BULLETIN 35
August 28, 2007
After eight days of bargaining in Chicago, the NABET-CWA and ABC Negotiating Committees were unable to reach an overall agreement on a successor to the currently expired 2003-2007 Master Agreement. While some progress was made in the latest round of talks, there are many important issues yet to be resolved.
Negotiations between the parties resumed at 2:00 pm today. The session began with Union negotiators announcing agreement on a number of additional proposals.
NABET-CWA negotiators also presented the Company with a breakthrough proposal on Sideletter DV. This proposed revision of existing conditions would grant a number of jurisdictional easements, designed to address the Company's often stated need for operational flexibility. The Union proposal seeks to secure work for our members in areas of Media Manager functions, non-linear editing, and broadcast related IT functions. Under the Union's proposal, employees who perform these jobs as their primary job function would be covered by the Master Agreement. Company Chief Spokesperson Jeffrey Ruthizer stated that the Company, has "…zero interest in this concept." A spirited exchange and debate over this issue followed.
After taking a brief caucus, the Company presented the Union negotiating committee with a Revised Comprehensive Package Proposal, which was characterized not as a final offer but "…pretty close to where we see these negotiations winding up." The revised comprehensive package continues to include proposals that, if adopted, would create multiple separate seniority lists for purposes of layoff. The Company withdrew its proposal that would have permitted it to skip over a certain percentage of employees within each proposed separate seniority group in the event of a layoff.
The package also contains a conditional withdrawal of the proposed hard freeze of the pension plan. The Company stated that it would only be willing to withdraw its pension freeze proposal if the Union Negotiating Committee agreed to three conditions; 1) accept the current Company proposal concerning separate seniority lists and layoffs based on inverse Company seniority within the separate lists, 2) a mutual agreement to modify the current pension accrual rate and agree on a formula for 'pop-up' / 'pop-down' of the accrual rate, and 3) the continued acceptable financial performance of the pension fund from the current time through the conclusion of the ratification process. Company representatives stated that if any of these conditions were not met, they would reintroduce the proposal to hard freeze the pension.
Chief NABET-CWA Spokesperson John Clark described this conditional offer as "a devil's bargain." In exchange for a conditional promise from the Company to back-off on its pension freeze proposal, the Union would be required to accept the Company's proposed separate seniority system but the Company would retain the right to reinstate its pension freeze proposal if financial market conditions change. Company representatives went on to state that they will ultimately seek the Union Negotiating Committee's recommendation for ratification.
This round of talks ended with a commitment by both parties to keep the lines of communication open. The NABET-CWA Negotiating Committee will be returning to their respective cities to provide a complete update to the membership on developments in this latest round of bargaining. The next round of talks will be scheduled at a future date.
NABET-CWA Network Negotiating Committee
The Union Bargaining Committee reminds all members to ignore rumors. All official negotiation and mobilization information will be delivered on the Sector website at www.abc-contract.info. Please also check Local websites, hotlines, and e-mail for additional information.
For an archive of all bulletins, go to www.abc-contract.info/barg_mobe/.
