WGAL, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 23, 1940

27 N.L.R.B. 389 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of WGAL, INCORPORATED and ASSOCIATED BROADCAST
TECHNICIANS UNIT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL
WORKERS
In the Matter of YORK BROADCASTING COMPANY and ASSOCIATED BROAD-
CAST TECHNICIANS UNIT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRI-
CAL WORKERS
In the Matter of DELAWARE BROADCASTING COMPANY and ASSOCIATED
BROADCAST TECHNICIANS UNIT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
ELECTRICAL WORKERS
In the Matter of WDEL, INCORPORATED and ASSOCIATED BROADCAST
TECHNICIANS UNIT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL
WORKERS
Cases Nos. R-1992 to R-1995, inclusive.-Decided September 23, 1940
Jurisdiction : radio broadcasting industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord recognition to union; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining
While the organization and operation of the business of seven interlocking
corporations, engaged in operating radio stations, was such that either a
single unit comprising all transmitter operators employed by said corpora-
tions or separate units limited in each case to the operators employed by a
single corporation could be considered appropriate, the Board found, in the
absence of a history of bargaining, and in view of the limited extent of the
union's organization, and at its request, that separate units were appro-
priate, subject, however, to subsequent revision in accordance with changes
in the state of organization among the employees concerned.
Mr. Lawson Wimberly, of Washington, D. C., for the Union.,
W2ndolph eC Mueller, by Mr. Paul A. Mueller, of Lancaster, Pa., for
the Companies.
Mr. Gilbert V. Rosenberg; of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March 8, 1940, Associated Broadcast Technicians Unit, Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the Union,
27 N. L. R. B., No. 84.
389
390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
filed with the Regional Director for the Fourth Region (Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania) three petitions alleging, respectively, that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Associated Broadcasters, Incorporated, Easton,
Pennsylvania,- herein called WEST; WGAL, Incorporated, Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania, =herein called WGAL; and York Broadcasting
Company, York, Pennsylvania, herein called WORK,, and requesting,
in each case, an investigation and certification of representatives
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May 6, 1940, the Union filed
similar petitions with reference to employees of Delaware Broad-
casting Company and of WDEL, Incorporated, both of Wilmington,
Delaware, herein called WILM and WDEL, respectively.
On June 18, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, acting pursuant to Section- 9 (c) of the Act and
Article III, Sections 3 and 10 (c) (2), of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an in-
vestigation in each case and authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice,
and further ordered that the above-entitled cases be consolidated for
the purposes of hearing.
On June 28, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of con-
solidated hearing, copies of which were duly served upon all the
parties. On August 5, 1940, the Board ordered that the 'case in-
volving WEST be severed from the other cases and granted the request
of the Union to withdraw its petition. The employers named in the
remaining four petitions are herein collectively called the Companies.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held at Lancaster,. Pennsyl-
vania, on August 12, 1940, before Geoffrey J. Cunniff, the Trial Ex-
aminer duly designated by the Board. The Companies and the
Union were represented by counsel or by representative and-partici-
pated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard,-to examine and
'cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the
issues wa's afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the
Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections-to
the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of
the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial, errors were com-
mitted. The rulings are hereby affirmed.'
Upon the request of the Companies, oral argument was scheduled
to be heard before the Board at Washington, D. C., on August 29,
1 On August 31, 1940, a stipulation between the Companies and the Union was filed with
the Board, wherein the parties agreed to certain corrections in the record of testimony
adduced at the hearing. The Board hereby approves this stipulation.
WGAL, INCORPORATE-D 391'
1940. Having been notified by the Companies and the. Union that
they ,did not intend to appear at the hearing set for oral argument,
the Board canceled the -aid hearing.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANIES 2
WGAL; Incorporated , a Pennsylvania corporation , owns and
operates station WGAL at Lancaster , Pennsylvania . - This station
operates with a power of 250 watts on 1500 kilocycles and is on the
air approximately 118 hours a week. WGAL receives by wire and
broadcasts approximately 45 per cent of the programs given by The
Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Com-
pany, substantially all of whose programs originate outside the State
of Pennsylvania.
York Broadcasting Company, a Pennsylvania corporation, owns
and operates station WORK 'at York, Pennsylvania . This station
operates with a power of 1 kilowatt on 1320 kilocycles and is on the
air approximately 118 hours a week. WORK receives by wire and
broadcasts approximately 68 per cent of the programs given by The
Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Coin-
pany, substantially all of whose programs originate outside the State
of Pennsylvania.
Delaware Broadcasting Company, a Delaware corporation, owns
and operates station WILM at Wilmington , Delaware . This station
operates with a power of 250 watts on 1420 kilocycles and is on the
air approximately 104 hours a week. WILM receives by wire and
broadcasts approximately 65 per cent of the programs given by The
Mutual Broadcasting System, substantially all of whose programs,
originate outside the State of Delaware.
WDEL, Incorporated , a Delaware corporation , owns and operates
station WDEL at Wilmington , Delaware. This station operates with
a power of 1000 watts by day and 250 watts by night on 1120 kilo-
cycles. It is on the air approximately 124 hours a week. WDEL
receives by wire and broadcasts approximately 50 per cent of the
programs given by the National Broadcasting Company, substan-
tially all of whose programs originate outside the State of'Delaware.
Each of these stations is licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission.
2 The findings herein made are based on a stipulation between counsel for the Board and
for the Companies. .
392 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Companies and three other corporations which operate indi-
vidual radio stations, respectively, at Easton, Harrisburg, and Hazle-
ton, Pennsylvania, have coordinated their business activities through
an unincorporated association known as the Mason Dixon Radio
Group, having its principal office at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. While
this latter organization is not directly concerned with the 'physical
broadcasting operations of these seven corporations, it transacts all
business matters relating to the broadcasting business for and on
behalf of its seven constituent corporations, and is supported finan-
cially by them.
The stockholders, directors, and officers, except the president of
each of the seven corporations are the same individuals. The presi-
dent of each corporation is the manager of the broadcasting station
which it owns. Each corporation has its own bank account from
which its employees are paid by vouchers drawn by the Mason Dixon
Radio Group.
At times these seven stations, which are linked by leased wire,
-operate as an integrated group. Programs given by chain broadcast-
ing networks are received by one of the stations and either trans-
mitted by it to others in the group for simultaneous broadcast, or
switched, according to prearranged schedules, for broadcast by others
in the group.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED,
Associated Broadcast Technicians Unit is a labor organization
composed of numerous locals, which are chartered by- International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and are, through it, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor. Its membership is re-
stricted exclusively to radio transmitter operators. Local No. 1184
of this organization was chartered in the first part of 1940 at Wil-
mington, Delaware. It admits to membership transmitter operators
employed ,within a certain radius of Wilmington, including those
employed by the Companies.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In the first part of March 1940, the Union requested of each of
tle Companies recognition as the exclusive representative of the
transmitter operators employed by it. The Companies have refused
toy accord this recognition to the Union unless the Board determines
the appropriate unit.3
It appears from the Trial Examiner's examination at the hearing
of union membership cards that the Union represents a substantial
3 These findings are based in part on a stipulation between the Union and the Companies.
WGAL, INCORPORATED 393,
number of employees in the units hereinafter found to ba appro-
priate'
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of each of the Companies.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find as to each of the Companies that the question concerning
representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the
operations of that Company described in Section I above, has a close,
intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce
among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burden-
ing and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union and the Companies stipulated that transmitter op-
erators, separate from other employees, constitute an appropriate
unit. They differ, however, as to the scope of the unit. The Union
contends that the transmitter operators employed by each of the
Companies, respectively, constitute a separate unit; while the Com-
panies contend that all transmitter operators employed by the seven
corporations in the Mason Dixon Radio Group constitute a single
appropriate unit.
In support of their contention the Companies point to the common
ownership of stock of the seven companies, their unified and co-
ordinated business operations, their interdependent relations in re-
ceiving and broadcasting chain network programs, and the super-
vision of all transmitter operators employed by each of the seven
corporations by a technical director employed by the Mason Dixon
Radio Group.
In support of the Union's contention, the record shows that each
of the Companies is a separate corporate entity, maintaining its in-
dividual station ; that each has a separate bank account from which
its operating expenses, including salaries of its employees, are paid ;
that the technical director of the Mason Dixon Radio Group has
power only to recommend in regard to hire and discharge of trans-
4 The result of the Trial Examiner 's examination may be summarized as follows :
Number of transmitter
operators on pay roll
Number of cards on which the names
signed thereto appear to be the original sig-
natures of transmitter operators on the
pay roll -
WGAL 4 4
WORK 3, 2
WILM 3 2
WDEL 2 2
394 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD `
mitter operators of the respective Companies, ultimate power in this
respect resting in the management and ownership of the individual
stations; and that transmitter operators employed by the respective
Companies are not shifted from one station to another.
There has been no history of collective bargaining on either an
individual or multiple-unit basis. At the time of the hearing, the
extent of the Union's organization was limited substantially to trans-
mitter operators of the four Companies involved herein.
The organization of the business of the corporations comprising
the Mason Dixon Radio Group is such that either a unit comprising
all the transmitter operators in the group or separate units limited
in each case to operators employed by a single member thereof could
be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. Under
these circumstancesand in view of the absence of any bargaining
history on either basis, the fact that substantial employee self -organ-
ization has not extended beyond the employees of the four Companies
here involved, and the request of the only labor organization in-
volved for, separate station units, we shall designate the transmitter
operators employed, respectively, by WGAL, WORK, WILM, and
WDEL at their respective stations as separate appropriate units.
Such a determination is subject to revision in accordance with changes
in the state of self-organization of the employees concerned.,'
We accordingly find that the transmitter operators' employed, re-
spectively, by WGAL, WORK, WILM; and WDEL at their re-
spective stations constitute, in the case of each Company, a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said
unit will insure to employees of each Company the full benefit of their
right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise
effectuate the policies of the Act. -
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the -questions which have arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Companies can best be resolved by
separate elections. Accordingly we shall order that separate elections
be held among the transmitter, operators employed, respectively, by
each of the Companies. Eligibility to vote will be determined by
reference to the pay-roll period last preceding the date of this
Direction.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
6 Matter •o f Burton -Dixie Corporation and Mattress, Spring 1 Bedding Workers Local 185
of Upholsterers International Union of North America , Affiliated with the A . F. L., 21
N L. R. B., 289; Matter of Frigidaire Division of General Motors Corp . and Metal Finishers
Local .f$836, International Association of Machinists (A 'F. L ), 19 N . L R B 957.
WG.AIs, rNC'ORPORMPED
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
395
1. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of WGAL , Incorporated , Lancaster, Penn-
sylvania, York Broadcasting Company, York, Pennsylvania, Dela-
ware Broadcasting Company, Wilmington , Delaware , and WDEL,
Incorporated , Wilmington , Delaware , respectively , within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Sections 2 (6) and (7) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
2. All transmitter operators employed by WGAL, Incorporated,
York Broadcasting Company, Delaware Broadcasting Company, and
WDEL , Incorporated , respectively , at radio stations WGAL, WORK,
WILM , and WDEL constitute in the case of each Company a unit
appropriate, for the purposes of collective bargaining , within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to. Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it
is hereby .
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representation for the purposes of collective bargaining
with the Companies herein, separate elections by secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as possible but not later than thirty (30) days
from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Fourth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among the
transmitter operators who were employed, respectively, by WGAL,
Incorporated, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, York Broadcasting Company,
York, Pennsylvania, Delaware Broadcasting Company, Wilmington,
Delaware, and WDEL, Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware, during
the pay-roll period last preceding the date of this Direction, in-
cluding those transmitter operators who did not work during such
pay-roll period,because they were ill or on vacation and those who
were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding
any transmitter operators who have since quit or been discharged for
cause,' to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
Associated Broadcast Technicians Unit, International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, for the purposes of collective bargaining.