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Youngstown TV Lockout Settled
Thirteen days after being locked out by the NBC affiliate in Youngstown, Ohio, members of NABET-CWA Local 54047 voted Friday to accept the station's much-improved contract offer.
The station was feeling community and bottom-line pressure to resolve the labor dispute, with car dealerships, jewelers and other major advertisers pulling their accounts, newsmakers refusing to give interviews and politicians turning out to demonstrate with workers.
"The local ran a tremendous campaign," NABET-CWA President John Clark said. "Thanks to the members' tenacity and help from CWA, the bargaining committee was able to get significant movement from the company on wages and medical premiums."
Local Steward Joe Bell, a member of the bargaining committee, said the contract was approved 28-4 and includes a 6 percent raise over three years with a $500 signing bonus.
Workers will pay more for their health care premiums but not nearly what the station had demanded earlier, and the basic benefit plan won't be overhauled as the company wanted. "We managed to maintain all our benefits," Bell said, adding that a joint committee will also meet twice a year to review the health plan and its costs and possibly make changes benefiting workers.
"It's light years away from where the company started initially and it's significant better than what the company said was its 'last, best' contract offer two weeks ago," Bell said.
The campaign included radio and TV ads that told how the company wanted to hike workers' share of health care premiums by nearly 400 percent, costing employees more than they would get in miniscule proposed raises. When the local - 35 reporters, anchors, photographers, directors and weather specialists - rejected the offer Jan. 31 and asked to continue bargaining, the station locked them out.
Bell said the ads prompted citizens to call the station and some advertisers even called the CEO of Piedmont Television LLC, which owns the affiliate. "Nothing speaks louder than the loss of money," he said. "We attacked their advertising base and we got significant cooperation."
The station was feeling community and bottom-line pressure to resolve the labor dispute, with car dealerships, jewelers and other major advertisers pulling their accounts, newsmakers refusing to give interviews and politicians turning out to demonstrate with workers.
"The local ran a tremendous campaign," NABET-CWA President John Clark said. "Thanks to the members' tenacity and help from CWA, the bargaining committee was able to get significant movement from the company on wages and medical premiums."
Local Steward Joe Bell, a member of the bargaining committee, said the contract was approved 28-4 and includes a 6 percent raise over three years with a $500 signing bonus.
Workers will pay more for their health care premiums but not nearly what the station had demanded earlier, and the basic benefit plan won't be overhauled as the company wanted. "We managed to maintain all our benefits," Bell said, adding that a joint committee will also meet twice a year to review the health plan and its costs and possibly make changes benefiting workers.
"It's light years away from where the company started initially and it's significant better than what the company said was its 'last, best' contract offer two weeks ago," Bell said.
The campaign included radio and TV ads that told how the company wanted to hike workers' share of health care premiums by nearly 400 percent, costing employees more than they would get in miniscule proposed raises. When the local - 35 reporters, anchors, photographers, directors and weather specialists - rejected the offer Jan. 31 and asked to continue bargaining, the station locked them out.
Bell said the ads prompted citizens to call the station and some advertisers even called the CEO of Piedmont Television LLC, which owns the affiliate. "Nothing speaks louder than the loss of money," he said. "We attacked their advertising base and we got significant cooperation."