August 2017
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Also In This Issue Play Ball
IBEW saves
Little League season read_more

Preparing for the Unthinkable
IBEW teams with
child ID programtle read_more

A New Direction
Reversing course at
Ark. nuclear facility read_more

Fighting for Medicare
Retirees protest health
law changes on Hill read_more

Zombie Case Returns
Fair share unfair to
public sector workers read_more

Undoing a Wrong
Parliament kills onerous Canadian laws read_more

Driving a Renaissance
IBEW key to
Motor City rebirth read_more

North of 49°
Wage Freezes Signal
Bad Times Ahead for Manitoba Unions read_more

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Le gel salarial pour les syndicats au Manitoba s’annonce difficile read_more

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  Cover Photo

'From Zero to 100 Percent'
IBEW Hits Grand Slam in Boston

After an unprecedented four-year organizing drive, Boston Local 1228 successfully organized the entire market for sports broadcast technicians in New England.

It all started because someone laughed at Steve Katsos.

It was 1994 and Katsos was finishing up college and began freelance work as a field audio technician in and around Boston, setting up the studio and field microphones and other equipment that capture the sound of professional sports events.

Katsos noticed something weird about the jobs. He could set up the same equipment, in the same stadium for the same sport but on some days, he made $100 and on others he made $200. So he asked a co-worker, why am I making twice the money in the same building?

The $200 were union jobs, required by contracts signed by other technicians living in other cities. It made no sense to Katsos.

"So, I asked him, 'How do we make ALL our shows union?'" Katsos said. "And the guy laughed and said, 'Good luck.'"

It's not that he was a bad guy, Katsos said, but the laughter stuck with him.

"I didn't understand why anyone would take half the money. But we did. For decades," he said. "But that laughter was like a seed that was planted."

Now, 23 years later, every televised broadcast with a ball or a puck, on grass, wood or ice in Boston, is produced by the nearly 500 broadcast technician members of Boston Local 1228.

There have been five successful elections at five companies and, in April, a first contract was ratified 98-8 with the final company to be organized. The success in Boston is part of the 20 percent growth in the IBEW's broadcast membership over the last five years.

"This is a feat. This is big. To go from zero to 100 percent union in such a short period of time and get contracts is something we can all be proud of," said IBEW's Broadcasting and Telecommunications Director Martha Pultar. "As a Boston girl, I'm thrilled."

'It was the Wild West'

The deals cover the array of specialist positions including camera operators, font assistants, sound technicians, instant replay operators, assistant directors, stage managers, graphic designers, technical directors and utilities. read_more

  Local Lines

Officers Column Stephenson:
The Possible Dream read_more
Cooper:
GOP Health Fiasco read_more

TransitionsLarry P. Reidenbach;
Darrin Golden;
Linda Mathews read_more

CircuitsEarn and Learn Debt-Free, IBEW Tells Congress;
Oklahoma Football Gets
a Powerful Face-Lift from
the IBEW read_more

LettersA National Strike?;
Living the IBEW Objects;
Memorializing a
TV Trailblazer read_more

In MemoriamJune 2017 read_more

Who We AreIBEW Brother Aims
for Higher Office in Massachusetts read_more

IBEWMerchandise

Change of Address

UnionSportsmensAlliance