NEW YORK -- With no progress being made in the bitter labor dispute between ABC and the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees & Technicians, the union plans to stage a rally in New York on March 31, the one-year anniversary of the expiration of its network contract.
March 31 also marks the day that the union's contract with NBC will expire in 1999, so NABET is considering marching between ABC's headquarters on 66th Street and NBC's office in Rockefeller Plaza.
"One of the messages that we continually hear from the companies is that they doubt that the union and the membership are now on the same page," said Rich Gelber, secretary-treasurer of NABET-CWA Local 16. "This rally will demonstrate the solidarity of the union and the membership."
ABC and the union, which reps ABC's technicians and engineers, have not talked since November and there are no talks scheduled.
"We're deadlocked on major issues," said ABC representative Julie Hoover. "The union continues to threaten to walk out on live events."
The dispute has so far resulted in one grievance strike by the union. NABET members walked off their jobs during the third round of the Tour Championship Golf tournament in Houston. ABC canceled its coverage of the event.
The possibility of another grievance strike has caused the Academy Awards to become involved. For the first time since ABC began televising the Oscars in 1976, the net will not use its technical or camera personnel for the event. Instead, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will produce the telecast on its own.
"The network let us know that they were having a problem with the union and they couldn't guarantee us that the show would go on," said an Academy rep. "So, we took it over."
He said that the Academy is still in the process of hiring its crew, but he said they will all be union members.
The union protests the Academy's decision because it believes the organization has inserted itself in the dispute between ABC and NABET. The union's position is that the Academy is violating its own bylaws forbidding it "from concerning itself with economic, political or labor issues" by producing the awards telecast.
Because ABC's union crew will not work on the show, Gelber said "ABC has probably worsened the likelihood" of calling another grievance strike against the network.
The dispute centers on two issues: pension funding and daily hired workers. ABC wants to cut its contribution from 8% to 3% of the base salary of all covered employees. ABC's position is that is does not have to make annual contributions to encore that its plan meets federal standards.
"No reasonable person could question the health or solvency of our plan; its one of the best in the industry," said Hoover.
Gelber's take on the issue: "They're offering an almost infinitesimal contribution compared to what we had."
ABC wants more flexibility on the number of daily hires, instead of full-time employees, it can bring in.
"NBC and CBS have no limits the amount of daily hires," said Hoover. "We've operating with significantly less flexibility than our direct competition appears and it appears that NABET thinks this point is irrelevant."
Gelber said the union has offered to double the number of ABC's use of part-time workers but the network wants a bigger increase.
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