I am very sad to report the death of one of our members. Sam Smith of WHDH-TV, a long-time Master Control operator passed away after a short battle with cancer.
Funeral Services will be held for Sam Smith on Thursday 2/ 18/10.
Douglas and Johnson Funeral Home
214 Main St.
Salem, New Hampshire 03079
The Labor Guild is once again offering classes to those interested in learning more about labor relations. Classes begin on March 15th and end on May 17th. They are held every Monday evening from 7 pm to 9:30 in Weymouth. This is a wonderful (and cheap) way of getting knowledge on things such as being a better shop steward, strategic negotiations, labor law, arbitration and many other important items. The total cost of taking two courses is $100 per term. If you want further information call 781-340-7887 or visit www.laborguild.com
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.
