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Univision Creates Culture War in Puerto Rico
Univision employees in Puerto Rico fighting for a fair contract that protects their jobs are getting a big boost from the island's Actors Guild, which says the Spanish-language television giant has started a culture war.
Signs in Spanish saying "Univision: Anti-Worker and Racist" are appearing all over the island and the battles between the network and unions are getting media and talk radio attention.
The 140 members in the wall-to-wall unit of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 33222, known has UPAGRA, had a strong contract with their previous owner. Since Univision took over in 2002, they have been struggling to renegotiate and hold onto production jobs that the network is trying to subcontract and outsource.
The actors, some of whom appear in soap operas or "telenovas," have joined in the fight, attending rallies, hosting hearings and speaking out publicly. They are angry at Univision's demand that actors, radio announcers and UPAGRA's TV journalists abandon their Puerto Rican dialect and accent in favor of Spanish as spoken in Mexico.
"They are displacing Puerto Rican workers and are a threat to dismantle the culture of the island and its linguistic characteristics," said Luis Enrique Romero, vice president of the Actors Guild. "They are failing to respect the island."
Though it has an American broadcast license, Univision gets most of its programs from Mexico and Venezuela where its actors and broadcast speak with a "flattened Spanish" accent and Mexican dialect. That's what Univision is demanding from those who still have jobs in Puerto Rico, said Carrie Biggs-Adams, executive secretary for the TNG-CWA contracts committee.
Meanwhile, Univision, well known for its union-busting, has refused to bargain fairly with UPAGRA and has been shifting work to non-union contractors on the island and in other countries.
The Puerto Rico Legislature was concerned enough to ask the Commission on Work and Veterans' Affairs to hold hearings last month. Univision claimed the commission didn't have the legal right to investigate, even though it routinely holds hearings on labor issues. The commission decided to take the matter into executive session, meaning no media or spectators were allowed and testimony is sealed.
But that didn't prevent the Actors Guild and UPAGRA from holding a public forum the next week, at which members of both unions talked about Univision's anti-worker tactics. The event included a panel of Puerto Rican academic, religious, labor and cultural leaders.
Earlier this month, UPAGRA further spread its message by running its radio ads from a sound truck at an outdoor event at which Univision was presenting its 2005 programs.
The unions are investigating the possibility of challenging Univision's Puerto Rican broadcast license. Meanwhile, UPAGRA members are continuing to bargain in hopes of resolving their issues, in spite of voting last December to authorize a strike.
Signs in Spanish saying "Univision: Anti-Worker and Racist" are appearing all over the island and the battles between the network and unions are getting media and talk radio attention.
The 140 members in the wall-to-wall unit of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 33222, known has UPAGRA, had a strong contract with their previous owner. Since Univision took over in 2002, they have been struggling to renegotiate and hold onto production jobs that the network is trying to subcontract and outsource.
The actors, some of whom appear in soap operas or "telenovas," have joined in the fight, attending rallies, hosting hearings and speaking out publicly. They are angry at Univision's demand that actors, radio announcers and UPAGRA's TV journalists abandon their Puerto Rican dialect and accent in favor of Spanish as spoken in Mexico.
"They are displacing Puerto Rican workers and are a threat to dismantle the culture of the island and its linguistic characteristics," said Luis Enrique Romero, vice president of the Actors Guild. "They are failing to respect the island."
Though it has an American broadcast license, Univision gets most of its programs from Mexico and Venezuela where its actors and broadcast speak with a "flattened Spanish" accent and Mexican dialect. That's what Univision is demanding from those who still have jobs in Puerto Rico, said Carrie Biggs-Adams, executive secretary for the TNG-CWA contracts committee.
Meanwhile, Univision, well known for its union-busting, has refused to bargain fairly with UPAGRA and has been shifting work to non-union contractors on the island and in other countries.
The Puerto Rico Legislature was concerned enough to ask the Commission on Work and Veterans' Affairs to hold hearings last month. Univision claimed the commission didn't have the legal right to investigate, even though it routinely holds hearings on labor issues. The commission decided to take the matter into executive session, meaning no media or spectators were allowed and testimony is sealed.
But that didn't prevent the Actors Guild and UPAGRA from holding a public forum the next week, at which members of both unions talked about Univision's anti-worker tactics. The event included a panel of Puerto Rican academic, religious, labor and cultural leaders.
Earlier this month, UPAGRA further spread its message by running its radio ads from a sound truck at an outdoor event at which Univision was presenting its 2005 programs.
The unions are investigating the possibility of challenging Univision's Puerto Rican broadcast license. Meanwhile, UPAGRA members are continuing to bargain in hopes of resolving their issues, in spite of voting last December to authorize a strike.