Bad Faith Bargaining Prompts Activism at
Milwaukee Broadcasting Local
October 9, 2008
 Decades of labor cooperation have taken a nasty turn for 40 Milwaukee Local 715 members at Journal Broadcast Group, Inc., where the employer seeks to slash the work force in half while refusing to bargain with employees.
Milwaukee Local 715 members Ryan Pfeifer
(left) and Chad D'Acquisto handle broadcast
duties in the control room atWTMJ Channel 4.
In the midst of stalled contract negotiations for workers at the company’s four radio and television stations, the business manager of Milwaukee Local 715 filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the employer citing several labor law violations – including failing to bargain and implementing a final offer not agreed upon by Local 715.
Local leaders say the delay tactics are designed to sabotage IBEW members’ job security.
“The company ultimately seeks to cut its IBEW member work force by nearly 50 percent and replace it with untrained, unskilled near-minimum-wage employees,” said Local 715 Business Manager Chris Albrecht. “We have a 70-year history of fair bargaining with the employer, so it’s unbelievable that they would try to pull this now.”
In May, Journal Broadcast Group suspended bargaining and announced an immediate merger of the 40 IBEW television and radio broadcast engineers with workers from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, who also work for the corporation.
Combining the bargaining units means lower-paid members of IATSE are being trained to perform IBEW members’ jobs. On average, IATSE members would make about half as much as IBEW members for performing the same work.
Further accusations against the company include trying to eliminate jurisdiction and seniority, implementing wage increases on a merit system and establishing unfair performance reviews.
To rally support and expose the issues, Local 715 has staged three informational pickets in front of the company’s corporate offices and its flagship TV and radio broadcasting station. Workers have also given key testimony to the NLRB.
“I’m very disappointed in the way the company is handling this,” said IBEW member Chad D'Acquisto, a broadcast engineer at WTMJ Channel 4 – an NBC affiliate. D'Acquisto has testified twice in front of the NLRB. “We went into negotiations trying to be very level headed, but the company was set on taking work away from our engineers. No managers have sat down with us. We’ve only spoken with the company attorney and human resources representatives – no one with any working knowledge of the operations. It’s clear that they’re just interested in downsizing.”
So far, the NLRB has verbally indicated its intent to issue a complaint to the company supporting the merit of Local 715’s grievances. If a formal complaint is issued, the local can then proceed to request an injunction from the NLRB mandating that the employer returns to the bargaining table. If the injunction goes through and the company refuses to negotiate, it could be held in contempt of court.
But a poor outcome could signal a sea change in the way union broadcasting locals handle future contract agreements with their employers. “If major sweeping changes happen at WTMJ, other IBEW members in Milwaukee will see how this can affect them down the road,” D'Acquisto said.
Albrecht is optimistic that the NLRB will side with Local 715. “Our goal is simply to get our employer to abide by the law,” he said. “Ultimately, we are seeking to reach a contract that both parties can live with.”
For more information visit www.ibew715.com and www.whytrusttmj4.com.
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