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Power 99-FM’s on-air talent and producers are trying to unionize - Philadelphia Inquirer

speer360 said:
The group of 10 employees from the hip-hop and R&B station(WUSL) are seeking to affiliate with Philadelphia SAG-AFTRA. It is a iHeartMedia owned station.

www.inquirer.com

Power 99-FM’s on-air talent and producers are trying to unionize

The group of 10 employees from the hip-hop and R&B station are seeking to affiliate with Philadelphia SAG-AFTRA.
www.inquirer.com www.inquirer.com
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Not a very bright team, for sure. The station will simply voicetrack more dayparts and farm out production to another cluster of iHeart in a market where unionization is not prevalent in radio.
 
I've been a member of several broadcast unions including AFTRA. I can testify in detail that AFTRA never kept me from being fired. All they did was ensure I was paid under the terms of the union contract. I have a friend who is one of the striking members of the Writers Guild. He knows that when the deal is done, it will ultimately mean that there will be fewer union writers. It also means those who remain will be paid under the terms of the contract. But the union can't promise job security. What I've seen at stations that have recently done deals with AFTRA is that the size of the staff doesn't increase, and often decreases.

iHeart works with AFTRA in other markets. The union has clauses in its contract regarding voicetracking and other labor saving devices. Layoffs still happen at iHeart stations regardless of the union.
 
TheBigA said:
iHeart works with AFTRA in other markets. The union has clauses in its contract regarding voicetracking and other labor saving devices. Layoffs still happen at iHeart stations regardless of the union.
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Nearly all of my management situations with unions have involved protecting obsolete jobs. In the 70's I had two cases of attempts to preserve the jobs of "transmitter operators" long after the FCC eliminated the requirement for operators at directional or higher power AMs.

In one case, we had pickets for months while the unmanned transmitter never lost a minute of airtime. The documentation of that fact became part of the end settlement and dismissal. In the second case, the union rep, outside the NLRB offices, opened his coat, showing a pistol tucked under his belt; "I know where you live" was his remark. I told our attorney, who asked for a "private" with the judge and the union attorney. Afterwards, the judge called police and had the sop steward / rep removed and arrested. The effort to unionize the full staff failed 14 to 1 with the gun-tottin' rep being the only "yes" vote.

In a union negotiation in Perú where I was with the Catholic Church owned AM/FM operation, the union rep threatened to blow up the whole station if we did not agree to their demands. The union was affiliated with the Communist Sendero Luminoso guerilla group so the Cardinal got the army to give us guards as long as the union was taking that attitude.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Nearly all of my management situations with unions have involved protecting obsolete jobs.
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That was my experience with NABET. The way they handled it was to build into the contract grandfathering those who had been hired under previous contracts, while providing the company an opportunity to eliminate the positions at some point in the future. As part of the deal, the union got raises for its members. Both sides got deliverables.
 
Actually I'm surprised all the iHeart stations in Philadelphia, market #8, aren't unionized. Can the union stop job cuts? No.

But I am an enthusiastic SAG-AFTRA member. It makes sure everyone is treated fairly. People get the holiday, sick days and vacation time they should. People are treated according to pre-determined standards that iHeart agrees to. If you are called in as fill-in, you get at least four hours pay.

And if you are let go, you get X number of weeks notification and other help during the process. While all iHeart employees who qualify get health benefits, the SAG-AFTRA health plan is better. And even parttimers who work a certain number of hours get health coverage. The iHeart cut off for getting health benefits is harder to achieve.

Yes, radio is a declining industry. But a station like WUSL still makes good money for iHeart. Its employees should get the benefits they deserve even if there are fewer of them today than in the past.
 
Gregg. said:
But I am an enthusiastic SAG-AFTRA member. It makes sure everyone is treated fairly. People get the holiday, sick days and vacation time they should. People are treated according to pre-determined standards that iHeart agrees to. If you are called in as fill-in, you get at least four hours pay.
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When my station group in Ecuador grew beyond 50 or 60 employees or so, I was worried that we might have a morale issue so I picked a couple of the first members of the air staff and suggested we form a "Company Committee" that would meet once a month and discuss work conditions, shifts, grievances, pay scales, etc.

Some of the people I selected did not want the extra work, so we picked another couple to get a group of 5: one from sales, one from office staff and three from the air staffs. We worked out fair raise schedules, ratings bonuses, and dealt with how to keep bathrooms stock with tissue and soap on weekends and all the rest. It was very effective, and gave management some credibility for thinking up the idea.
 
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