Emerson Television Service Corp.

In the Matter of EMERSON TELEVISION SERVICE CORPORATION EM- PLOYER and LOCAL #1430, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELEC- TRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 2-RC-1093.-Decided January 11, 1950 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before I. L. Broad- win, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear- ing 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 [Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Reynolds]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : The Employer, a New York corporation, is a wholly owned sub= sidiary of Emerson Radio and Phonograph Corporation, a manufac- turer and distributor of radios, phonographs, and electronic equip- ment admittedly engaged in interstate commerce. It installs and services television sets manufactured and sold by its parent corpora- tion, operating in and out of three shops, two located in New York City, and one in Newark, New Jersey. During the calendar year preceding the hearing, the Employer purchased supplies valued at more than $50,000, of which approximately 5 percent was received directly from sources outside the States of New York and New Jersey. During the same period, its sales amounted to more than $500,000. Contrary to the contention of the Employer, we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National 'Labor Relations Act.-' 2. The Petitioner and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Work- ers of America, herein called the Intervenor, are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the Employer. 1 Carnation Company of Texas, 78 NLRB 519; A. D. T. Company, 73 NLRB 265. 88 NLRB No. 19. 55 56 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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. At the hearing, the Petitioner requested a unit embracing em- ployees at all three of the Employer's shops, but excluding truckmen, telephone operators, office and clerical employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Employer agreed to the composition of the unit as proposed, but took no affirmative position concerning its scope. The Intervenor, which appeared at the hearing only for the purpose of participating in any election, took no position respecting the appro- priate unit. All operating and personnel matters pertaining to the three shops are managed and directed from the Employer's main New York City office, where all hiring is done and records are maintained. Wages, hours of employment, and other working conditions are uniform throughout the shops, with continuous interchange of employees among all three. Under these circumstances, we find that a unit em- bracing all three shops is appropriate for collective bargaining pur- poses.2 Although several categories of employees included in the proposed unit have the titles "chief," "supervisor," or "foreman," the record clearly shows that none of them is a supervisor as defined in the Act. They do substantially the same service and installation work as other employees in the unit. Because they are more skilled, their pay is $5 per week higher and they spend 35 to 50 percent of their time working alone rather than in crews. None of them has any authority to hire or discharge employees or effectively to recommend such action. We shall, therefore, in accord with the agreement of the parties, include them in the unit. We find that all television service and installation employees work- ing in and out of the Employer's shops,' including dispatchers, the antenna supervisor, antenna crew chiefs, antenna helpers, outside tech- nician supervisors, outside technicians, shop supervisors, shop foremen, shop technicians, shop repairmen, and parts men, but excluding truck- men, telephone operators, office and clerical employees, managers, and all supervisors 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. 2In view of our unit finding, the Employer's motion to dismiss the petition on the ground. that the units requested in the petition , one for each of the New York City shops, are inappropriate, is hereby denied. 8 At the hearing, the Employer stated that the Newark shop would be closed and its business discontinued on December. 5, 1949. EMERSON TELEVISION SERVICE CORPORATION 57 DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes 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, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during said payroll period because they were ill or on va- cation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged 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 they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar- gaining, by Local Union #1430, International Brotherhood of Elec- trical Workers, AFL, or by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, or by neither.