-
ployees constituted a group whose background,. skills, and interests
clearly distinguished them from the engineers. Consequently, the
Board concluded that they should constitute a separate unit, and
accorded them a self-determination election so that they could choose
their bargaining representative. ,
It is therefore apparent that on the facts then before it, the Board
intended to include in the above-described unit those employees des-
ignated as stage electricians and to exclude therefrom all engineers.
It does not necessarily follow, however, that this result would have
obtained had the facts revealed that certain engineers , despite their
payroll classification, regularly devoted the major portion of their
time to handling and placing television lights. It is evident from the
delineation of lighting duties in the decision 5 that these duties, whether
s According to a compromise then in effect between the unions herein and NBC, television
lights were handled and placed by both engineers , members of NABET, and stage electri-
cians , members of IATSE, at the NBC Radio City Studios. At NBC's 106th Street
Theater and International Theater only stage electricians handled and placed television
lights.
' N13C hires stage electricians as members of three-man crews which consist of a stage
electrician , stage carpenter , and stage property man. Each crew member is more proficient
in one duty than in others but capable of performing all duties , and at NBC, in accordance
with the practice prevailing in theatrical and other amusement places where these indi-
viduals customarily are employed, they frequently interchange in the performance of
their duties.
5 These duties are related in the decision as follows : "Both the lighting engineers and
the stage electricians rig or hang lights from gridirons or other structures installed in,
the studios and direct these lights at proper angles to illuminate the set. They insert
and change bulbs when necessary . They turn lights on and off by means of switches,
push buttons , or by pulling plugs from walls, repair and maintain electrical equipment,
1336 DECISIONS-OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
carried out by stage electricians or engineers, do not bring into play
-advanced electronic knowledge or skills acquired through higher learn
ing or special training and experience .6 Having reconsidered the
record on which the decision in this case was based, we are convinced
that this work can be and is effectively being accomplished by the
traditional stage electrician of the stage and amusement world. When
an engineer ceases to perform such work as a mere incident to his
all-around engineering functions, but regularly takes on these duties
as his main operation, he thereby foresakes his special field and assumes
the character of it stage electrician.
Without modifying the above-stated unit description, we find, there-
fore, that engineers or any other NBC employees, irrespective of their
job designations, who regularly spend more than 50 percent of their
time handling and-placing television lights in the manner set forth
in the unit for which IATSE has been certified as exclusive bar-
gaining representative.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG and MEMBER STYLES took no part in the consid-
eration of the above Supplemental Decision Clarifying Certification.
PARSONS CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTO-
MOBILE, •AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMER-
ICA, CIO, PETITIONER . Case No. 7-RC-1336. August 04, 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 Joseph Kulkis, hear-
ing 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 [Members Houston, Reynolds, and Murdock].
track down lighting failures, repair circuits, and do wiring. They also operate, maintain,
and repair dimmer boards and switch boxes."
The decision also indicates that "television lighting equipment in almost all respects
is identical to lighting equipment used in motion picture and photography studios and
on the theatrical stage. The same methods for rigging, fastening, and manipulating
lights are used. Special lighting such as a flickering fireplace or moonbeams likewise are
obtained through the use of standard theatrical equipment or by improvisation, just as
it is done on the stage or in motion pictures."
6 NBC requires that its engineering department employees have a theoretical or practical
knowledge of electronics and prefers to hire college graduates with degrees in electrical
engineering or related technical fields. These employees receive formal instruction in
New York City in several television engineering jobs, including lighting.
95 NLRB No. 173.