National Broadcasting Co., Inc.

704 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD National Broadcasting Company, Inc. and National Association of Broadcast Employees and Techni- cians, AFL-CIO-CLC, Petitioner. Case 2-RC- 16528 November 6, 1974 DECISION AND ORDER BY MEMBERS JENKINS, KENNEDY, AND PENELLO Upon petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hear- ing was held before Hearing Officer Mary W. Taylor. Following the hearing and pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, this case was transferred to the Na- tional Labor Relations Board for decision. The Em- ployer and the Petitioner filed briefs. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul- ings made at the hearing and finds that they are free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in this case, the National Labor Relations Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. No question concerning commerce exists con- cerning the representation of employees of the Em- ployer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act, for the following reasons- The Employer is engaged in the operation of radio and television broadcasting stations throughout the United States. The Petitioner seeks to represent a unit of 12 employees in the news division located in New York City, one of several major subdivisions of the Company. The news division itself is broken down into various units, including the following which are pertinent to the proceeding herein: "Today Show," "Nightly News", elections, and documenta- ries, the latter being further subdivided into several units. The Petitioner seeks to represent 12 employees who are termed by Petitioner as "editorial research- ers" or employees who spend the majority of their time doing news research. The unit would include the following employees: a production assistant and a production coordinator in "Nightly News"; three re- searchers and a talent coordinator on the "Today Show"; a political researcher and a researcher in the elections unit; and four researchers in the documen- taries unit. There is no history of bargaining with respect to any of the individuals sought to be repre- sented. The Employer contends that the unit sought by Petitioner is inappropriate because these 12 employ- ees are but a segment of the Employer's office cleri- cal staff, and to grant them a separate unit would lead to a fragmentation of the clerical staff. The Em- ployer further asserts that even if the petitioned-for employees are not office clericals, they nonetheless lack the cohesiveness and homogeneity necessary to constitute an appropriate unit. The Employer con- tends that these 12 employees share a broad commu- nity of interest with approximately 900 other unrep- resented clerical employees at its New York facilities, and thus should be included in an overall clerical unit. We agree with the Employer that the proposed unit is inappropriate. The 12 employees sought by Petitioner are among numerous other employees who work in the news di- vision of NBC. For the most part, their duties as edi- torial researchers are similar, varying to the extent that they work in different units within the news divi- sion. Their basic function consists of locating, com- piling, analyzing, and presenting in a coherent man- ner all the facts and/or information required by a producer, writer, or talent on a particular subject. They provide background material and information gathered by various methods, including checking various written sources such as newspapers and mag- azines and clipping pertinent articles and making phone calls to personal contacts. The researchers on the "Today Show" investigate and evaluate ideas for possible use on the program. One researcher concentrates on the "hard news" area, while another does "cultural and artistic things." The third researcher works closely with the program reporter-at-large on "special things." The talent coordinator attends various kinds of entertain- ment and talks to the talent involved for the purpose of deciding whether such talent should appear on the program. The two employees in the "Nightly News" unit are not specifically titled researchers. The production as- sistant will be listed on the "crawl" (weekly list of credits) as a production assistant when she does pro- duction work, and will get credit as a researcher when she works on a "Special." Her production du- ties, which she performs when the regular production assistant is unavailable, include typing film stories, making up scripts, preparing logs of programs, and arranging the timing of programs. Her research du- ties are performed for correspondents, writers, and 214 NLRB No. 107 NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC. editors. Her duties also include secretarial work for the producer of "Nightly News." The production coordinator in this unit functions in much the same way as the production assistant, but she also answers the personal mail of one of the correspondents. The researchers in the elections unit and in the various documentaries units clip and file newspapers, make phone contacts, check statistics, and prepare background material on various subjects. They each perform other duties depending upon the producer for whom they work. Because each of the documen- taries units is limited in size, all duties, including sec- retarial, are interchangeable. Each of the researchers does typing, xeroxing, and filing, as well as other duties which are normally con- sidered secretarial or clerical, these clerical functions being employed in order to finalize their own work products. Although the researchers are also given a great deal of discretion, and their work necessarily involves the exercise of some independent judgment and imagination, there are no special training or edu- cational requirements necessary to become a re- searcher. The educational attainment of the 12 em- ployees ranges from a high school diploma to a master's degree in Asian studies. Currently, the Em- ployer obtains many researchers from its secretarial ranks. The employees work in many different loca- tions in the main building. Those who work in the same unit do not even share a common work area separate from other employees. Nor are these em- ployees under common immediate supervision. And they all work closely with other unrepresented em- ployees. For all practical purposes, the employees sought here are treated the same as the Employer's unrepre- sented clerical and other employees All are hired through a centralized personnel office, although a producer may indicate the qualifications he desires and occasionally may even personally interview a prospective researcher. All unrepresented employees at the main facility in New York enjoy the same 705 fringe benefits, such as insurance, sick leave, vaca- tion, and discounts. All are entitled to use the com- missary and the library. All work similar 8-hour shifts, but the researchers may work longer hours when a show is in progress. The salary range for the researchers is the same for those holding other job titles such as secretary, computer operator, and newsfilm and videotape employees. Indeed, the 12 employees are not even in the same grade within the salary structure nor, as already noted, do they have the same job titles. The record shows that "research is a fairly com- mon commodity in the company" and exists in other operating divisions of NBC. An employee list indi- cates that there is an assortment of jobs in various salary grades with the title researcher. Of these em- ployees, not sought by Petitioner, there are, for ex- ample, a research associate who researches market or audience reaction to programs; community affairs researchers who maintain contacts with and inter- view community leaders to develop program ideas; and an associate producer-researcher who assists a producer in scouting and locating people for pro- gram participation, doing research and writing. Upon the entire record, we find that the requested employees do not constitute a clearly identifiable group which has a sufficient community of interest separate from that of other unrepresented employees to warrant its establishment as a separate appropriate unit for collective-bargaining purposes.' ORDER It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed. 1 Cf American Broadcasting Company, 210 NLRB 654 (1974) Nor are the duties, responsibilities, and interests of these employees such as would war- rant their inclusion , if so desired, in an existing unit of newswriters currently represented by Petitioner or entitle them to separate representation on any residual basis as requested by Petitioner