Minnesota Broadcasting Co. Operating WTCN

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 13, 1938

7 N.L.R.B. 867 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of MINNESOTA BROADCASTING COMPANY OPERATING
WTCN and NEWSPAPER GUILD OF THE TWIN CITIES, MINNEAPOLIS
AND ST. PAUL, LOCAL No. 2 OF THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER GUILD
Case No. R-660.-Decided June 13, 1938
Radio Broadcasting Industry-Investigation of Representatives: controversy
concerning representation of employees: controversy concerning appropriate
unit-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: all employees, excluding,
executives, production manager, sales manager, secretary to general manager,
and all other supervisory employees, engineers, musicians, and salesmen ; occu-
pational differences ; desires of employees-Representatives: proof of choice :
comparison of list of employees and union membership , cards-Certiflcation of
Representatives: upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Thurlow Smoot, for the Board.
Oppenheimer, Dickson, Hodgson, Brown c Donnelly, of St. Paul,
Minn. by Mr. E. B. Baer, for the Company.
Mr. Ralph L. Helstein, of Minneapolis, Minn. for the Guild.
Mr. Oscar Coover, of Minneapolis, Minn., for Local 292.
Mr. Roman Beck, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On December 15, 1937, Newspaper Guild of the Twin Cities, Min-
neapolis and St. Paul, Local No. 2, of the American Newspaper
Guild, herein called the Guild, filed with the Regional Director for
the Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minnesota) a petition alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Minnesota Broadcasting Company, Minne-
apolis, Minnesota, herein called the Company, and requesting an in-
vestigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called
the Act.
867
868 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BO_ RD
Upon charges duly filed by the Guild, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, herein called the Board, by the said Regional Director,
issued its complaint, dated January 31, 1938, against the Company,
alleging that the Company had engaged in and was engaging in un-
fair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section
8 (1) and (3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. In respect to
the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged, in substance, that
the Company had terminated the employment of Stephen Wells,
its publicity director, and had refused to reinstate him because he
joined and assisted the Guild and engaged with other of the Com-
pany's employees in concerted activities for collective bargaining.
On January 31, 1938, the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c)
of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, and pursuant
to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of the aforesaid Rules and
Regulations, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the
Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice; and further ordered that, for the purposes
of hearing, the representation and complaint cases be consolidated.
On February 5, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, and upon
the Guild. On March 8, 1938, the Board ordered that the representa-
tion and the complaint cases be severed and continued as separate
proceedings.'
%
Pursuant to the notice of hearing and a notice of postponement
duly served upon the parties, a hearing was held on March 17 and
18, 1938, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, before William P. Webb, the
Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, thQ
Company, and the Guild were represented by counsel and partici-
pated in the hearing. At the hearing International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, Local 292, herein called Local 292, a labor or-
ganization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the
investigation, moved for leave to intervene as a party to the proceed-
ing, and said motion was granted by the Trial Examiner. Local
292 was represented and participated in the hearing. Full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing on the issues was 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 committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
"Prior to the order of severance , wells was reinstated by the Company with back pay._
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 869
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company operates a commercial radio broadcasting station
known as WTCN in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has a business
office in St. Paul, Minnesota. One-half of its issued capital stock
is owned by the Minneapolis Tribune, a newspaper published in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the other half by Northwest Publi-
cations, Inc., which publishes the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dis-
patch. WTCN is operated under a license from the Federal Com-
munications Commission, and is an affiliate of the National Broad-
casting Company carrying all of its basic "Blue" network programs.
During 1937 the Company received from the National Broadcasting
Company about $5,000 for its share of commercially sponsored time.
The material broadcast by WTCN has been detected by listeners
in all States within a radius of 1,600 miles of Minneapolis, Min-
nesota. Station WTCN, in the course and conduct of the Company's
business is now, and has been continuously receiving and trans-
mitting intelligence, from and to States and territories of the United
States.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Newspaper Guild of the Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Local 2, of the American Newspaper Guild, is a labor organization
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, admitting
to its membership all production and maintenance employees of the
Company, excluding engineers, salesmen, musicians, and executives
and supervisory employees.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 292, is
a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor. It admits to its membership engineers and salesmen of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Prior to November 1937, no effort had been made by the Guild
to organize the employees of the Company. In November of 1937,
the Guild received authority from its International Executive Board
to accept for membership all employees of the Company. About
December 1, 1937, the Guild notified the Company that it represented
a majority of its employees, excluding executive, supervisory per-
870 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sonnel, salesmen , musicians , and engineers , and requested that the
Company recognize and bargain with the Guild as the sole repre-
sentative of such employees . On December 6, 1937, the Company
refused that request upon the ground that its salesmen and certain
of its supervisory employees should also be included in the bar-
gaining unit.
We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
CODIDIERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate , and substantial
relation to communication and commerce among the several States,
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and communication among the several States.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Guild contends that the unit appropriate for collective bar-
gaining consists of all employees of the Company except- executives,
supervisory personnel , salesmen, musicians , and engineers . Local 292
agrees that the unit suggested by the Guild is appropriate. The
Company asserts , however, that the production manager, the sales
manager, the secretary to the general manager, and the salesmen
should be included in the unit.
The production manager recommends the hiring and discharge of
his departmental staff. The sales manager supervises the work of the
salesmen. The secretary to the general manager does his correspond-
ence and that of the sales manager, and has an office immediately
adjoining their respective offices. The uncontradicted testimony is
that the salesmen do not wish to become members of any union. They
are on a straight commission basis and do not observe definite hours
of work. The salesmen spend substantially all of their time away
from the offices of the Company. Under the circumstances set forth
and in view of the desires of both labor organizations , we conclude
that the salesmen , the production manager, the sales manager , and the
secretary to the general manager, should be excluded from the bar-
gaining unit.
We find that all the employees of the Company , excluding execu-
tives, the production manager, the sales manager , the secretary to
the general manager, and all other supervisory employees , the engi-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 871
neers, musicians, and salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to
employees of the 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
A list of employees of the Company, as of February 23, •1938, was
introduced in evidence showing 17 employees in the unit which we,
have found appropriate. The Guild had its membership cards and
other records available for examination at the hearing. A com-
parison made at the hearing of the list of company employees and
membership cards confirmed the Guild representative's testimony
that 10 of the said 17 employees are its members.
Local 292 made no claim to represent any employee within the unit
we have found appropriate. Its representative thus stated its posi-
tion at the hearing : "I would like to say that Local 292 has acceded
to the News Guild's right to come into WTCN and take the produc-
tion employees of WTCN because we do not want jurisdictional
fights between unions ..."
We find that the Guild has been designated and selected by a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their represent-
ative for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and we will so certify. Upon the
basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the
case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Minnesota Broadcasting Corporation, at
Station WTCN, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in the business- office
of the Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
2. All the employees of the Company, excluding executives, the
production manager, the sales manager, the secretary to the general
manager and all other supervisory employees, the engineers, musi-
cians, and salesmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
3. Newspaper Guild of the Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Local 2, of the American Newspaper Guild, is the exclusive repre-
10G791-38-vol vii-56
872 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
sentative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 ( a) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Newspaper Guild of the Twin Cities
Minneapolis and St. Paul , Local 2, of the American Newspaper
Guild, has been designated and selected by a majority of the em-
ployees of Minnesota Broadcasting Corporation at its Station WTCN
in the Wesley Temple Building , Minneapolis , Minnesota , and its
business office in the Minnesota Building, St . Paul, Minnesota, ex-
cluding executives , the production manager, the sales manager, the
secretary to the general manager, and all other supervisory em-
ployees, the engineers , the musicians and the salesmen , as their
representative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that,
pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act , Newspaper
Guild of the Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul ,. Local 2, of the
American Newspaper Guild, is the exclusive representative of all
such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect
to rates of pay, wages , hours of employment , and other conditions
of employment.
1