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CWA Chases a Mouse, Catches a Rat, at ABC
NABET-CWA members employed by Disney/ABC — who have been battling the network for a new contract for nearly two years — found on Nov. 3 that Mickey Mouse is really a rat.
The 2,600 union members went on a one-day strike against the mouse network on Nov. 2, only to be locked out the following morning when they reported for work. The protest was sparked by management’s insistence that union members switch health care plans and its refusal to provide details on the new plan. An unfair labor practice charge against the network is being appealed.
More than a month later, as the CWA News went to press, the parties were involved in federally mediated negotiations initiated by Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and energized by CWA President Morton Bahr.
Bahr, NABET-CWA President John Clark, NABET-CWA Network Coordinator John J. Krieger and CWA Representative Carmine Turchi were representing the union in the talks being held under a news blackout.
The strike and lockout became a bad publicity machine for image conscious network executives as technical glitches, star cancellations and prime time snafus invaded ABC studios from coast to coast.
A New York newspaper columnist noted that ABC was coming across as the “All Bloopers All the Time” network.
As soon as the lockout began, Bahr issued an appeal to all politicians of both parties to boycott the network and refuse interview requests. Vice President Al Gore was one of the first to cancel an interview with ABC, and many others followed in his footsteps on Election Day and afterward.
The lockout had taken on worldwide overtones by the time the parties got back together, with NABET-CWA members teaching Disney/ABC executives that they might be able to run, but they couldn’t hide.
NABET-CWA members greeted scab production crews with picket lines and an international show of solidarity as they fled from New York to ABC’s London bureau in an effort to avoid the glare of the spotlight. ABC had hoped to sneak off to London to produce two of the network’s overnight shows - “World News Tonight” and “World News Now.”
Among those greeting the scab crews in London were members of the Broadcasting, Entertainment and Cinematography and Theater Union of Great Britain, whose president, Tony Lennon, told them:
“You’re not welcome. We don’t want Disney/ABC turning our people into ‘cyberspace scabs.’” Joining BECTU in the protest marches outside the London studio were members of two other British unions, the Communications Workers Union and the National Journalists Union.
The London debacle, however, was only one of many that trapped Disney/ABC executives and their minions in a cloud of bad publicity as the network stumbled and fumbled without the behind-the-scenes talent that NABET-CWA members provide.
Network brass even managed to irk faithful soap opera fans by canceling fresh episodes of “All My Children,” “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital” and substituting repeats over the Thanksgiving holidays. Several other shows have either slowed or stopped production.
On Nov. 9, after Democrats boycotted the network’s Sunday talk show, “This Week,” Maurice Thomas, secretary of NABET-CWA Local 31 in Washington, D.C., suggested that the network should rename the show, “This Week with Some Republicans Who Will Still Talk to Us.”
President Anthony Capitano of NABET-CWA Local 16 in New York City, noted, “They can’t get guests to cross our picket lines. They can’t cover sports. And now ABC is exporting its news production. They should change the ABC News tag line to read, ‘More Americans get less news from ABC than from any other source.’”
NABET-CWA represents camera-persons, technicians, desk assistants, couriers, telecommunications personnel and other professionals at ABC-TV and ABC Radio nationwide, and at owned-and-operated stations in New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Support for the locked out workers has come from many sources and in many forms, including celebrities, politicians and their fellow workers:
The 2,600 union members went on a one-day strike against the mouse network on Nov. 2, only to be locked out the following morning when they reported for work. The protest was sparked by management’s insistence that union members switch health care plans and its refusal to provide details on the new plan. An unfair labor practice charge against the network is being appealed.
More than a month later, as the CWA News went to press, the parties were involved in federally mediated negotiations initiated by Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and energized by CWA President Morton Bahr.
Bahr, NABET-CWA President John Clark, NABET-CWA Network Coordinator John J. Krieger and CWA Representative Carmine Turchi were representing the union in the talks being held under a news blackout.
The strike and lockout became a bad publicity machine for image conscious network executives as technical glitches, star cancellations and prime time snafus invaded ABC studios from coast to coast.
A New York newspaper columnist noted that ABC was coming across as the “All Bloopers All the Time” network.
As soon as the lockout began, Bahr issued an appeal to all politicians of both parties to boycott the network and refuse interview requests. Vice President Al Gore was one of the first to cancel an interview with ABC, and many others followed in his footsteps on Election Day and afterward.
The lockout had taken on worldwide overtones by the time the parties got back together, with NABET-CWA members teaching Disney/ABC executives that they might be able to run, but they couldn’t hide.
NABET-CWA members greeted scab production crews with picket lines and an international show of solidarity as they fled from New York to ABC’s London bureau in an effort to avoid the glare of the spotlight. ABC had hoped to sneak off to London to produce two of the network’s overnight shows - “World News Tonight” and “World News Now.”
Among those greeting the scab crews in London were members of the Broadcasting, Entertainment and Cinematography and Theater Union of Great Britain, whose president, Tony Lennon, told them:
“You’re not welcome. We don’t want Disney/ABC turning our people into ‘cyberspace scabs.’” Joining BECTU in the protest marches outside the London studio were members of two other British unions, the Communications Workers Union and the National Journalists Union.
The London debacle, however, was only one of many that trapped Disney/ABC executives and their minions in a cloud of bad publicity as the network stumbled and fumbled without the behind-the-scenes talent that NABET-CWA members provide.
Network brass even managed to irk faithful soap opera fans by canceling fresh episodes of “All My Children,” “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital” and substituting repeats over the Thanksgiving holidays. Several other shows have either slowed or stopped production.
On Nov. 9, after Democrats boycotted the network’s Sunday talk show, “This Week,” Maurice Thomas, secretary of NABET-CWA Local 31 in Washington, D.C., suggested that the network should rename the show, “This Week with Some Republicans Who Will Still Talk to Us.”
President Anthony Capitano of NABET-CWA Local 16 in New York City, noted, “They can’t get guests to cross our picket lines. They can’t cover sports. And now ABC is exporting its news production. They should change the ABC News tag line to read, ‘More Americans get less news from ABC than from any other source.’”
NABET-CWA represents camera-persons, technicians, desk assistants, couriers, telecommunications personnel and other professionals at ABC-TV and ABC Radio nationwide, and at owned-and-operated stations in New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Support for the locked out workers has come from many sources and in many forms, including celebrities, politicians and their fellow workers:
- The cast of “All My Children” won the hearts of NABET-CWA members by donating a portion of their salaries to the union’s Lockout Relief Fund. Individual soap stars have brought lunches to the picketers and walked alongside them during their off-hours;
- ABC camera crews were escorted out of the headquarters of both California Democratic gubernatorial winner Gray Davis and reelected Sen. Barbara Boxer on election night;
- In New York, losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Vallone barred scab crews from WABC from his headquarters, as did victorious senatorial candidate Chuck Schumer;
- Actor-comic Adam Sandler, scheduled to promote his new film, “The Waterboy,” on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” refused to cross the picket line;
- Singer Tony Bennett, the headline guest on ABC’s daytime show “The View,” was a no-show, also refusing to cross the picket line;
- Others who had scheduled appearances with the network and who instead honored NABET-CWA picket lines include shock jock Howard Stern, former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman, and movie star Whoopi Goldberg;
- “Good Morning America” announc-ed on Nov. 4 that it would cancel a long-planned six-city road trip to the West Coast because of the strike;
- On “Nightline,” host Ted Koppel expressed frustration with technical problems and gaffes on the air through-out the election night broadcast;
- ABC news anchor Peter Jennings was forced to acknowledge technical and other problems on the air, conceding that many Democratic candidates had refused interviews with the network, during election eve coverage. Jennings, a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has continually crossed NABET-CWA picket lines, but he has sent coffee and donuts to the strikers to show his good intent. Other ABC personalities joining the food parade include Ted Koppel of “Nightline” and “Good Morning America” anchors Lisa McRee and Kevin Newman;
- Although he crossed the picket lines, George Stephanopoulos, a commentator for “This Week,” wore a NABET-CWA lapel pin on the air;
- “Monday Night Football” — once the pride of the network for its dazzling camera work and brilliant graphics — has looked a lot like a high school production put on by kindergartners.