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Job Security Key To Nationwide NBC Pact
A tentative four-year settlement with NBC boosts wages by 12 percent for 2,400 broadcast employees nationwide and features job security language to protect news field engineers.
The most contentious issue in the talks surrounded NBC’s insistence on allowing non-represented personnel to gather news footage using handheld digital cameras in the field, NABET-CWA President John Clark said.
The company took the position that existing contract language already gave them the right to have non-NABET people use the small cameras. “Although we disagreed with that position, clearly we had to address the issue in some way,” Clark said. “We were able to limit the use of cameras by non-NABET people and to win a no layoff agreement to protect jobs of the news field engineers.”
Three-quarters of the bargaining team “believe that this is the best possible deal we could achieve,” he said, noting that one member declined to endorse the settlement.
The settlement provides general wage increases of 3 percent for each year and improves compensation in several areas for daily hires. The pact covers broadcast workers throughout the NBC network as well as at NBC’s owned and operated TV stations.
The parties began a series of limited issue, off-the-record discussions last August which paved the way for an accord several weeks before the March 31, 2002 expiration date. The deadline for the mail ballot referendum is April 19. If ratified, contract terms are retroactive to April 1.
The most contentious issue in the talks surrounded NBC’s insistence on allowing non-represented personnel to gather news footage using handheld digital cameras in the field, NABET-CWA President John Clark said.
The company took the position that existing contract language already gave them the right to have non-NABET people use the small cameras. “Although we disagreed with that position, clearly we had to address the issue in some way,” Clark said. “We were able to limit the use of cameras by non-NABET people and to win a no layoff agreement to protect jobs of the news field engineers.”
Three-quarters of the bargaining team “believe that this is the best possible deal we could achieve,” he said, noting that one member declined to endorse the settlement.
The settlement provides general wage increases of 3 percent for each year and improves compensation in several areas for daily hires. The pact covers broadcast workers throughout the NBC network as well as at NBC’s owned and operated TV stations.
The parties began a series of limited issue, off-the-record discussions last August which paved the way for an accord several weeks before the March 31, 2002 expiration date. The deadline for the mail ballot referendum is April 19. If ratified, contract terms are retroactive to April 1.