NABET-CWA Scores Impressive Organizing Hat Trick

With union approval ratings, especially among young workers, at their highest levels in decades, NABET-CWA has been scoring big organizing wins. In the last month, workers at television station KDVR in Denver, Colo., WLNE television station in Rhode Island, and online music platform DistroKid have joined our union.

KDVR-TV/Nexstar Media Group

KDVR-TV is owned by Nexstar Media Group and is partnered with KWGN, another Denver television station under the Nexstar umbrella. Workers at both the Denver Nexstar Hub and KDVR/KWGN faced an intense anti-union campaign and received anti-union letters from management. The company also attempted to delay the union vote by raising unfounded concerns about who belonged in the bargaining units. Despite these attacks, the workers prevailed by large margins.

With this recent win at the Denver Nexstar Hub, the total number of union-represented positions at Nexstar will reach 80 members. NABET-CWA Organizing Coordinator Bera Dunau noted a significant number of other Nexstar workers now showing interest. NABET represents workers at another nine Nexstar worksites in other states.

Workers at the Nexstar Hub and KDVR/KWGN will join NABET-CWA Local 57052 in Denver.

 
NABET-CWA Local 57052 NABET President Gil Maestas (foreground) poses with victorious KDVR workers. Organizing Coordinator Bera Dunau poses in the background with two thumbs up as they celebrate this high-profile organizing win.

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DistroKid

Though you may never have heard of DistroKid, it’s very likely you’ve listened to content from your favorite music artists that originated on the site. DistroKid is the largest independent digital music distributor in the world by volume. The company is a platform for artists and creators to sell or stream music through online retailers like iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and Amazon Music.

Workers at the company were subjected to a ferocious anti-union campaign that included multiple, one-on-one anti-union meetings and near-constant anti-union propaganda. The company president also sent several anti-union letters to workers.

Despite attempts to dissuade workers, they returned a vote 45-28 in favor of joining NABET-CWA. This effort succeeded due to the unified efforts of the organizing committee, which kept the entire campaign hidden from management until it went public, a rare early coup for the team. They also give credit to President of NABET-CWA Local 51016 Bill Bores for his unfaltering support. Dunau specifically thanked CWA District 9 Assistant Director of Organizing Yonah Diamond for consistent guidance during the 18-month campaign.

DistroKid workers, who all work remotely, will join NABET-CWA Local 51016, based in New York, N.Y.

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WLNE-TV

Rhode Island-based television station WLNE voted 22-3 to join NABET-CWA. WLNE workers received an outpouring of support from the Providence community, with the Providence City Council passing a unanimous resolution supporting the organizing effort. They also received support from Rhode Island Representative Seth Magaziner (D) and from State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Patrick Crowley, which, Bera says, “bodes well for mobilization in contract negotiations.”

WLNE workers will join NABET-CWA Local 51018 based in Boston, Mass.

 
WLNE workers celebrated winning their union vote with NABET-CWA Local 51018 President Mike Wilkins (holding paper).