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NABET-CWA Strikers Win Gains at Univision’s KMEX-TV
NABET-CWA Local 59053 won a settlement at KMEX-TV in Los Angeles that ended a nearly month-long strike at the Univision-owned station.
The settlement, which broke as the CWA News went to press, includes a substantial wage increase and major job security gains, said NABET-CWA President John Clark.
Workers won a 20 percent wage increase over the four-year contract term, with this year’s 7 percent increase retroactive to March 31, when the previous contract expired. Most important, on the issue of computer driven technology, the KMEX workers won a guarantee of no layoffs as well as a stipulation that union members would be performing at least 75 percent of the work associated with the digital technology.
Some 120 mostly Latino technicians, producers, sales and traffic employees set up picket lines at the station on Oct. 23.
Clark, who joined the bargaining team for some of the sessions, credited the unit’s solidarity and active mobilization campaign for the victory, praising their efforts to gain public support for their cause.
The local worked hard to build support throughout the Los Angeles and Latino community and KMEX workers got a big boost on election night when a number of Democratic Party candidates showed their support for the strikers by refusing to grant interviews to the station.
California state legislators Hilda Solis, Antonio Villaraigosa, Tony Cardenas and Gil Cedillo; U.S. Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Xavier Becerra, and Alex Padilla, Los Angeles City Council, all supported the KMEX strike, the local reported.
The unit combined its mobilization campaign with newspaper advertising, leafleting at public events and other approaches to get its message to the public.
Parent company Univision is the largest Spanish-language network in the United States, dominating the market with audience reach of nearly 85 percent. According to the Los Angeles Times, Univision’s 1999 operating profit was $204.5 million, up 25.6 percent from 1998.
Earlier this year, NABET-CWA members won a first contract at another Univision television facility, KFTV in Fresno, following a 43-day hunger strike. The principal issues in that dispute were wage parity and fair treatment.
The settlement, which broke as the CWA News went to press, includes a substantial wage increase and major job security gains, said NABET-CWA President John Clark.
Workers won a 20 percent wage increase over the four-year contract term, with this year’s 7 percent increase retroactive to March 31, when the previous contract expired. Most important, on the issue of computer driven technology, the KMEX workers won a guarantee of no layoffs as well as a stipulation that union members would be performing at least 75 percent of the work associated with the digital technology.
Some 120 mostly Latino technicians, producers, sales and traffic employees set up picket lines at the station on Oct. 23.
Clark, who joined the bargaining team for some of the sessions, credited the unit’s solidarity and active mobilization campaign for the victory, praising their efforts to gain public support for their cause.
The local worked hard to build support throughout the Los Angeles and Latino community and KMEX workers got a big boost on election night when a number of Democratic Party candidates showed their support for the strikers by refusing to grant interviews to the station.
California state legislators Hilda Solis, Antonio Villaraigosa, Tony Cardenas and Gil Cedillo; U.S. Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Xavier Becerra, and Alex Padilla, Los Angeles City Council, all supported the KMEX strike, the local reported.
The unit combined its mobilization campaign with newspaper advertising, leafleting at public events and other approaches to get its message to the public.
Parent company Univision is the largest Spanish-language network in the United States, dominating the market with audience reach of nearly 85 percent. According to the Los Angeles Times, Univision’s 1999 operating profit was $204.5 million, up 25.6 percent from 1998.
Earlier this year, NABET-CWA members won a first contract at another Univision television facility, KFTV in Fresno, following a 43-day hunger strike. The principal issues in that dispute were wage parity and fair treatment.