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.