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NABET-CWA Charges NPR with Labor Law Violation; Urges Newsmakers to Decline Interviews
Washington, D.C. -- Technical employees at National Public Radio, members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA, are urging elected officials and other newsmakers not to give interviews to NPR if the field production is not being done by a NABET-CWA represented technician.
The nearly 100 highly skilled and experienced technical workers have been trying for several months to reach a fair agreement with NPR management.
NABET-CWA has filed an unfair labor practice charge against NPR management over its actions undermining the existing contract with technicians. Management assigned a producer – a non-technical employee -- to conduct an interview with U.S. Senator Evan Bayh on Jan. 17 without a NABET-CWA member to perform the technical and quality control work for the production. Bayh's office cancelled the interview when it learned of the labor dispute.
The technicians, working in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, overwhelmingly rejected management's demands in a December vote.
For technicians, the critical bargaining issue is management's attack on jobs. "Management wants to shift greater amounts of what is highly skilled work to non-technical employees. This demand not only is contrary to NPR management's own policies requiring that it meet industry standards, but is an insult to the skilled and talented technicians that are responsible for a quality product," said Mark Peach, president of NABET-CWA Local 52031.
Peach also raised those concerns in a letter to NPR member stations, alerting them that NPR management, by demanding sub-standard work practices, "has said that quality no longer matters." This stance jeopardizes the quality product that stations and loyal listeners expect, he said.
Peach asked member stations and newsmakers to contact NPR to urge management to get back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair agreement that acknowledges the critical role of technicians in producing a quality network.
For more information on the dispute, go to www.nabet31.com and click on the NPR link.
The nearly 100 highly skilled and experienced technical workers have been trying for several months to reach a fair agreement with NPR management.
NABET-CWA has filed an unfair labor practice charge against NPR management over its actions undermining the existing contract with technicians. Management assigned a producer – a non-technical employee -- to conduct an interview with U.S. Senator Evan Bayh on Jan. 17 without a NABET-CWA member to perform the technical and quality control work for the production. Bayh's office cancelled the interview when it learned of the labor dispute.
The technicians, working in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, overwhelmingly rejected management's demands in a December vote.
For technicians, the critical bargaining issue is management's attack on jobs. "Management wants to shift greater amounts of what is highly skilled work to non-technical employees. This demand not only is contrary to NPR management's own policies requiring that it meet industry standards, but is an insult to the skilled and talented technicians that are responsible for a quality product," said Mark Peach, president of NABET-CWA Local 52031.
Peach also raised those concerns in a letter to NPR member stations, alerting them that NPR management, by demanding sub-standard work practices, "has said that quality no longer matters." This stance jeopardizes the quality product that stations and loyal listeners expect, he said.
Peach asked member stations and newsmakers to contact NPR to urge management to get back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair agreement that acknowledges the critical role of technicians in producing a quality network.
For more information on the dispute, go to www.nabet31.com and click on the NPR link.