Radio Station KLEE

In the Matter of W . ALBERT LEE, D/B/A RADIO STATION KLEE,1 EM- PLOYER and LOCAL UNION 716, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 39-RC-1P2.-Decided November 14,1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Charles Y. Latimer, 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 National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and Gray]. 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 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 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of radio operators and/or technicians employed at the Employer's radio studio and transmitter in Houston, Texas. The parties are in general agreement that the proposed unit is appropriate.2 However, they dispute the inclusion in the unit of two combination men and two senior technicians. The two combination men whose inclusion in the unit is disputed are included in the Employer's program department. The major part of their working time is devoted to announcing. However, during the hours from 5 a. in. to 8 a. in. and 10 p. m. to midnight, when there are no control room technicians on duty, the combination men, in addi- ' The Employer's name appears as amended at the hearing. s Sunshine Broadcasting Company, et one., 83 NLRB 1244; Wodaam Corporation (Radio Station WOV), 83 NLRB 335, modified in other respects, 84 NLRB 480. 87 NLRB No. 6. 31 32 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tion to announcing, operate the radio control equipment. At such time the radio equipment is arranged so that the combination men have little more to do in order to operate the equipment than to flip a- switch- and turn a knob. The combination men do not perform the normal duties of the control room technicians.3 Where a radio station has no separate group of control room technicians and the announcers also perform,all the functions of control room technicians, we have sometimes found appropriate a unit composed of announcer-tech- nicians and transmitter technicians 4 Normally, however, announcers are excluded from bargaining units of radio technicians.5 Because the combination men at the Employer's studio spend only a small proportion of their time substituting for the control room technicians, we find no justification,'on the basis of their duties, for including them in a bargaining unit otherwise exclusively composed of radio techni- cians.6 Accordingly, we shall exclude the combination men from the unit. Alfred L. Haubold and Harold Weinzel are the senior technicians at the'cointrol room and transmitter, respectively. The Employer dis- putes the Petitioner's contention that these two employees are .super- visors. The evidence indicates that their authority is substantially identical. Haubold and Weinzel responsibly direct the technicians in the operation and maintenance of the radio equipment at their respective stations and they are in charge of the preparation of work- ing schedules for the technicians. The chief engineer, who is their immediate superior, devotes most of his time to the Employer's tele- vision station rather than the radio station involved in this proceeding, so that for the most part the senior technicians perform their duties free of the supervision and direction of the chief engineer. Further- more, Haubold and Weinzel. customarily make effective recommenda- tions with respect to the hire and discharge of employees.7 On the basis of the foregoing and the entire record in this proceeding,. we find that Haubold and Weinzel are supervisors as defined in the Act.,' Accordingly, we shall exclude them from the unit. 3 One of the combination men holds a license from the Federal Communications Com- mission as a radio telephone operator and is a qualified radio technician . However, the ,evidence does not show that in the performance of his regular duties he exercises his technical skill nor that his interests are more closely allied with the radio technicians -than with the announcers. Associated Electronic Enterprises, inc,. 80 NLRB 295 ; Western Gateway Broadcasting Corporation, 77 NLRB 49: 5 Joe V. Williams, Jr„ d/b/a WDXB Broadcasting Station, 85 NLRB 752. 8 Savage Lumber and Manufacturing Company, 82 NLRB 459 ; S. Martinelli ct Co., 81 NLRB 383; American Oil Company, 72 NLRB 1151. 7In at least one instance a technician was hired without the applicant having previously .communicated or been interviewed by anyone other than Haubold. 8 Wodaam Corporation (Radio Station WOV), 84 NLRB 480. RADIO STATION KLEE 33 We find that all the radio operators and/or technicians at the Employer's radio station and transmitter in Houston , Texas, excluding combination men 9 and supervisors 10 as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 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 supervision 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 , among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed dur- ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direc- tion 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 dis- charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated 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 bargaining, by Local Union 716, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL. U Excluded from the unit as combination men are Bud Whales and Ted Jones. 10 Excluded from the unit as supervisors are Alfred L. Haubold and Harold Weinzel.