Bargaining Update

Substitute teachers in the Santa Ana Unified School District in California ratified a first contract by a 70 percent margin. The 866 substitute teachers are members of CWA Local 9510 and are the first substitute teachers in Orange County to gain a contract.

They joined CWA in November 2008, but the school district continued to fight their right to CWA representation. Negotiations got underway in 2010.

The three-year first contract was reached with participation of a Public Employment Relations Board mediator. It provides for wage reopeners in each of the contract years, a two-step grievance procedure, a guaranteed job interview for substitute teachers who have worked two months or more for publicly posted teaching assignments and other gains.

CWA Local 9510 President Kenny Williams said this first contract "already brings substitute teachers closer to the benefits and wages of full-time teachers. Together we're building a movement for substitute teachers and working people everywhere."

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The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Monday that NBC Universal violated federal labor law by refusing to recognize and bargain with NABET-CWA.

The case stems from an attempt by NBC in early 2009 to unilaterally change the terms and conditions of employment for NABET-CWA members working as news writers, editors, and photographers at owned and operated TV stations in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as well as at the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. NBC tried to claim that it was consolidating work and creating new, non-union "content producer" jobs. NABET-CWA pushed back, and a 2011 NLRB ruling out of Region 2 made it clear that these so-called content producers were doing the same work they've always done – just with a different title.

Now the NLRB has ordered NBC to recognize and bargain with NABET-CWA and to provide the information NABET-CWA negotiators had requested last October.

As a result of the decision, NABET-CWA represents all content producers at the Chicago, New York and Los Angeles stations, whether or not those workers previously had been represented by NABET-CWA before NBC changed their job classification to content producer. At the Washington, D.C. station, a representation election must be held for the content producers group.

NABET-CWA President Jim Joyce said the union "is grateful for the decision of the NLRB and we expect NBC to now negotiate a contract with us for the workers."

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Bargaining for a new contract covering 1,600 CWA members in West Virginia continues with Frontier Communications. The current contract, which was recently extended, expires Friday, April 25 at 11:59 p.m.

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Members of TNG-CWA Local 39521 delivered more than 5,800 petitions to Purple Communications CEO John Ferron calling on the company to negotiate a fair contract. More than 225 video services interpreters, in Arizona, Denver, Oakland and San Diego joined the TNG local in 2012.

Check out this awesome video of their petition delivery here.

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The Daily Beast is trying to deny overtime pay to some reporters by reclassifying them as creative employees. The New York Guild, TNG-CWA Local 31003, strongly opposed the move at a recent meeting with Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief John Avlon. Avlon said, "We don't write AP style," claiming that makes the work creative and ineligible for overtime.

"You can have an artfully crafted news article," Guild Representative Susan DeCarava said. "But that doesn't make it a piece of creative writing. Facts matter, accuracy matters, and part of the work of our members is to research and report the news in a way that adheres to journalistic standards."

Read more here.

The Daily Beast is an online news and opinion site.

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The Philadelphia Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 38010, can join the legal dispute between rival owners and potentially make its own bid for its newspapers and websites, a Delaware judge ruled Monday.

"I'm thrilled," said Guild Executive Director Bill Ross, whose local represents about 550 of the nearly 1,800 employees at Interstate General Media Holdings L.L.C. IGM also owns the Philadelphia Daily News, three websites, and a printing plant. "I think the judge recognized our involvement. Once it is determined which type of auction it will be, I think we'll be in a position to discuss who our potential bidders might be."

Read more here.