NABET Local 42

NABET/CWA Local 42 E-Board meeting 9/17/2016

Meeting called to order at 10:00 am by VP Ken Koscick. President Bill Wachenschwanz is currently on short term disability from WJW and unable to preside. Stewards in attendance: Cathy Watkins, Kathy Smith, Brian Geiger, Chris Dolciato, John Potter.

In reviewing the minutes of the previous E-Board meeting, Cathy Watkins noted that issues in the stewards’ report section were attributed to WKYC when they actually belonged to the WOIO report. Motion to accept the changes made by Dolciato, second by Smith; motion passed.

Treasurer Marilyn Oliver shared her report for the months of June, July & August 2016. Motion to accept the report made by Dolciato, second by Smith; motion passed.

New members at WOIO: Dominique O’Neill, Kim McGee, Stephanie Novacek, Chris Dellecese,Jacqueline DeMate, Pat Holmes, Shinnay Grogan. No new members at WJW or WKYC. Motion to accept these new members made by Watkins, second by Geiger; motion passed.

The following members have left Local 42: Joseph Giesy, Maria Scali (retired), Brittany Harris from WJW; Kim Jensen, Gary Graves, Bill Loomer from WOIO; Gary Seawall (retired) from WKYC.

Thank you cards were received from Bill Wachenschwanz for flowers sent during his hospital stay; Dave Kraska, Jim Settecase, John Kaminsky, and George Payamgis.

Stewards Reports: Company says it does not intend to replace any of the positions of employees who took the buy out with like employees; instead, it plans to hire MSJ’s (multi-skilled journalists). Rather than name a Chief Photographer to replace Dan Bowman, who took the buyout, the company chose to split the duties, title & compensation between Craig Roberson and Barry Wolf (WKYC).  At WOIO: Grievance filed involving morning EP and microphone; Skype issue in discussion; Morning EP & anchor Go Pro grievance resolved; Chief engineer doing unit work during the RNC in discussion; grievance filed on behalf of Gary Graves; discussion of member cited for bringing “unauthorized guests” into the building; grievance filed on morning EP for shooting rain video with his cellphone; discussion on use of cellphone video; discussion of videographer and live truck incident, in which the investigation concluded that he was not at fault but the company required him to be tested for drugs.  At WJW Engineering: Company is offering buy outs of 2 weeks salary for every year of service with the company, up to 26 weeks plus medical coverage for the same length. Must have at least 20 years of service to qualify and qualifying employees have 2 weeks to decide whether to take the package. Lost arbitration regarding NABET upgrades to photographers’ top scale when they shoot. Informed by the company that the Degero/live truck grievance was pulled by staff representative Lou Fallot. WJW Newsroom: No issues to report; got through a very busy summer.

CWA Local 4340 Staff Attorney Chuck DeGross submitted a report, as he had prior commitments and could not attend today’s meeting. In June he handled MMJ issues at WJW, performed extensive work on the SIF applications and submitted it to the national office, and he advised on matters involving all three stations. In addition, he was an invited guest speaker at 2 NABET Regions to discuss mandatory subjects of bargaining.

AFL-CIO has made numerous endorsement requests.

General membership meeting is Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 10:00am. Unlike previous meetings, this will be a brunch-type meeting as the hall is rented out in the afternoon.

Motion to adjourn made by Geiger, second by Potter; motion passed. Meeting ended at 11:35

E-board meeting 4/16/16

Meeting called to order at 10:07am

Stewards in attendance: Christopher Dolciato, Cathy Watkins, Brian Geiger, Kathy Smith, John Potter, President Bill Wachenschwanz. VP-Ken Koscick, treasurer Marilyn Oliver, Guest: Ed Verba

Agenda

Minutes of (April 2016) previous meeting- accepted

Treasurers Report accepted and on file

New Members-(WJW NEWS)- Megan Keys, (WJW ENG)- 5 new vacation relief members, Thomas Gardner, Mark Dominic, Joseph Zawadzki, Riley Orians, and Matthew Koorsouradis.

Members not here anymore- (WOIO/WUAB) 7 total, Alise Jacobs, Kelly Kazandjieff, Arielle Proctor, Makenzie Miller, Jessica Donelson, Richard Fargo and Carl Arky.

Stewards reports– (WJWENG) Kathy – Arbitration held on 3/23/16. Company replace a permanent NABET with an IA with a Degerio.  This is not allowed.  Arbitration will be held 4/4 for members performing the job of IA and not getting an upgrade. (WJWNEWS) Brian- nothing new to report. (WOIO) Christopher- new contract reached that contains retroactive raises, that have not been issued. The company says it’ll be done, corporate says we thought it was done. It hasn’t been done yet. The new contracts are signed and filed as of last week. (WKYC) Cathy- Ratification vote held last week, 16 members showed which represents ½ of membership. The company gave out voluntary retirement packets to 17 people. The new contract has been proofed, approved and is ready to be signed.

The provisional ballot idea needs to be addressed in our local by laws

AFL-CIO report– Elections coming up.

JWJ report- dealing with Verizon strike. There is an SEC meeting in Washington  next month.  The SIF fund issues will be discussed along with staff and legal issues

Old Business-RAB  mtg.-Welcome letters from RAB and Charles Braico.  Ken will attend as our rep.

New Business- RVP- after 16 years of being President, Bill Wachenschwanz is being challenged for the position.  A position he enjoys serving in, is dedicated to and works extremely hard at making a positive impact. We are asking ALL NABET local 42 members to mail back all ballots that will be issued in June.  He needs our support!

Website report- annual renewal is due

Meeting adjourned at 11:35am

Next meeting will be Saturday, May 21^st ay 9:30am

Respectfully submitted, Secretary Danielle Banks

E-board Meeting 3/19/16

Stewards in attendance: Koscick, Watkins, Mullally, Geiger,  Potter, Oliver, Banks and president Wachenschwanz. Guest: Dechant

Meeting called to order at 9:58am

Motion to accept February minutes

Reading of treasurers report-on file

New Members- WJW ENG-Jenna Golech and Ken Scheck.  No new members at WJWNEWS, WOIO or WKYC.

Craig Roberson left the union at WKYC and is still working at the station.

Correspondence- Thank you from Marty Dechant for the gift we sent to the hospice in honor of his father.

Stewards Reports- (WJWENG)- April 14^th arbitration date set for photog pay.  There’s a grievance on Degeros, upcoming arbitration pending.

(WJW NEWS)- nothing new to report this month.

(WOIO)- we have a new steward, Kate Miller and a new producer, Jackie DeMate.  The contract is good and will be signed and mailed this week. We discussed vacations during the RNC and a Skype issue.  It was agreed that our members would control the technical side when Skype is used.

(WKYC)- A mediation deal was worked out.  A 3 year deal was reached. ‘We’re very happy.’  Includes a $1000 signing bonus, voluntary retirement package, raised all pay levels by $50 and kept seniority.  The question now is who gets to vote on the contract?  We need to clarify this before the April 9^th voting date at the union hall.  A motion to accept a one-time only use of provisional ballots during this ratification was passed.

AFLCIO report suspended

SEC report- everything is good.  There are a few finance questions.  The budget is being reviewed.

The RAB meeting is being held in Syracuse in June.  VP Ken Koscick will attend.

We will be contacting Eric Seggi about hosting a stewards training here at the hall in 2016.

Website update from John Potter

Meeting adjourned at 11:20am

Next meeting, Saturday April 16^th at 9:30am

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary, Danielle Banks

E-board meeting 2/20/16

Stewards in attendance: Ken Koscick, Christopher Dolciato, Cathy Watkins, Terry Mullally, Brian Geiger, John Potter, Kevin D. Smith, Marilyn Oliver, Bill Wachenschwanz and Danielle Banks. Guests: Ed Verba and Rick Nagin

Meeting called to order at 10am by President Wachenschwanz.

Minutes approved

Treasurers Report approved

Monthly Reports– No New members to report.  Members not here anymore-(WJWNEWS) Steve Golders retired after 40 years.  (WOIO) Julie Sechrist was promoted and is now out of the union.  The company confused her name with Holly Sechrist.  James Thornsberry and Imel Chadma. (WKYC) Rob Ryan resigned from the union.

Correspondence and thank you’s- Acknowledgement from Ken Koscick in the loss of his mom.

Stewards Reports-(Terry, WJWENG) Weekly meetings are still happening but there is no resolve.  There’s a new boss, Brian Dick, the new Chief Eng/Dir of Technology, but the person who replaces him is unknown. Two grievances have been filed on Degeros.  Boils down to new technology and type of work, not the name of equipment.  The company is physically replacing NABET with IA’s. (Brian, WJWNEWS) Nothing new to report.  Kevin Smith was sworn in as new steward for WOIO along with retuning steward John Potter. (Christopher, WOIO) the contract was ratified and we had a good voter turn-out.  There was an issue with the seniority list-The company wants to move seniority and start dates. Reporters can now use cell phones to shoot video with a photographer present.  There also a ‘meals’ issue- editors are scheduled 8 1/2 hours. ½ hour is an unpaid meal, so they put in for 1 hour (1/2 hour paid, ½ unpaid). There may be a policy change coming from the news director on this one. (Cathy, WKYC) Corporate announced 4^th quarter earnings and on the next day gave out letters for buy-out packages for employees 55 years old and older with 15 years of employment.  They offered 1 year medical and salary.  This appears to be company-wide at all TEGNA stations. Mediation is scheduled for March 7^th.

AFLCIO Report- given by Rick Nagin update- reestablishing ties with labor union and NAACP. Finalizing candidate endorsements.

SEC Reports- RNC update. CWA staff is dealing with some issues. RAB meeting is in Syracuse this year.

Meeting adjourned at 11:27am

Next meeting Saturday, March 19^th at 9:30am

See you there!

Secretary, Danielle Banks

E-board Meeting 1/16/16

Meeting called to order at 10am by President Wachenschwanz.

Stewards In Attendance: Kathy Smith, Chris Dolciato, Marty DeChant, Cathy Watkins, Chris Reithmiller, Brian Geiger, Terry Mullally, John Potter, Maria, Marilyn Oliver, Ken Koscick and Bill Wachenschwanz.  Guests: Chuck Degross and Jim Kolendo.

Minutes Accepted from previous meeting.  The December meeting was suspended, there are no minutes.

Treasurers Report accepted (on file) – new mileage rates. We moved our CD’s and changed companies for our business credit cards to get better interest rates.  Reimbursements are due from CWA. Everyone that owes has been placed on a garnishment plan for back dues.

New members– (WOIO) will report next month, (WKYC) no (WJWNEWS) Ben Lombardi and Kelly Meyer. (WJWENG) no new members.  Both new members accepted.

Members not here anymore (WKYC) Randy Betkey, (WJWNEWS) Bliss Davis and Shannon Karney.

New Business- Lynda.com update from Jim Kolendo.  We have a new system in place and are in the process of reregistering member accounts.

Correspondence/ Thank Yous– Received a card from Steve Goulders

Stewards Report– (WOIO)-Chris- Had five days of negotiations and have a tentative 3 year agreement.  Highlights: reporters can use cellphones for on-air if working as a team with a photog. Skype interviews-doesn’t matter where interview originates. Before involuntary lay-offs, the company will ask for volunteers, severance will be capped at 26 weeks.  This   is a company wide policy. Minimum start wages were raised. Upgrade fees went from $15-$20 and raises are 1.75% year one, 1.5% in year two and  1.75% in year three. If you make more than $75,000, you will receive ½ of raise in a lump sum. FYI:The company wanted jurisdiction over everything, salary caps and 0% raises with merit pay only.

USB drives with contract details will be passed out. Bill and John will work on getting these at a reasonable price.

(WKYC) Cathy-  sending healing and good  wishes to Brian Johnson and Sean Mulroy.

Cathy, Chuck DeGross and Bill served on the negotiations committee. Lasted  5 days.  The company is after union seniority and security.  They made a final offer.  The three main issues in counter offer-no seniority at all, money- the committee offered several scenarios to help recover employees lost wages, and the company will not include arbitration in contract. The union is not in a good situation.  It’s obvious the company doesn’t want the union.

(WJWNEWS) Brian- the new payroll system is still messing up employees monies. One member was suspended for falsifying timecard. (WJWENG)- Terry- Chief Engineer retired.  Still having weekly meetings.  Two old grievance- photographer upgrade has been scheduled for arbitration on 4/18 and use of Degeros by IA’s members.  8 Vacation relief positons are open.  Questions about vacation eligibility for  retirees, MMJ’s eligibility for same rate increases.  If their contract is not renewed, do they go back into union?

AFLCIO/JWJ- Things are quiet right now.  Holding upcoming elections and fundraisers.

New Business– RVP election.  Bill’s running. Petitions will be placed at stations. Ken’s daughter had her first baby.  Congrats!

Meeting adjourned at noon

Next meeting, Saturday, February 20, 2016 at 9:30am