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Union Fights Merger, Saves Jobs
It was late September 1999 and union leaders from NABET-CWA Local 26 had been summoned by management from WSKG, the public broadcasting station in Binghamton, N.Y.
The news was grim, as union President John Ziller had expected as soon as he saw the station’s lawyer arrive. A merger with a station 70 miles away was in the works, and WSKG employees were going to lose their jobs.
“We were pretty much told it was a done deal,” Ziller said. “They said it could happen in a week, or two weeks or a month.”
But it didn’t happen at all, thanks in part to quick, intense pressure from the union, which covers 15 workers at WSKG.
“We weren’t about to take this lying down,” Ziller said. Within days, the union was getting its “Stop the Merger” message out on billboards and in TV ads, even a website. They issued press releases, did interviews and distributed thousands of postcards for community members to send to station management.
Union members made it clear that local programming would be lost, that all PBS shows would come via a fiber optic link from WCNY in Syracuse, N.Y. Instead of covering 20 counties, the combined PBS station would cover 41, thinning out state-mandated services to local school districts, among other losses, NABET-CWA Staff Representative Bill Murray said.
“The union gave the community an outlet,” Murray said. “A commercial merger, you can’t fight. But a PBS station belongs to the public. The community has put money into it for years and they should have a say in what happens to it.”
In December, long after the two stations’ boards of directors were supposed to vote on the merger, the deal fell apart. Exactly what happened and why isn’t clear but Ziller and Murray say they are certain the union’s actions played a role. The station’s financial situation also improved somewhat during the fall, which they said may have been a deciding factor.
Ziller, who works for the FOX station in Binghamton, which is part of the same local as WSKG, said many employees “felt like we were sunk” at first and doubted they could stop the merger. Ultimately, he said their hard work strengthened the union.
“This kind of thing brings people together,” he said. “In the small amount of time we had, we really got a lot accomplished.”
The news was grim, as union President John Ziller had expected as soon as he saw the station’s lawyer arrive. A merger with a station 70 miles away was in the works, and WSKG employees were going to lose their jobs.
“We were pretty much told it was a done deal,” Ziller said. “They said it could happen in a week, or two weeks or a month.”
But it didn’t happen at all, thanks in part to quick, intense pressure from the union, which covers 15 workers at WSKG.
“We weren’t about to take this lying down,” Ziller said. Within days, the union was getting its “Stop the Merger” message out on billboards and in TV ads, even a website. They issued press releases, did interviews and distributed thousands of postcards for community members to send to station management.
Union members made it clear that local programming would be lost, that all PBS shows would come via a fiber optic link from WCNY in Syracuse, N.Y. Instead of covering 20 counties, the combined PBS station would cover 41, thinning out state-mandated services to local school districts, among other losses, NABET-CWA Staff Representative Bill Murray said.
“The union gave the community an outlet,” Murray said. “A commercial merger, you can’t fight. But a PBS station belongs to the public. The community has put money into it for years and they should have a say in what happens to it.”
In December, long after the two stations’ boards of directors were supposed to vote on the merger, the deal fell apart. Exactly what happened and why isn’t clear but Ziller and Murray say they are certain the union’s actions played a role. The station’s financial situation also improved somewhat during the fall, which they said may have been a deciding factor.
Ziller, who works for the FOX station in Binghamton, which is part of the same local as WSKG, said many employees “felt like we were sunk” at first and doubted they could stop the merger. Ultimately, he said their hard work strengthened the union.
“This kind of thing brings people together,” he said. “In the small amount of time we had, we really got a lot accomplished.”