KGTV Channel 10 promises to be "on your side." But they are not on the side of their own employees. Engineers, technicians, directors, photographers, editors and artists have been trying to negotiate a fair contract with Channel 10 since January. The employees belong to the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians “” Communications Workers of America.
KGTV and NABET-CWA go back a long way. They’ve been together since Channel 10 first went on-air in 1953. Together they have built a successful local television station. Together they have a history of working with each other to produce quality television, including local news, which makes a difference in the community. Together they created the area’s only local 24-hour NewsChannel and the first Web site from a local television station. Earlier this year, they worked together to extend the brand with Spanish-language programming on Azteca America San Diego (Cable channel 15).
But this year marks another first. It’s the first time in 53 years that McGraw-Hill-owned KGTV refuses to negotiate a fair contract with its employees. Instead, the station went on the attack. Management turned on its own employees. Channel 10 human resources personnel have actively encouraged employees to turn on one another. McGraw-Hill Broadcast Group President Ed Quinn and General Manager Derek Dalton have told long-time employees to hit the road. While encouraging different points of view from viewers, management has retaliated against employees who have a different point of view.
What happened to Channel 10? Managers claim they need more flexibility. KGTV wants to eliminate jobs, convert union jobs to non-union jobs and refuses to meet with the Union to discuss the issue. The Union offered the flexibility that managers said they needed, but that wasn’t good enough. Channel 10 won’t be happy until they are union-free. To make matters worse, the station is telling viewers they have not proposed to eliminate jobs. Don’t believe it!
Does KGTV make a profit? Yes. Is this fight over money? No. It’s over jobs. Does Channel 10 have more employees than the other stations in San Diego? No, it operates with significantly fewer employees than either KFMB or KNSD. Channel 10 produces content with fewer than half the technical employees of any other station in town.
The KGTV employees have decided that flexibility is one thing “” union-busting is quite another. The jobs at Channel 10 are great jobs and they are worth fighting for. Please take a minute to visit 10NEWSunfair.com. There you can email McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw and Broadcasting Group President Ed Quinn and tell them to negotiate fairly with their employees.
You can also call Channel 10 and tell them you will not watch the station until they reach a fair agreement. Thousands of viewers have already done just that. General Manager Derek Dalton can be reached at (619) 237-6222. Channel 10’s chief spokesperson Mike Biltucci can be reached at (619) 237-6288.
Please do not patronize the advertisers you see on Channel 10 and Channel 15. Through their advertising dollars, they support the station’s efforts to treat their own employees unfairly. Whether you are union or non-union, a fair deal is a fair deal.
Jerry Butkiewicz is the secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council.
