Ch. 13 employees authorize strike First published: Thursday, September 13, 2007
MENANDS -- Members of the union representing the broadcast workers at WNYT Ch. 13 voted unanimously Wednesday night to "authorize a strike as necessary," according to the union president. Reporter Bill Lambdin, president of Communications Workers of America Local 21, said the union's current four-year contract -- which was approved after a bitter dispute -- expires Sept. 30. One more negotiating session is scheduled Sept. 25-26.
WNYT Vice President and General Manager Stephen Baboulis declined comment.
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BIGK75
September 13, 2007, 6:00am
Guest User
Interesting. Why is it when the media is asked about the media, it's not pushed like some of the conservative legislators? I guess it's just media helping media. "Got their brother's back" in a way.
Sure, they will go on strike just when my new shows are about to start!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
WNYT, union talks head to mediation TV station employees ready to strike with contract soon to expire
By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer First published: Friday, September 14, 2007
ALBANY -- With unionized employees at WNYT Ch. 13 prepared to strike, a federal mediator will be asked to help management and workers end an ongoing and difficult contract negotiation.
The union members, the majority of the staff at the NBC affiliate in Albany, voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize a strike, a step workers could take if a new deal is not agreed upon before the current contract expires at the end of the month.
"It doesn't mean we will strike," said local union president Bill Lambdin, a reporter and editor at the station. "But it definitely means we could strike."
The contract squabble is a repeat of one four years ago, when management at WNYT threatened to lock out the workers represented by Local 21 of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America.
This time, both sides express hope for an agreement.
"We still have two negotiating sessions remaining," Steve Baboulis, the station's vice president and general manager, said in a statement to the Times Union. "And we still hope to find our way to a settlement."
Lambdin, meanwhile, said the union does not want a strike because it could be damaging to the station. But, he added, "it's not going well at this point."
He pointed to two particular points of contention: Management wants the right to lay off employees without regard to seniority and to replace laid-off unionized employees with non-unionized workers.
"That's the classic definition, in our minds, of union busting," Lambdin said. "We're not ready to agree to our own demise."
Both sides confirmed federal mediation has been requested.
Sept. 25 and 26 are the next scheduled dates for negotiation.
WNYT is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Corp., a Minnesota company that operates 12 television stations. Ron Hubbard, president of Hubbard Television Group, referred questions to Baboulis. He said only two of the company's stations are unionized.
The Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications says the television industry is "one of the more highly organized, or unionized, in the United States."
But it's big-city TV markets such as Los Angeles and New York that are more likely to have unionized stations than ones in smaller markets, according to the group.
In the Capital Region, WTEN Ch. 10, the ABC affiliate in Albany, and WXXA Ch. 23, the Fox affiliate in Albany, are not unionized.
WRGB Ch. 6, the CBS station in Niskayuna, has some workers who are unionized.
ALBANY Strike feared at WNYT/Channel 13 Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter James Schlett at 395-3040 or jschlett@dailygazette.net.
Tensions are mounting at WNYT/Channel 13 as both its unionized labor force and management brace for either a strike or a lockout. With a union contract set to expire Sunday night and negotiations stalled, most employees of the Albany station have been advised to take home their personal items and to leave their company-owned vehicles or equipment at their offi ces by the end of the weekend. Those precautionary steps are being taken by WNYT and the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America Local 21, who have not been able to hammer out a four-year contract since negotiations started July 31. Station and union leaders have been at loggerheads over what NABET-CWA decries as concessions that would bring Channel 13 back to its pre-organized labor days. One of the lightning rods in the talks involves WNYT’s demand for the right to lay off anyone in the bargaining unit, regardless of seniority. Union President Bill Lambdin called layoffs based on reverse seniority a basic principle of all organized labor contracts and one station workers are not willing to compromise. NABET-CWA has proposed extending the current contract for another four years, but WNYT has rejected that offer. They last met Wednesday. Other WNYT demands, according to the union, include the right to replace laid-off NABET-CWA members with non-union workers, unrestricted use of part-time workers, the elimination of three personal days per year and annual raises of 1.5 percent instead of the current 3 percent hikes each year. “It’s not money holding us up. It’s these radical changes and these union-busting changes,” said Lambdin, who has worked at the station for 27 years and is its most senior reporter. WNYT Vice President and General Manager Steve Baboulis said management plans to schedule more meetings for negotiations. He said the union had repeatedly turned down offers for a short-term extension of the current contract’s terms. When asked if he anticipates any disruptions in service Monday, Baboulis said, “We’ll take it as it comes.” Although management is not threatening a lockout — as it did during the 2003 contract negotiations — NABET-CWA members have authorized a strike. In the event of a strike, Lambdin said WNYT will likely continue airing content with the help of managers and replacement workers. “They’re going to keep on the air, but it’s going to be different after the work stoppage,” said Lambdin. Seventy percent of WNYT’s work force is represented by the union. It includes 90 members who work in the station’s news, engineering and production departments. Lambdin said his union has not gone on strike since it formed and fought for recognition in 1969. The Sunday standoff will come almost 18 months after NABETCWA concluded another round of tense contract negotiations for 44 members at WRGB/Channel 6. The union in April 2006 reached a three-year pact with the Schenectady station, but only after members worked for seven months without a contract. To put pressure on WRGB, NABET-CWA ran a billboard campaign urging viewers to “turn off CBS 6.” NABET-CWA’s mobilizing committee will meet this morning to review its options in the Channel 13 situation. Lambdin said the union might revive its “turn off” tactic.
If I were Channel 13, and if in fact they were trying to break the union, I would have had a head hunter out a year ago and lined up replacements when/if these unon employees walk out. Some of these unions are becoming little dictatorships and it just ain't gonna work forever in this economy.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
WNYT pact expires with no action First published: Monday, October 1, 2007
MENANDS -- The contract for most of the employees at WNYT Channel 13 expired at midnight without the workers being locked out or going on strike. Both scenarios were possible after management at the NBC affiliate and the union representing many of its workers failed to reach accord on a new agreement during their last bargaining session Wednesday.
Forty-five minutes before their contract ran out, the rank and file held a candlelight vigil outside the North Pearl Street station, according to Bill Lambdin, a reporter and president of the station's employee union.
"The unstable situation continues and has not been resolved," said Lambdin early Monday morning. He reiterated that no future sessions have been scheduled.
The union, Local 21 of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, represents on-air personnel, camera people, producers, technicians and other staffers -- about 70 percent of station staff. Lambdin said last week that the sides were not close to reaching agreement.
There are two points, in particular, that have riled the union: Management wants the right to lay off employees without regard to seniority, and it wants the right to replace laid-off unionized employees with nonunionized workers. He called it union breaking.
Lambdin said the union is asking only for cost-of-living pay increases and a continuation of the current contract.
WNYT is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Corp., a Minnesota company that operates 12 television stations nationally.
I don't care if they go out on strike or not. Sure, I prefer thier 6 o'clock news and I do watch a couple of shows they air, but there are a gazillion other channels I can watch in it's place, or perhaps watch nothing at all. I'm not big on TV actually. So I'll survive.
But God help me if I lose my internet connection!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Union’s request: Turn off Channel 13 BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
Union members at WNYT/ Channel 13 did not walk off the job in protest when their contract expired early Monday, allowing the station to remain on the air without disruption. Nevertheless, members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America Local 21 want viewers to provide that disruption. Union and management leaders averted a threatened strike and feared lockout Monday morning. But as 90 NABET-CWA workers started working without a contract, they launched a “Turn off 13” public awareness campaign. The marketing campaign is designed to pressure management into backing off certain demands for another four-year pact. The organized WNYT workers include news, engineering and production staff. “This is something that was very effective with Channel 6,” said NABET-CWA Local 21 President Bill Lambdin. NABET-CWA last year rolled out a similar marketing campaign when talks faltered for 44 members at WRGB/Channel 6 in Schenectady. The union is reviving its “turn off” tactic, which includes billboards, lawn signs and pressure on businesses to stop advertising with the station. At WRGB, the tactic led to a deal for a three-year contract in April 2006, but that deal came after members went seven months without a contract. “It’s protected speech. They can do what they want in their spare time. I don’t think it will help the situation, but it is what it is,” said WNYT General Manager Steve Baboulis. NABET-CWA and WNYT have been unable to agree over a series of management demands, which include the right to lay off bargaining unit members, regardless of seniority. The union has proposed extending the terms of the recently expired contract for another four years. Both sides said they wish to continue negotiations, but scheduling conflicts could delay the next round of talks to November, Lambdin said. NABET-CWA has already launched an anti-WNYT Web site, http://www.turnoff13.com. The union campaign’s slogan plays on Channel 13’s “Live, local, late-breaking” motto: “Channel 13: Live, local, union-breaking.”
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