The Info Channel
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International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1220 THE INFO CHANNEL Professional Excellence Since 1941 Volume 16, Issue 1 Spring 2019 New Video Production, WGN-TV Contracts For 2019-2021 Finalized It has been a while since the Local has been able to share a newsletter, but there have been some exciting updates to share regarding our contracts with WGN-TV and the freelancer “A” agreements. Let’s begin with those who work in the ballrooms and NEWS & NOTES hotels. Negotiations with our Video Production Contractors (VPCs) took slightly longer than Bargaining is ongoing at WSCR-AM. The expected, but signed deals have been collected for producers at 670 The Score are currently all of the Local’s contractors. Freelancers who work negotiating their 2nd contract with Entercom. for our VPCs will enjoy additional health and 401(k) benefits in years one and two of these new three- Negotiations were not necessary at WCIU. The year contracts, as well as pay raises in year three. In company has agreed to exercise their 2-year addition to wages and benefits, the Local has now extension option, which means the current established a training fund with all of our VPCs to contract and working conditions will remain thru help offset the costs of hosting training sessions for the end of the 2020 calendar year. the membership. For every hour worked during the course of a show, contractors will contribute a fixed We are pleased to announce a wonderful new amount towards a Taft-Hartley Trust Fund to help addition to our staff. Jackie Sturlis joined the provide for additional and more frequent trainings. hall back in November and is the Local’s new Administrative Assistant. Please join us in The WGN-TV bargaining was completed and ratified welcoming Jackie to the Local 1220 family! by the membership back in December. The reason for the hold-up with getting new contracts into the membership’s hands had to do with proof-reading the wording of the contract changes agreed upon Inside This Newsletter between the company and union. It’s always best to be safer than sorry when it comes to double Page 2 Business Manager’s Report checking pay rate increases, pension increases, etc. Page 3 The Rep Wrap Other exciting changes for the WGN members - Brett & Steve go back to school include retroactive pay increases from last contract’s - IBEW victorious at Super Bowl expiration, higher pay rates for field photogs who - Auto Show driven by 1220 techs leave the building daily, double time on holidays for - New software upgrades complete per diems, increased meal penalties, new sports Page 6 Member News stipends and a revised drug and alcohol policy. This Page 7 Special Offers for 1220 Members new agreement was voted on and ratified by the Page 9 Meeting Dates / Dues Reminders membership in late December 2018. Page 10 Contact Us / Officers & Staff IBEW Local Union 1220 - Radio, Television, Entertainment and Sports Broadcast Engineers Page 1 Brothers and Sisters, Business It’s been quite a while since our last newsletter. This past year has been pretty Manager’s brutal. Things have finally settled down enough to get back to the general Report maintenance of the Local. Where to begin...? Let’s start with a recap of the office. For those that are not familiar, we had to let go of Evelyn, call back Courtney, and hire Jackie. Courtney left by John Rizzo back in September and is traveling the country with her boyfriend who is working freelance. Jackie is the full time Admin assistant and we’re trying not to break her. Brett has been doing a Yeoman’s job of straightening out the dues mess Evelyn left us with and has been instrumental in helping Jackie get up to speed. Steve has been neck deep in our grievance and Arbitration procedures while assisting with the Brett and Jackie work overflow. Although we’ve had our fair share of hiccups along the way, we are working hard to make the billing and interactions with the Local an accurate and seamless experience. Getting members to pay on time is becoming a big problem, but we’re coming up with solutions. As for me, I’ve had quite a bit of traveling to deal with, site visits, bargaining, Halflys and conferences, grievances and Arbitration prep., Trust agreement preparation, etc. The office staff has been instrumental in keeping things running while I tackle the tough paper work, legal obstacles, and meeting schedules. The WGN contracts have been signed. The Freelancer “A” Agreements are being signed and returned to the Hall. Early bargaining with FOX Sports was wrapped up and will go into effect on August 1st of this year. WCIU has decided to extend their contract for another 2 years. Entercom bargaining continues to move forward for a National Radio agreement for the Engineers while Entercom bargaining for WSCR looks like we may wrap up soon. WGN is in a constant stat of flux. No one knows where it will land. The latest news is that Sinclair will team up with the Cubs, starting their own channel. White SOX, Blackhawks, and the Bulls will become exclusive to NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet). Nexstar is purchasing the Stations cluster. When? No one knows when, or even if, the FCC will approve the deal. So we wait to find out through the media. These decisions are not being made on a Local level. 2018 was our busiest site visit year. We are proud to be the most proactive broadcast Union in the biz. We’re not just showing up to put out fires, we’re there to prevent them. We’re taking the voices of the membership straight to the folks in management and turning those voices into action. Unfortunately, due to setbacks in the office and drains to the treasury (due to arbitrations, negotiations, and a lot of members not paying dues), we’ve had to put a moratorium on training offered by the Local. The good news is that we’re looking into starting back up with the drones training this spring and I have successfully negotiated a Trust Fund to be set up for training purposes. The Trust fund will be set up for freelancers working under the “A” Agreements and the members must be in good standing. The Contractors will be on the board for the Trust along with 5–6 members as well to determine appropriate training. I’m really looking forward to watching this grow and evolve. This promises to be an exciting year full of potential. Stay tuned. In Solidarity, IBEW Local Union 1220 - Radio, Television, Entertainment and Sports Broadcast Engineers Page 2 The Rep Wrap by Brett Lyons & Steve Unterfranz 1220 Reps Mentor in DePaul Labor Education’s High School Collective Bargaining Simulations By Brett Lyons They say children are the future the issues differently. It was leaders of tomorrow, which is why amazing watching the kids Steve and I spent two days in come up with solutions to February at Morton West High these authentic issues that School to coach high school unions are facing today. juniors on realistic contract bargaining sessions with unions You could tell the students and the importance of unions in were getting emotionally society. invested in the exercise. This was especially evident after DePaul’s Labor Education Center the union proposed decent offers the Regina V. Polk High wage increases and School Program, which includes management countered with the chance for upperclassmen to very low percentages. The hold mock negotiations against kids representing the union their classmates with the goal of all rolled their eyes, sighed gaining real-life experience with loudly and looked across the collective bargaining. table to their peers with “you’ve got to be kidding me” The students were broken into expressions on their faces. small groups and would Students learned first-hand “negotiate” head-to-head against just how difficult it is to one another. One side of the table bargain and discovered that would represent a fictitious there has to be gives and hospital while the other would represent the 112 takes by both sides of the table in order to reach a deal. employees working at the facility. Steve (hospital) and I (union) were given the task of guiding the pupils on Upon completion of the simulations, students were how to bargain their second contract in good faith, offered the chance to sign up a week-long special while also looking out for their own best interests. summer school program to further continue their education in labor history, collective bargaining and how Students were to pretend like they were in the middle unions play a critical role in today’s working world. It was of an ongoing bargaining process and there were only amazing to watch so many students rush up to collect the a few issues outstanding that needed to be resolved. forms once offered. Both sides were assigned three specific items that needed to be hammered out. The hospital wanted Whether these children go on to be union leaders, employees to pay out-of-pocket for a portion of their corporate managers or the working men and women of health care, wished to establish a drug abuse policy society, it is our hope that they take some knowledge and desired a social media policy. The union from these pseudo-negotiations and apply it to their meanwhile had a laundry list of money asks from professional careers and personal lives. general wage increases to pension increases plus new premium pay for weekend and overnight shifts.