NABET-CWA - Judge Slams CNN for Illegal Firings

In a major victory for NABET-CWA members who worked at CNN, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge issued a scathing decision against the cable network and ordered that 110 workers be rehired, the union recognized and their economic losses restored.

CNN violated federal labor law and the legal rights of more than 250 workers at the Washington, D.C., and New York bureaus by using a phony reorganization scheme for the sole purpose of eliminating their NABET-CWA representation, the administrative law judge found.

In late 2003, CNN terminated its more than 20-year contract with Team Video Services, which employed union camera operators, broadcast engineers and other technicians for CNN, in effect, firing more than 110 workers. The network claimed it would create its own unit of employees, however, Judge Arthur J. Amchan called that unit a "sham," used to get rid of employees and their union. CNN's goal was to "achieve a nonunion technical work force in its Washington, D.C., and New York bureaus." CNN's "widespread and egregious misconduct" showed a flagrant and general disregard for employees' fundamental rights, he said.

Noting that the case goes back nearly five years, CWA President Larry Cohen stated: "This is a prime example of the way that justice comes far too late, if at all, under our labor law system. These workers never should have lost their bargaining rights or their jobs, and it wouldn't have happened if we had the Employee Free Choice Act. What's more, CNN has said it will appeal this ruling. This should fire us up even more to fight to strengthen workers' bargaining rights."

One of the fired workers, Jimmy Suissa, worked for CNN for 17 years, starting as a camera operator, but mastering nearly every technical job in the Washington bureau, from running the audio and video boards to technical director. "Many of us rotated through these positions and that's why we knew that CNN's claims that we weren't able to learn new equipment were completely false," he said.

It was very stressful and difficult in the month leading up to the point when CNN began firing workers, he said. And it was clear that anyone associated with the union or providing representation to workers on the job wasn't going to be rehired into the new non-union workplace. 

Sarah Pacheco joined CNN as a videographer and worked at the Washington bureau from 1990 to 2003, and she also was an active and aggressive union steward. Despite acknowledged experience in non-linear editing, a skill CNN management claimed was necessary when it rejected other applicants, Pacheco was not rated among the top 55 applicants. A "lack of people skills" described by management likely "is related to her aggressiveness as a union steward for (NABET-CWA) Local 31," the judge wrote.