KOIN-TV accused of ‘union-busting’
Off-camera workers
are having a hard time
getting a contract from
the new owner
Mark Mack, a laid-off master control technician at Channel 6, protests
“union-busting” Sept. 26 outside KOIN-TV studios in Portland.
You didn’t see it on KOIN 6 news,
but union picket signs protesting
“union-busting” appeared Sept. 26 out-
side downtown Portland’s KOIN Cen-
ter, where the studios of CBS affiliate
KOIN-TV are located.
About 50 off-camera KOIN-TV
employees are members of the Na-
tional Association of Broadcast Em-
ployees & Technicians (NABET), a di-
vision of the Communications Workers
of America (CWA). KOIN was one of
34 television stations bought last year
by Rhode Island headquartered LIN
Media. Now in union contract bargain-
ing, the new owner is proposing to get
rid of core provisions like “union secu-
rity” and “dues checkoff,” as well as re-
strictions on doing the work of other
classifications. LIN is also proposing
that news crews be on-call on week-
ends for no extra pay.
“They want to break the union,” said
Kathleen McCarthy, a member of the
union bargaining team.
McCarthy was laid off in August af-
ter 19 years at the station — one of
seven master control technicians at
KOIN who were let go by LIN Media
in line with an industry trend toward
consolidation into hubs. The work they
do monitoring the quality and accuracy
of the on-air signal can now be done re-
motely, and KOIN isn’t the only Port-
land station whose signal is controlled
elsewhere: KATU is controlled out of
Seattle, and KPTV out of Phoenix, for
example. In KOIN’s case the work went
to non-union technicians at a LIN Me-
dia hub in Indianapolis.
Laid-off KOIN employees say they
were given no opportunity to transfer.
One who applied for an opening in In-
dianapolis was reportedly told he would
not be “a good fit” with the culture
there. Laid-off master control techni-
cian Mark Mack told the Labor Press
that the move to hubs is sacrificing
quality — more technical glitches, and
Union retiree can assist with Obamacare registration
Thousands of Oregonian individu-
als, families, and small businesses be-
gan signing up for insurance Oct. 1
through Cover Oregon, the health care
exchange that is part of President
Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Individuals, families and small busi-
nesses can apply for health insurance
and get access to help pay for premiums
through a statewide, on-the-ground net-
work of Cover Oregon certified insur-
ance agents, community partners or
tribal organizations. Cover Oregon of-
ficials are urging consumers to work
with a certified insurance agent or com-
munity partner until mid-October, when
consumers should be able to browse for
policies and enroll themselves through
Cover Oregon’s web portal.
One of the trained community part-
ners is Ambrose Bittner, secretary-treas-
urer of the Northwest Oregon Labor
Retirees Council. Bittner is a retired ap-
prenticeship training official with the
U.S. Department of Labor and a retired
member of Seattle Plasterers Local 528.
Cover Oregon certified community
partners and agents can assist and enroll
Oregonians in coverage, but only insur-
ance agents are able to recommend a
specific health insurance plan that fits
an individual’s needs and budget. Cover
Oregon has certified nearly 2,000 insur-
ance agents to help Oregonians enroll.
Customers who want to buy com-
mercial plans have until Dec. 15 to en-
roll for coverage to kick in Jan. 1, 2014.
If you have questions about Cover
Oregon, call Bittner at 503-669-8454 or
email him at ambroseii@frontier.com.
fewer eyes on picture quality.
The previous NABET contract at
KOIN expired two months ago, and
union members say the company is
dragging its feet in negotiations. Fur-
ther negotiation sessions were sched-
uled Oct. 1 and 2, after this article went
to press.
LIN is KOIN-TV’s fifth owner in
two decades.
...Food bank
(Turn to Page 1)
tain either a whole chicken, a roast or
ham ... and for sure a turkey at Thanks-
giving.
At its peak, the Carpenters Food
Bank distributed 850 boxes of food a
month. Most recently it was handling
700 customers a month.
“It’s more than 15 million meals,”
Fahey said.
In addition to the Faheys and Ted
Totten, the core group of volunteers
over the past 30 years has been Ann
Totten, Don Powers, George Socha,
Jenny Schmuck, Jerry Schmuck, Jim
Berdadin, Lee Herman, Don Peters,
and Claude McMahon. All are retired.
“We served people on strike, people
out of work, retirees on fixed incomes,
young people, families, everybody,”
Fahey said. “Nobody left without a
food box.”
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OCTOBER 4, 2013