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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2017)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | Sinclair merger could lead to TV news layoffs IATSE warns local TV news will worsen if FCC allows Sinclair takeover International Alliance of The- atrical Stage Employees (IATSE) is raising the alarm about the proposed acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair, with 173 television stations, is al- ready the biggest station owner in the nation, and adding Tri- bune’s 42 stations would ex- tend its reach considerably. Until recently, the merger would have been illegal under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules that try to limit concentrated own- ership of licenses to use the publicly-owned broadcast spectrum. Those rules bar any one company from owning stations that reach more than 39 percent of the American public total. Sinclair-Tribune would reach 72 percent. But the agency has turned the rules upside down under Trump-appointed FCC chair Ajit Pai, in a way calculated to facilitate the merger. To begin with, the FCC reinstated a rule that counts only half the po- tential audience of UHF sta- tions as compared to VHF sta- tions. That rule dated from the days of analog television, when UHF stations (Ultra High Frequency) assigned Channels 14 and up were the static-plagued down-market cousins of VHF (Very High Frequency) stations, which were assigned channels 2 to 13. Today, that’s a meaning- less and obsolete technical dis- tinction, because all commer- cial television stations are broadcast as digital signals in the UHF frequency range. Even with that rule change, Sinclair-Tribune would reach 45 percent of American house- holds, so Ajit’s FCC proposes Prepare to be outraged What happens to local news when Sinclair comes to town? HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver aired a hard-hitting 19-minute segment on Sinclair July 2 — which has since racked up 6.3 million views on YouTube: youtu.be/GvtNyOzGogc to approve the merger on the promise that the new company would sell stations until it met the 39 percent limit. IATSE Local 600 rep Dave Twedell is concerned that members’ jobs will be lost in consolidation and as Sinclair replaces local news with na- tional content. Sinclair owns Portland’s KATU and Seattle’s KOMO, and in union bargain- ing is refusing to commit that local studios will stay open and continue to produce news. “If Sinclair is successful in this merger,” Twedell says, “it would put immense pressure on others to take same ap- proach — cost-cutting, cen- tralizing, job losses, and serv- ice losses to the community that tune into the TV shows.” IATSE is just one of an ar- ray of groups opposed to the merger. For some others, the issue is Sinclair’s history of mandating that local TV news shows air nationally-produced conservative commentary seg- ments. The company at times even dictates at a national level what local TV anchors must say. No other station owner does that. Even Fox, noted for the slant of its cable news network, gives local af- filiates relative autonomy. Pro- ducing local news is what sat- isfies the FCC’s public service requirement, the justification for letting broadcast TV sta- tions sell ads on publicly owned airwaves. November 17, 2017 | PAGE 3 WORKERS’ RIGHTS Precision Castparts still refusing to recognize Machinist union The Sept. 22 union election was supervised by the National La- bor Relations Board (NLRB). The vote was 54 to 38 in favor of joining the union. The federal agency certified the result Oct. 2. But Precision Castparts Corp., is refusing to recognize the re- sults of the election, bargain with Machinists District Lodge W24, or respect employees’ most basic union rights, like the federally- recognized “Weingarten” right to have a steward or fellow worker present when a worker goes in front of a manager in a disciplinary meeting. Instead, the company is hoping a new Trump-appointed NLRB major- ity will vindicate its lawlessness. Precision Castparts, a sub- sidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berk- shire Hathaway, is a maker of cast parts for aerospace, medical, nu- clear and other industries. It’s fought hard to remain nonunion in the Portland area, and defeated multiple union campaigns in the past. This time, the union sought an election for just one unit — re- work welders. Precision Castparts argues that the NLRB was wrong to say welders could stand on their own Raymond Thomas Cynthia Newton Melissa Haggerty as a bargaining unit. It’s an argu- ment that went all the way to the NLRB’s five-member national board, where it was rejected in September. Now Precision is ask- ing the Board to review its deci- sion, knowing that the Board has changed composition and now has an anti-union majority. “Their stance is they won’t meet with us until they hear back from the NLRB,” says Machin- ists Grand Lodge Representative Bill Anderson. Meanwhile, Anderson says the company is also bringing in a dozen or more subcontracted welders. Anderson says employ- ees are reporting that PCC has been sending its own employees home for lack of work while sub- contractors toil seven days a week with overtime. The Machinists union has filed six separate complaints with the NLRB, alleging multiple viola- tions of federal labor law since the union election took place. The violations include the denial of Weingarten rights, making unilat- eral changes to working condi- tions without bargaining with the union, and refusing to recognize the union, furnish requested infor- mation, or bargain in good faith. James Coon Chris Frost Sydney Montanaro Social Security Disability benefits: You paid into the system while you worked and if you can't work anymore, it's time to obtain them 820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204 Scott Sell Chris Thomas www.tcnf.legal The union held an informa- tional picket Nov. 14 (after this is- sue went to press) to let the public know what is happening at the fa- cility. “We’re following everything by the letter of the law,” Ander- son told the Labor Press. “These guys took a vote. They want to be represented by the Machinists union.” Amid the stonewalling from Precision, prounion welders did get one morale boost: A letter from U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley con- gratulating them on voting in the union: “The ability to bargain for safe working conditions and fair pay and benefits is a fundamental right in our society,” Merkley wrote. “Thank you for the work you do to keep America moving, and best of luck as you bargain your first contract.” The company may not “rec- ognize” the Machinists, but the union is keen on defending members anyway. One example: Urging employees to get screened for exposure to hexava- lent chromium, a heavy metal that can cause cancer in the di- gestive tract and lungs, which has been an ongoing problem at Precision.
