UNIONS: tvmattnyc or others involved, please read.

[east coast producer]

Matt -- i've been trying to email you, but I think i may have your address wrong. hit me up.

And anyone else here who works at a union shop -- specifically a realtively-recently created one -- email me too.

And, finally, anyone know of stations where newscast producers are part of a union?

thanks. smile.gif

[Poo(h)]

Wow. Yes, producers can be union -- usually WGA.

In fact, in Chicago, many of WBBM-TV's producers are WGA. Other shops are, too, but I worked at WBBM-TV, so that's where my firsthand knowledge comes from. I would be very surprised if WLS and WMAQ were not union, but I DO know that WFLD producers are not union.

It has been something of a sticking point in union relations with many owners/managers lately. The powers that be have sometimes spent time tryin gto get producers to bust out of the union, leaving the writers alone. It's happened in several places now. Is that what you're facing? Pardon the assumption, but the way your questions read, I just kind of got that feeling.

I don't know of another union for producers. Doesn't mean there isn't one. Just means that all my union producing experience was WGA.

Does that help, EC?

[Stack It]

NABET is trying to represent producers at KOIN-TV in Portland, but I think it's tied up in the courts. I'm currently in a union at a shop where pratically everyone is in a union. The producers are not if they produce more often than they write. Meaning, if they do one of the main shows, they are under contract. Our weekend folks are considered writers since they produce 2 days a week and write 3 days a week. The union will raise a stink if there's any sort of violation, say a producer ends up writing more often than they produce. Another problem is people like interns writing for air and having their stories make air with video.

All of our folks are part of AFTRA. AFTRA also represents the reporters, and if I'm not mistaken the photojournalists and editors. There are 4 groups with 4 different contracts, lots of fun if you're a manager.

For the most part, unions have a difficult time representing producers because management/ownership will argue they fall under the category of managers. The same story with assignment editors. Interestingly at KOIN-TV, the owners agreed to allow the desk folks into the union but are vigorously fighting the producers.

[5w40]

Some stuff from the big boys:
AFTRA represents many NBC News and WRC producers in Washington, DC.
NABET still reps SOME producers at NBC News in New York and at some of its O&O's.
And the WGA-East holds the bargaining cards for many producers at ABC and CBS, as well as at some of their older O&O's (WCBS, WABC, etc.)
Matter of fact the union membership of producers is a big sticking point (says ABC and CBS) in their bargaining of long-expired union contracts.

[ewink]

God help us all if producers form their own union... :eek:

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[Spike]

Originally posted by ewink:
God help us all if producers form their own union... :eek: You laugh, but I'm not sure that would be a bad thing. Think about it. Much of the bullsh*t you have to put up with from producers is the direct result of managers dictating idiotic schemes they get from consultants. What's a producer going to do? Can he really say, "No, I don't care what the consultant says, we're NOT going to put 14 live shots in my show"? A lot of the stupidity we attribute to producers' behavior is simply the result of acting on fear of losing their jobs.

Now, granted, many of them have become brainwashed over time, but consider if you have a latent good producer in your station who can now, as a result of the support of a union, pay more attention to what his or her show really needs to succeed instead of some gimmick dreamed up by a dumbass consultant. In other words, give them a bit of power to do their jobs properly without fear of reprisal from management for not drinking the company koolaid, and maybe some of them will actually start behaving like rational people.

[Bureau Chief]

We all belong to the same union in my shop. NABET. ALL of us even those I would consider management. I have never understood that.

[The Mockingbird]

That would be an amazing thing.

When news management gets bored with dicking with the budget, they invariably hassle a producer about something.

One day, I suddenly had the News Director at my back, backseat driving my cold open writing. Nothing better than playing with a half-formed sentence than people giving you directions.

Instead of killing him on the spot by fashioning the retractable cord for my ID tag into an improvised garrote, I decided to play along.

"You're Right, I just don't think that sentence is strong enough. Here, take my seat, I could really benefit from your experience on something this important."

Amazingly, enough, I said that and it sounded sincere. I attribute this to my years of, well, writing for TV news.

The News Director sat down at my desk, and it was a beautiful freaking moment. Five minutes went by, he didn't type a thing.

Finally, he just got up, and said, "Yours is really coming along. Go with that," and left me alone for the rest of the day.

Sometimes, using the Socratic method to mock someone is just as effective.

[rootboyslim]

Ah... the breeding of mediocrity! Join today!

[TVMattNYC]

East Coast, check your PM!!!!!!