Broadcasting and Bargaining 0001

8/14/2019 Broadcasting and Bargaining 0001

1/7

Broadcas t ingan d B a rga in in gL abor R ela tions in R adio and Television

e d i t e d b y A L L E N E . K O E N IG


2/7

B r o a d e a s t i n ga n dB a r g a i n i n gLabor R e la tions inRadio and T ele vis io n

edited byALLEN E. KOENIG

The University of Wisconsin PressMadison; Milwaukee, and London1970


3/7

'18 4 Problems in Labor and Broadcasting'5. Most "live" television productions are not seen that way in thehome. What is seen is a video tape reproduction of the productionpeople saw live in the studio.

6. Our discussion here does not include the Canadian BroadcastingCorporation, which unlike the U.S. networks is not a great capi- 'talistic venture, but is owned by the Canadian people and operatedby a Crown corporation. Neither have we considered the NationalEducational Television Network, as this network does not handlecommercial programming and does not directly hire technicians.

7. In 1967a series of complaints by locals in NABETagainst domina-tion by Internationalofficers were compouncied byinternal bicker-ing arid. "politicking." Moves were made by the large networklocals, New York and Hollywood, to leave NABET for the Team-,ster's Union. When this failed because the Teamsters withdtew,an effort was made to form a new union. The fight to keep theunion together succeeded, but the organization was almost de-stroyed in the process.

8. In 1968 five senators and ten representanvse had either a director family-related interest iri the broadcasting ihdustry (Broadcast-ing, January )5, 1968). .

70 ETV Barg ain in gMana gement V iew

:j i l;' i i ! ,

1:

I"{I'I,'i' 1" I ',i ~ : ll' !1 : 1 i( ;1 j' ~ !i. J

lii !I'il lIiiii' l "by JAMES L. LOPERand THOMAS J. McDERMOTT, JR. II ; 'r l! .f : ~I ~'i lliI . ' 1I'i ~ tI ~ ri lii

The public television station has up until now beenlittle affected by the union movement. Only thirteen of the morethan one hundred and fifty stations have any form of contract,and. those contracts that do exist primarily cover engineers andtechnicians; Several stations, in the, very largest markets, havemultiple. contracts which approach in complexity those of large-scale commercial broadcasting.For the most part unions, guilds, and .ETV have signed con-

tracts only in major cities; with community stations which haverelatively large budgets and numbers of employees, although thesignators include WILL-TV, operated by the University of Illi-nois, at Urbana. National Educational Television's labor agree-ments are only with the "above-the-line," or talent, organizations.Thus it would seem that the locally owned and funded noncom-mercial station has not been an attractive target for unionization.And well it might not be, for, as the Carnegie Commission on

Educational Television reported, the average ETV station in 1966had a median full-time employment figure of only 23.people. Andyet, out of a total employment of 3,910, only 64 people earnedover $15,000, according to the study, and most of these in the

. I ! :~,~!

. ; ,i': 1 1

": !

185' ( , ' 1 1)',I~i


4/7

i ~

1 86 Problems in Labor and Broadcastingmanagement categories. Generally, ETV workers are paid less fortheir services than are their equals in commercial television.The concept of nonparity has formed the philosophical base.

for most ETV contracts, and with reason. While it can be arguedthat employees in similar positions in noncommercial and com-mercial television perform similar duties and must demonstratesimilar capabilities; a basic difference does exist. ETV does nothave the advertising revenues which are available to operate aprofit-based system of television.It is true that some commercial stations operate with less than

the $258,510 described by the Carnegie report as the medianexpense of all ETV stations. But the fact remains that commercialtelevision by its very nature is allowed and encouraged by thefederal government to develop a steady source of income. ETVstations operating on reserved channels must start from a basisof no advertising income and develop other sources of financing.The very fact that 180 public televisi:onstations exist at an is atribute to the inventiveness of the licensees and management.This quest for nonadvettiSing revenue has led many nongov-

etnn:i.entally supported stations, especially community stations,into a number of fund-raising activities Some of which are farafield of the concept of educational broadcasting.It is, incidentally, these verystations in the larger markets-

stations dependent upon a variety of recurring and nonrecurringsources of income- that have the largest budgets; produce mostof the programming, and have the most labor contracts.For these stations .tQnegotiate from anything other than a Con-

ceptthat they should.pay less than their cOmmercialcounterpartswould indicate bad management. If the station has developed thisapproach, not only to salaries an d wages but to all setvicesandgOCldsitreceivesl and conSistently applies it, it should not havedifficulty presenting a case forless-than-parity contracts with itsuni6ns and guilds. But the. station must contrive always to preachand sell such a philosophy, not only to the unions, but to theentire community.

" i l

IIi.1I

! ; I ! ij';!ftjr.Il',~ . '

~ ,I~, ! : I i !

: u ,tl i ll lI

,,t,

.~LoPERIMcDERMO' IT:ETV Bargaining 187r. Thisis especially true if the ETV station makes major use of. volunteer workers to supplement its regular staff. Volunteers doa remarkable number and variety of jobs in many stations, oftenworking along with salaried.' employees. If such nonsalariedworkers feel that the staff are working for less than they wouldreceive i n commercial television, there is likely to be a harmoni-ous relationship. But if the volunteer knows that his salaried co-workeris working for a relatively high wage, he is likely to feelabused, disrupt the relationship, and look for activities wherehi s servicescan better be used.Thus the ETV station is unable to pay professional staff more

because of the absence-of advertising revenue, but it also standsto losevaluable volunteer staff if it should choose to pay accord-ing to commercial scales..Thefollowing suggestion is the best offered for the settlementof an ETvcontract: In lieu:of a wage increase, the bargainingunit employees should share in the nonprofit.This is more than a quip. Within it lies the philosophy for the

negotiation of an ETV contract. Simply stated, "We pay less,because We have less to pay:" More broadly, educational tele-vision is not a commercial broadcasting facility, and conceptsadequate for commercial stations have no place in an ETVnegotiation..An ETV station must develop and sustain such a philosophywith its union, or it will find itself in the constant financial perilof .the other .artistic nonprofit corporations - for example, operacompanies, ballet companies, and symphony orchestras - that.have attemptedto compete with commercial wages, fringe bene-fits, and work rules. When reliance is placed upon public donorsand private foundations for operating expenses, there are nodynamics of the marketplace (such as an increase in advertisingrates) to supply the funds to finance high-scale union contracts.Negotiate or perish. Because we are firmly convinced of this,we offer the following guidelines for ETV management in labornegotiation.


5/7


6/7

1 9 0 Problems in Labor and BroadcastingRepresentatives of commercial stations. experienced in dealing

with unions can give valuable advice and may be able to warn ofundesirable or absolutely unacceptable clauses, A union may tryto introduce a new work rule or fringe benefit in an ETV stationwith the. argument that it is innocuous, before presenting it to.commercial stations.In reviewing the contracts which you obtain in preparation for

negotiations, note the differences in. concept 'inherent .in ETV asopposed to commercial television and attempt to maintain thesedifferences. As an example, everyone is aware of the residual con-cept and the rerun fees demanded by AFTRA for additional com"mercial performances. National ,Educational Television createdand successfully inserted in its AFTRA agreements the conceptof the "use." Rather than pay for reruns, NET pays for "uses."One use consists of unlimited showings of a particular programfor seven consecutive days. This concept conformsto the require-ments of ETV and saves considerable ,money.It hasbeen success-fully used, in various avatars, by the authors in contracts withAFTRA, DCA, and IATSE sound technicians.The nature of educational television' makes it ideal for the

introduction of an apprentice or student training program. It isthe feeling of the authors that such a program should be usedwhen it can be efficiently and economically administered. It hasthe following advantages: .1. It gives the station an opportunity to perform anadditionaleducational function, particularly in the minority community.2~It creates a loyal work force to aid in station expansion,

3. If sufficiently funded by outside sources, it cannot help butprovide some economic benefit to the station, even thoughapprentices may not be allowed to perform ..duties of theunion members except on aone-for-one basis.: The merepresence of the extra worker makes it easier to get the jobdone.

' I ' . , "::I iii~

I I '~, Ii !'f rj ' I ' :;,< !,rf .,I

. .Additional concessions which unions are inclined to make, for

educational television stations take the form of agreeixigto:

' 1 IrlL

LopEli.IMcDERMOTt:TV Bargaining 191

1. Slightly lower wages than commercial stations.2. Lower union initiation fees' for personnel, or special pay-offarrangements.

3. The use of part-time employees.4. Longer probationary periods for new employees.5. Less strict work schedules.6. The repeated use of amateur performers.7. The payment of orily one premium or penalty pay for anyone incident.8. Allowing supervisory personnel to perform certain duties ofthe bargaining unit members.

In summary, it can be said that the successfulETY station hashad to bargain from the concept' that noncommercial televisioncannot pay as much as commercial television. It has had to relyupon experienced, professional assistance during negotiations,and the staff has done necessary comparative research on othercontracts. Labor contracts and negotiation should not be handledby the inexperienced or uninforIIled.

NOTES1. The followingis a list of unionswith whichWNDT (Channel 13)has contracts,and the employeescoveredby the contracts:American Federation of Musicians,National (informal agree-ment), coveringmusicians.AmericanFederationof Musicians,Local 802 (signed contract),coveringmusicians.AmericanFederationof Musicians,Local 16 (New Jersey) (in-formalagreement), coveringmusicians. .AmericanFederationofTelevisionandRadioArtists,NationalandLocal (signed contract), covering actors, performing artists,announcers,and newsmen.DirectorsGuildof America (signedcontract), coveringdirectors,associatedirectors,stage managers.InternationalAllianceof Theatrical StageEmployes (signed con-tract), coveringgraphic artists.


7/7

192 Problems in Labor and BroadcastingInternational Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Local 1(Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island) (signed contract), coveringstagehands,- electricians, carpenters, propmen.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Local 4(Brooklyn, Queens), covering stagehands, electricians, carpen-ters, propmen. .

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Local 21(New Jersey) (signed contract), covering stagehands, eleetri-cians, carpenters, propmen.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Local 771(signed contract), covering. film editors and assistants.

United Scenic Artists, Local 829 (signed contract), coveringscenic artists, scenic designers, costume deSigners.

IBEW LOGal1212, covering engineers and technicians.2. The "Comparative Analysis, Technicians' Contract" may be ob-tained from the Educational Television Stations Division,' NationalAssociation of Educational Btoadcasters, 1846 Connecticut Avenue,N.W., Washington, D. C. .

3. The "Salary Range of'I'hirty- Thr~e Educational Television Sta-tions," docuinenting engineering salaries 'as of September 1967, wascompiled by Edna Jean Hershey, Director,Personnel Practices andProcedures, Denver Public Schools. It indiCates'monthly minimumsranging from $375 to $1,166.66 and monthly maximums rangingfrom $440 to $1,200. .

~ 12,~ f ft~~~

. 11 ' 1. '!.

I"; i(: i:

I~iI" C i

I jl ~ I . .; ,~ ~1 : , iI l l l . ~. ~, ;

r :

II Representation forTelevision Teachersby ALLEN E. KOENIG

Television teachers today are a vital part of the communi-cations industry. They teach such subjects as nuclear physics andelementary French over closed-circuit, commercial, and educa-tional television stations to students ranging from graduate schol-ars to preschoolers. Although these activities are well known tothe general public, few are aware of the behind-the-scenes prob-lems of television teachers.A number of studies indicate that the television teacher is

being economically exploited and does not enjoy certain otherbasic. rights. These rights include: reduced teaching loads for theextra effort required by television teaching, i.e., preparation ofvisuals and supplementary materials as well as rehearsal time;the right to be informed clearly of who owns the televisionrecording and supplementary material; the right of the teacher toedit and update his. television lesson; and the right to a firmagreement as to(1). how many times the lesson may be repeated;(2) what type. of compensation will accrue from this repetition,and (3) to what extent the television lesson may be distributedon a regional or national basis.The following organizations have studied the problems of tele-

vision teachers and have made. explicit recommendations as tothe ~ights of these individuals: The American Federation of Tele-vision and 'Radio Artists,' The National Education Association,"

193

Documents

Broadcasting and Bargaining 0001