WGME-TV and Sinclair Broadcasting Force Pay Cuts on IBEW 1837 Members

February 18, 2010 - IBEW members at WGME-TV, channel 13 in Portland have had their pay cut as much as 10% as Sinclair Broadcast Group began implementing part of their last contract offer without the agreement of the workers and their Union. As the union’s Negotiating Team brought new proposals to the bargaining table in hope of reaching a contract agreement with the Company, WGME 13 and Sinclair pulled the plug on the talks by declaring the sides were deadlocked – even as they thanked IBEW for all the movement they were making.

“We’re disappointed by Sinclair’s decision to do this to their workers at WGME 13,” said IBEW 1837 Business Manager Cynthia Phinney. “These folks give their all in what are often stressful jobs. By bringing news and public affairs to the local community, they provide an important public service. They deserve to be treated better than this.”

IBEW Local 1837 is proud to represent most of the people who work behind the scenes at WGME 13. These hardworking broadcast professionals include the Operating Technicians, News Editors, Assignment Editors, Photographers, Engineers, Producers and Directors who create and produce a variety of news and public service programs, commercials and station promotional announcements. Our members have been recognized for their outstanding achievements in television by a diverse group of local, state, and national organizations of journalists and broadcasters.

WGME 13 is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., of Baltimore, a publicly traded company. The predominantly non-union Sinclair owns, operates or provides services to 58 television stations in 35 broadcasting markets. Sinclair purchased WGME-TV from the locally-owned Guy Gannett Communications in 1998. Relations between the Union and the Company have often been strained.

Although IBEW had reluctantly proposed a wage freeze for at least a year, the Company insisted on pay cuts for most of the union workers at WGME 13. At the bargaining table, Sinclair and WGME 13 admitted that these cuts were not because of any financial crisis, but simply because they felt that their workers were overpaid. To some, it appeared that the Company was taking advantage of the current economic downturn to force unnecessary concessions on their workers.

“Once again, corporate greed has reared its ugly head,” said Matt Beck, who worked as a Producer-Director at WGME 13 for close to twenty years before joining the IBEW staff. “You’ve got a huge, profitable broadcasting corporation from out-of-state, trying to boost their earnings by taking money out of the pockets of their workforce. I don’t think that WGME’s viewers – or their advertisers – will stand for that kind of behavior.”

Other changes implemented by the Company include restricting when employees can take vacations and taking away other benefits in the current contract. IBEW 1837 is consulting with legal counsel to determine what their next steps will be.