The Spanish language station WUNI-TV - Channel 27 will be undergoing some major changes this year.  They are planning on automating their master control and will be laying off two of their full-time union employees.  While some of the equipment has been purchased it has not been put in place as of yet.  They do expect to have everything in place sometime in the second quarter of this year.  We are awaiting word as to exactly how these layoffs will be implemented and what sort of severance packages these individuals will receive. 

There have been some major changes at WZMY-TV in Derry, New Hampshire.  Shooting Star, which has owned the station for the past several years, has not been able to find a buyer for the station and no longer is able to run the station on its own.  They have entered an agreement with New Age Media to manage the station on their behalf, with an option to possibly purchase the station at some point in the future.  This local has been in negotiations with Shooting Star for a new contract since it expired back in August of 2007.  The company terminated the contract in November of 2009, however we continue to work under the provisions of the old contract.  It remains to be seen exactly how this managerial change will impact our members.  Our shop steward  has been laid off since his classification of Production assistant has been eliminated.  WZMY produces practically no local programming and has even laid off Al Kaprelian, who was the face of the station for many years.  In the meantime we are continuing to bargain with Shooting Star, since they remain the Licensee. 

This past Saturday - December 12, we held a class for shop stewards in Auburn, Mass. The class was run by our International Representative Ed Collins and seven stewards from five different stations gave up their Saturday to attend. This was a marvelous opportunity for stewards to get a solid understanding of the various issues that affect our members and what rights they have.  Every union member needs to be aware of the Weingarten Rights which are explained in this web site in the section labeled "Know Your rights." These rights are explicitly written into the law only for union members - they do not apply to non-bargaining unit employees. 

I am hoping to hold additional classes for other stewards who were unable to attend this class in the near future.  The more knowledge that your stewards have, the better they will be able to represent you properly. Feel free to call me if you have any questions on these matters.  

Two long time IBEW members and retirees from WJAR-TV died this past month.  On November 13 George S. Clarke, of Cranston, R.I. passed away.  He was the very first news photographer hired by WJAR back in 1953.  He was the only cameraman to get pictures of the sinking of the Andrea Doria.   Art Lake passed away on November 21.  He worked for WJAR for 61 years having started there as a radio announcer back in 1944 and was known better as the stations' weather man. 

IBEW 1228 President Karen Lippert presents Nat Whittemore with an IBEW watch. Nat's name was pulled out of a hat from other names of those who attended six months of Regular Local meetings.  Nat recently retired from WBZ-TV after a long and illustrious career.  He began working part-time in the television business back in 1957 and has been with WBZ full time since 1961. We wish Nat a long and healthy retirement.