http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/ee/index.php en editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Copyright 2008 2008-07-13T09:42:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/qwest_union_talk_contract_ahead_of_conventions/ {summary} Labor




DENVER (AP) -- Qwest Communications and its largest employee union have started negotiations with the hope of agreeing on a new contract ahead of two political conventions that are counting on the company for telecommunications services.

A contract covering about 21,000 workers is scheduled to expire Aug. 16, a little more than a week before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The Republican National Convention begins Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn.

Denver-based Qwest committed $6 million worth of cash and in-kind services to each convention to provide telephone, Internet and data services.

Qwest is the primary telephone service provider in Colorado, Minnesota and 12 other states, mostly in the West. It also operates a nationwide fiber optic network.

The company said it has plans in place to cover operations in its vast territory and the two conventions in the event of a strike.

Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said contingency plans are standard procedure during contract talks and noted that they have a good working relationship with the union.

Communications Workers of America spokesman Al Kogler said the union wants to get a deal before the contract ends.

"Our attitude right now is we're working hard, hoping to get this done before the expiration date and come out with a contract that both sides can feel good about," he said.

Representatives of both conventions declined specific comment on the negotiations other than to say preparations for telecommunications services are under way at both sites.

Qwest Communications International Inc. has improved its financial condition since the current contract was negotiated in 2005, although it faces some hurdles in shifting focus from traditional phone service to bundling Internet, video and voice services.

The key issues are wages, health care benefits and some scheduling concerns, Kogler said.

"Obviously, Qwest has got some challenges," he said. "We also believe that they're now showing a profit. They've given their new CEO a pretty good package."

Chief Executive Officer Edward Mueller, who joined the company in August, received a compensation package valued at $17.4 million last year.

The union and the company have reached agreements on contracts without work stoppages since 2001, the year after Qwest acquired the former Baby Bell U S West Inc.

Qwest was embroiled in a multibillion-dollar scandal that forced the company to restate $2.2 billion of revenue after federal regulators claimed Qwest falsely reported fiber-optic capacity sales as recurring instead of one-time revenue between April 1999 and March 2002.

The CWA represents Qwest employees in 13 states stretching from Minnesota to Washington and south to Phoenix. Qwest employees in Montana are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

___

Qwest Communications International Inc.: http://www.qwest.com

Communications Workers of America District 7: http://www.cwadistrict7.org/


]]> 2008-07-13T09:42:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/actors_union_theater_producers_reach_agreement/ {summary} Labor


NEW YORK (AP) - The actors' union and Broadway theater producers have reached a tentative agreement for a new 39-month contract that covers Broadway shows and touring productions.

Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League, which represents both producers and theater owners, had been negotiating past the deadline of midnight Sunday, when the last contract expired.

The contract agreement, announced Wednesday in a joint statement, averts the possibility of a strike. Stagehands walked off the job in November, shutting down more than two dozen Broadway shows for 19 days and costing producers and the city of New York millions of dollars in lost revenue.

More details on the actors' new contract were expected later Wednesday.



]]> 2008-07-02T14:44:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/delta_northwest_pilots_reach_tentative_deal/ {summary} Labor


by Martin Moylan,
Minnesota Public Radio
June 24, 2008


Delta Air Lines may have removed a major impediment to its proposed merger with Eagan-based Northwest Airlines. Delta says it has reached a tentative contract settlement with Northwest pilots, who had signaled they would oppose the merger, unless Delta gave the Northwest pilots a contract that included pay raises and protection of their seniority.


St. Paul, Minn. — Neither the two airlines involved nor the unions for Delta and Northwest pilots would provide details about the agreement, but they seemed pleased to have worked out a deal that covers both sets of pilots.

The contract, which would take effect upon the merger of the two airlines, is subject to a ratification vote. Northwest pilot union leaders will review the deal this Thursday to see if it passes muster with them. If it does meet with their approval, the contract will be put to Northwest and Delta pilots for a vote.

University of Minnesota professor John Budd expects Northwest pilots likely got pay equity with their Delta counterparts. However, he suspects the agreement on merging seniority lists may be a bit sketchy.

"Maybe they've agreed on wage and benefit issues, common pay schedules, things of that nature," said Budd. "And then some process for further negotiation, not agreement, on a single merged seniority list at this point."

Budd says the deal, if approved, may mean Delta and Northwest could avoid the squabbling that has divided pilots in past airline mergers, such as the recent merger of US Airways and America West.

In addition, there are still hard feelings among many pilots involved in the merger of Northwest and Republic airlines some 20 years ago.

"I think it is noteworthy that they have been able to reach this agreement before the merger, even though there might be a lot of details to be worked out," Budd said. "It avoids what is going on at America West-US Airways, where that is just a complete mess, because they failed to achieve this before the merger went through and tried to sort of pick up the pieces afterwards."

The Northwest pilots' union said it took seven days of negotiations to reach the tentative agreement. The union said the goal was to reach a joint contract that enhances the careers of all pilots and protects their seniority.

Seniority is a big issue for pilots, perhaps as important, or more important, than wage scales.

"It's when you work, how much you work, what equipment you get to fly, what routes you get to fly. All that is very critical, because it's on a bid basis," said Budd.

John Remington is a labor professor at the University of Minnesota. Remington says merging seniority lists is a complex and politically sensitive process. But it's likely that the union has worked out something that will fly with pilots.

"I think we should presume there is an agreement on seniority that was good enough, so the leaders of both pilots groups were willing to put it to a vote by their membership," said Remington.

Delta and Northwest hope to win regulatory approval for their merger by the end of the year. Northwest and Delta have not shown interest in winning the support of other unions for the merger. Other major employee groups may or may not even up with union representation if the airlines merge.

]]> 2008-06-26T11:16:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/southeast_central_labor_council_afl_cio_meeting_june_19th/ {summary} Labor

MEETING ON JUNE 19th


Who: SE MN Area Labor Council, All Union Members and All Union Staff

What: Labor '08 steering committee meeting, Dinner, and a prize!

When: This Thursday June 19th 4pm

Where: Rochester Labor Temple 11, 4thst SE Rochester MN

The SE MN Area Labor Council will hold the first Steering Committee Meeting this Thursday, June 19th at 4pm. We will be meeting at the Rochester Labor Temple. The meetings are our way to keep you informed of upcoming Labor '08 events and howyou and your union will be able to participate.

Agenda

4PM- Labor '08 update
5:30pm- Dinner with Special Guests Al & Frani Franken
6-8pm Recruitment action (With a Special door prize donated by the Frankens!)

Please RSVP so we can plan for dinner.

Laura Askelin
Political Organizer
AFSCME Council 5
Laura.Askelin@AFSCMEMN.org
(651)238-5334 (Cell)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



]]> 2008-06-19T05:20:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/boeing_shifting_cost_of_health_care/ {summary} Labor




SEATTLE – Corporate leaders of The Boeing Company will shift up to $8.2 million of medical costs onto engineers and technical workers as a result of upcoming changes to health care plans.

The cost-shifting maneuver is a result of Boeing’s decision to change the premium structure of two medical insurance plans offered to more than 20,000 Puget Sound area employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001.

“This change is part of a scheme to dismantle the benefits package earned by SPEEA members,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “Boeing eliminated Early Retire Medical for new hires, is now shifting medical costs onto employees and has announced its intention to go after pensions. The company is doing this latest change because they want to sneak it through without negotiating.”

The brunt of the cost shift falls heavily on members with families covered by the Select Network plan. Now provided to employees without a premium, starting in June, employees with families will begin paying $138 per month.

To avoid premiums, employees in May can change to a less comprehensive medical plan, the Traditional Medical Plan (TMP). Presently, employees with TMP are charged premiums, but those premiums go away in June.

The actual extent of the cost shift depends on how many employees, if any, change medical coverage during open enrollment from May 2 to 22.

“A few people will pay less in premiums but even they may see their out-of-pocket costs increase,” said Matt Kempf, SPEEA benefits director. “Boeing only recently revealed the new plan rates, and that’s when we learned the extent of their plan to shift costs onto employees.”

Using the new 2008 rates, if the Select Network were the low cost plan and every SPEEA member stayed in the same plan they were in last year, SPEEA members would pay $6.1 million in premium contributions for the Traditional Medical Plan over the next year. However, since Boeing is switching which plan carries premiums, if every SPEEA member stayed in the same plan they were in last year, union members will pay $14.3 million in premium contributions over the next year, a total increase of $8.2 million.

“If Boeing worked with the union instead of unilaterally implementing these changes, we may have been able to agree on a formula that benefited all SPEEA members,” Kempf said.

SPEEA is filing to take Boeing to binding arbitration over the change. However, the union cannot stop the change from taking place and is informing members to consider changing medical plans.

In October, SPEEA begins main table negotiations with Boeing for 21,000 employees in Washington, Kansas, Oregon, Utah and California. Negotiations begin in May for 3,000 represented employees at Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas.

A local of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), SPEEA represents more than 24,000 aerospace professionals at Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., Triumph Composite Systems, Inc., in Spokane, Wash., and at BAE Systems, Inc., in Irving, Texas.

]]> 2008-05-10T20:50:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/gm_shutters_3_more_plants_due_to_strike/ {summary} Labor


DETROIT (AP) — A strike at an auto parts supplier has forced General Motors Corp. to shut down three more pickup truck factories, idling 12,000 workers, the company said Friday.

Plants in Flint; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Oshawa, Ontario, were to close at the end of the second shift on Friday night, GM spokesman Tom Wickham said.

The closures are in addition to the idling of a pickup truck factory in Pontiac on Thursday. All the plants make the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-sized pickups.

It is all due to a strike against parts supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. The Detroit-based company makes axles and other parts for the trucks, and GM is running out of the parts, Wickham said.

Laid-off hourly workers will get most of their pay from the company under its contract with the United Auto Workers union.

Wickham would not say if the strike could lead to more GM plant closures, but industry analysts have said American Axle also makes components for GM's large sport utility vehicles.

"We are monitoring supply to other facilities," Wickham said.

Factories in Janesville, Wis., and Arlington, Texas, that make the large SUVs still were operating on Friday. Their vehicles include the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.

GM also still was making pickups and large SUVs at a factory in Silao, Mexico, and it makes a small number of pickups at a plant in Toluca, Mexico.

About 3,600 workers represented by the UAW at five American Axle plants in Michigan and New York went on strike early Tuesday in a contract dispute. The strike continued Friday with no talks scheduled and each side saying it awaits a call from the other to return to the bargaining table.

American Axle had been using stockpiled parts to keep supplying GM and its other customers, although it appears those supplies are running out. The company makes axles, drive shafts and stabilizer bars.

GM accounts for about 80 percent of American Axle's business, with 10 percent going to Chrysler LLC and the rest to other automakers.

Unless the strike is lengthy, GM is unlikely to be hurt by the parts shortage because the company has an ample supply of pickups and large SUVs, analysts have said.

GM has more than a 150-day supply of pickups and more than 100 days worth of the SUVs, said Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids.

After four or five weeks, other GM parts suppliers could also be forced to close plants, Merkle said. Some of the suppliers are in poor financial condition and would have trouble withstanding a shutdown, he said.

GM was not the only automaker affected by labor problems at a parts supplier. Chrysler LLC was forced to temporarily close its Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant on Thursday due to a Canadian Auto Workers strike at a TRW Automotive parts plant.

The TRW plant makes brake and suspension systems, mostly for the Chrysler facility. Negotiations are continuing.

GM shares fell $1.12, or 4.6 percent, to $23.38 in afternoon trading Friday.

———

On the Net:

American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.: http://www.aam.com

General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com

United Auto Workers: http://www.uaw.org

]]> 2008-02-29T21:13:01-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/food_workers_union_endorses_obama_service_employees_union_may_be_next/ {summary} Labor

By NEDRA PICKLER,
Associated Press
February 14, 2008


MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Sen. Barack Obama has won the backing of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds.

The 1.3-million member UFCW gives Obama an organizational boost in vital March 4 contests, with 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas. The two states have a large number of delegates and are where Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hopes to stop Obama's winning streak.

The food workers also have 19,000 members in Wisconsin, which holds a primary Tuesday.

The union is made up of supermarket workers and meatpackers, with 40 percent of the membership under 30 years old. Obama has been doing especially well among young voters.

"Sen. Obama's message of changing hope into reality has inspired our members, particularly our young members, across the country," Food Workers President Joe Hansen said in a statement in which he also lauded Clinton's tireless efforts on behalf of workers.

"While both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have a vision to change America, we believe that Sen. Obama is the best candidate to build a movement to unite our country that will deliver the type of change that is needed for good jobs, affordable health care, retirement security and worker safety," he said. He called Obama "the candidate of the American dream."

In 2004, the union initially backed Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., a labor favorite who dropped out of the presidential race after a poor showing in Iowa. The union later endorsed Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry.

Separately, the Service Employees International Union executive board held a conference call Thursday night to consider an Obama endorsement, according to a person familiar with the plans. This person was not authorized to speak publicly and so requested anonymity. The union announced late Thursday that it would make a major political announcement Friday afternoon. An endorsement of Obama was likely, according to a person inside the union, who also was not authorized to speak publicly.

The international union had stayed out of the primary race until now, because its leaders were divided over who to endorse after an especially strong courting by former Sen. John Edwards, who dropped out of the race just before Super Tuesday. The 1.8-million member union allowed its state affiliates to make endorsements, and most of them backed Edwards.

___

On the Net:

http://www.barackobama.com

http://www.ufcw.org

]]> 2008-02-15T03:24:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/strikes_end_starts_tv_production_frenzy/ {summary} Labor



LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lights, camera, action — but first, here come the writers. Members of the Writers Guild of America were planning a return to work Wednesday after voting to end their strike on its 100th day, thus allowing Hollywood to jump-start stalled production of numerous TV sitcoms and dramas.

"It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff," said Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of the CBS drama "Criminal Minds." Actual production won't begin, however, until scripts have been completed, which could take days or even weeks.

For the Feb. 24 Academy Awards, the vote Tuesday by East and West Coast guild members ended the threat of a boycott by writers and actors that would have robbed the ceremony of its celebrity luster.

Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, responded effusively.

"I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead," he said, and without "hesitation or discomfort" for the nominees.

The writers' decided overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike: 3,492 said yes, with only 283 voting to stay off the job. The number of guild members involved in the strike was 10,500, with countless other industry workers forced into unemployment because of the walkout.

Writers did not vote on the tentative contract agreement that already has won approval from the union's board of directors. The contract ratification vote will be conducted by mail and at meetings and will conclude Feb. 25.

Approval is expected, given Tuesday's lopsided decision and the enthusiasm for the proposed contract expressed at guild meetings held last weekend in New York and Los Angeles.

"At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry," Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Moonves was among the media executives who helped broker a deal after negotiations between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, collapsed in December.

Under the tentative agreement, writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 for programs streamed on the Internet in the deal's first two years and then get 2 percent of a distributor's gross in year three — a key union demand.

Other provisions include increased residual payments for movies and TV programs downloaded from the Internet.

"These advances now give us a foothold in the digital age," said Patric Verrone, president of the West Coast guild. "Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as television migrates to the Internet."

Michael R. Perry, a writer for "Persons Unknown" and other TV dramas, said the deal made him hopeful the guild and studios could be "partners in a growing pie" of Internet revenue.

"I want them to be fabulously, filthy rich. I just want my piece," Perry said.

The strike that began Nov. 5 dealt a financial blow to a wide range of businesses dependent on work from studios.

It took a $3.2 billion toll in direct and indirect costs on the economy of Los Angeles County, the home of most of the nation's TV and film production, according to a new estimate from Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

The last writers strike, a 153-day walkout in 1988, resulted in an estimated $500 million in lost wages.

Hollywood's labor pains may not be over: The contract between studios and the Screen Actors Guild is set to expire in June, said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the Los Angeles firm of TroyGould and a former associate counsel for the writers guild.

"The signs are mixed whether this is going to be another difficult negotiation," Handel said. "The actors face all of the new-media issues that the writers and directors faced."


]]> 2008-02-13T09:21:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/writers_signal_support_for_studio_offer/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hollywood writers on Saturday gave resounding support to a tentative agreement with studios that could end a strike that has crippled the entertainment industry. However, it appeared the approval process might briefly delay their return to work.

About 3,500 writers packed the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to hear from union leaders about the proposed deal that was finalized just hours before meetings were held on both coasts by the Writers Guild of America.

A person familiar with the guild's plan, who requested anonymity because of a media blackout, said the WGA board would meet Sunday and decide on whether to authorize a quick, two-day vote of its members to determine if a strike order should be lifted.

Giving writers a 48-hour window to vote on lifting the strike order would help alleviate concerns that the agreement was being pushed too rapidly by the guild's board.

If guild members support lifting the strike order, they could return to work as early as Wednesday.

"The feeling in the room was really positive," said screenwriter Mike Galvin, adding that no one at the Los Angeles gathering said the deal "was crummy."

Compensation for projects delivered via digital media was the central issue in the 3-month-old walkout, which idled thousands of workers, disrupted the TV season and moviemaking and took the shine off Hollywood's awards season.

"I believe it is a good deal. I am going to be recommending this deal to our membership," Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, told reporters before the New York meeting at a Times Square hotel.

Winship said afterward that he was encouraged by the membership's response.

"We had a very lively discussion. I'm happy with what happened. ... At the moment, I feel strongly it (the proposed deal) has a strong chance of going through," he said.

Writers leaving the two-hour-plus New York meeting characterized the reaction as generally positive and said there was cautious optimism that the end of the strike - the guild's first in 20 years - could be near.

Carmen Culver, a film and TV writer, lauded the guild "for hanging tough."

"It's a great day for the labor movement. We have suffered a lot of privation in order to achieve what we've achieved," Culver said.

Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker ("Bowling for Columbine") and a nominee this year for his health-care film "Sicko," attended the New York meeting.

"It's a historic moment for labor in this country," Moore told The Associated Press.

Winship cautioned that it was not a "done deal" until the contract is ratified by members who need to be polled by mail in a process that usually takes two weeks.

An outline of the three-year deal was reached in recent talks between media executives and the guild, with lawyers then drafting the contract language that was concluded Friday.

According to the guild's summary, the deal provides union jurisdiction over projects created for the Internet based on certain guidelines, sets compensation for streamed, ad-supported programs and increases residuals for downloaded movies and TV programs.

The writers deal is similar to one reached last month by the Directors Guild of America, including a provision that compensation for ad-supported streaming doesn't kick in until after a window of between 17 to 24 days deemed "promotional" by the studios.

Writers would get a maximum $1,200 flat fee for streamed programs in the deal's first two years and then get a percentage of a distributor's gross in year three - the last point an improvement on the directors deal, which remains at the flat payment rate.

"Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success," guild leaders Winship and Patric Verrone, head of the Writers Guild of America, West, said in an e-mailed message to members.

Together, the guilds represent 12,000 writers, with about 10,000 of those involved in the strike that began Nov. 5 and has cost the Los Angeles area economy alone an estimated $1 billion or more. Studios are represented by Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

One observer said the guild gained ground in the deal but not as much as it wanted.

"It's a mixed deal but far better than the writers would have been able to get three months ago. The strike was a qualified success," said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the TroyGould firm and a former associate counsel for the writers guild.

The walkout "paved the way for the directors to get a better deal than they would otherwise have gotten. That in turn became the foundation for further improvements the writers achieved," Handel said.

]]> 2008-02-10T08:46:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/uaw_will_hold_off_on_endorsing_democrat/ {summary} Labor

WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the United Auto Workers said Sunday his union will aggressively work to elect either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama to the White House, but reiterated that it will not endorse either one for the Democratic nomination.

"The stakes in this election could not be any higher. Our jobs are on the line," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a pre-Super Bowl address to about 1,000 union activists assembled here for a political conference.

The union leader, who helped broker a groundbreaking labor deal with Detroit's automakers last year, said workers would be motivated in November by the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since January 2001, a gaping budget deficit and the closing of thousands of factories across the country.

Gettelfinger reiterated the union's decision not to make an endorsement in the Democratic presidential primary, but called Clinton and Obama "friends" who would protect manufacturing jobs, support workers' right to organize and expand health care coverage.

The union decided in December against endorsing a presidential candidate, preventing local unions from issuing their own endorsements. Speaking to reporters, Gettelfinger declined to outline the union's strategy in the fall, but said, "we're going to spend a lot."

"You're going to see more groups coming together. It's not about dollars and cents," he said. "Clearly we cannot outspend people. But we can outwork them, and that's what we intend to do." The union has been a longtime stalwart for Democratic candidates in Michigan and throughout the country.

Gettelfinger said internal union polling has found that the most support any Republican presidential candidate received was about 2 percent.

---

On the Net:

United Auto Workers: http://www.uaw.org/


]]> 2008-02-04T19:40:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/breakthrough_in_striking_writers_talks/ {summary} Labor

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A breakthrough in contract talks has been reached between Hollywood studios and striking writers and could lead to a tentative deal as early as next week, a person close to the ongoing negotiations said Saturday.

The two sides breached the gap Friday on the thorniest issues, those concerning compensation for projects distributed via the Internet, said the person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Although work remains to be done on elements of the agreement, prospects for a deal appeared solid, the person said. The tentative agreement would have to be approved by a majority of guild members.

The Writers Guild of America, whose 3-month-old strike has brought the entertainment industry to a standstill, began informal talks with top media company executives Jan. 23 in an attempt to reach a new deal covering governing work for film, TV and digital media.


]]> 2008-02-02T23:19:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/yahoo_to_lay_off_1000_workers/ {summary} Labor


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) (YHOO)'s financial funk deepened at the end of 2007, prompting the slumping Internet icon to draw up plans to lay off as many as 1,000 workers.

The Sunnyvale-based company disclosed the upcoming 7 percent reduction in its 14,300-employee work force Tuesday while reviewing a 23 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit and a cautious 2008 outlook. The bad news sent Yahoo shares skidding to their lowest levels in more than four years.

In a prepared statement, Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang warned of looming "headwinds," indicating that the company's tortuous turnaround efforts aren't likely to pay off this year.

"I'm surprised by how slowly they seem to be moving," said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Brown. "Yahoo still has quite a bit of work ahead."

Yahoo shares dropped $2.09, or more than 10 percent, in extended trading Tuesday after finishing the regular session at $20.81, up 3 cents. The company's market value has plunged more than 50 percent since the end of 2005, wiping out $35 billion in shareholder wealth.

Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, took over as CEO seven months ago in an attempt to shake things up, but his overhaul hasn't impressed Wall Street so far. The mass firings represent Yang's most dramatic move yet.

"This is a necessary step in our transformation," Yang said during the conference call.

Yahoo didn't specify which areas of its operations will be trimmed in the company's biggest purge since jettisoning 650 workers in the aftermath of the dot-com bust seven years ago. Management indicated some employees whose current jobs are eliminated may be offered new assignments in other parts of the company. Further details are supposed to be released by mid-February.

Yahoo expects to absorb a first-quarter charge of $20 million to $25 million to pay for severance costs and other expenses incurred in the layoffs.

The cost cutting could reduce Yahoo's annual expenses by more than $100 million, helping offset some of the loss in revenue the company expects from a re-negotiated partnership with AT&T Inc. (ATT) to provide high-speed Internet service.

Under a new deal announced Tuesday, Yahoo and AT&T will share revenue generated through online advertising. Previously, AT&T had paid Yahoo a portion of the fees collected from subscribers to their cobranded Internet service. Analysts had estimated that arrangement generated about $250 million in annual revenue for Yahoo.

To ease the pain of the transition, Yahoo will receive an upfront payment of $300 million to $400 million from AT&T.

Yahoo hasn't stopped making money. But the company's 2007 profit fell 12 percent to $660 million even though advertisers spent more than ever on the Internet, where Yahoo still draws one of the Web's largest audiences.

The bulk of that additional ad revenue has been pouring into Internet search leader Google Inc. (GOOG), a company that was smaller than Yahoo just three years ago.

Yahoo also has been struggling to attract teenagers and young adults who are gravitating to more trendy online hangouts like Facebook.com and News Corp. (NWS)'s MySpace.com.

While grappling with those challenges, Yahoo earned $205.7 million, or 15 cents per share, during 2007's final three months, down from net income of $268.7 million, or 19 cents per share, at the same time in 2006.

Reflecting the gloomy aura hanging over Yahoo, analysts had prepared investors for even worse erosion. Analysts, on average, had projected earnings of 11 cents per share for the period.

Yahoo's revenue for the period totaled $1.83 billion, an improvement of 8 percent over $1.7 billion in 2006.

After subtracting commissions paid to its advertising partner, Yahoo's revenue fell to $1.4 billion, in line with analyst estimates.

Yahoo estimated its revenue this year will range from $5.35 billion to $5.95 billion, excluding ad commissions. The average analyst estimate stood at $5.92 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

Separately, Yahoo announced it hired former VeriSign Inc. executive Aristotle "Ari" Balogh as its new chief technology officer, filling a void created with the resignation of Farzad Nazem last June. Balogh, 43, held the same job at VeriSign.

]]> 2008-01-30T10:24:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/nwa_attendants_list_their_merger_demands/ {summary} Labor


By LIZ FEDOR,
Star Tribune
January 22, 2008


Northwest Airlines flight attendants, who narrowly ratified double-digit pay cuts in the final days of the airline's bankruptcy, said Tuesday they want "substantial improvements in compensation" before they could support a Northwest merger.

Kevin Griffin, president of the 8,200-member Northwest flight attendants union, said the union's executive council unanimously approved several conditions that must be met.

Eagan-based Northwest and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines are engaged in formal merger talks. Neither carrier will comment on whether a deal is imminent. Griffin said he has not received any briefings from Northwest management about the possibility of any merger.

"We are looking for information and to be included in the discussions," Griffin said.

Stock in the merged company, better compensation and job protections are among the eight items the union says are needed to win its support.

Griffin said that the attendants took cuts of about 40 percent in wages and benefits. Now, he said, his members are "working a lot more to compensate for what they've lost."

The flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), and a drive is underway at Delta to organize the Delta attendants under the AFA banner.

If Delta and Northwest merge, the Northwest attendants and the 13,000 Delta attendants would vote on whether the combined group should be represented by AFA or not be organized into a union.

The Northwest union also said Tuesday that it would want seniority integration of two flight attendant groups to be given the full protection of the AFA constitution. The attendants also threw their support behind "maintaining a strong hub presence in the Twin Cities."

John Budd, a human resources professor at the University of Minnesota, said it appears that the flight attendants are being opportunistic.

"It will be tough for them to be successful, but it's natural for them to try," he said. He noted that the attendants have been trying to secure contract improvements since Northwest and the pilots union reached agreement on overtime pay and better work rules Aug. 1.

]]> 2008-01-23T14:05:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/writers_informally_meet_with_studios/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Officials with the striking writers guild held informal talks Tuesday with Hollywood studios that could lead to the resumption of negotiations, a person familiar with the bargaining strategy said.

The talks preceded an expected guild meeting later in the day that was to address the union's next step as it seeks a new contract, said the person who was not authorized to publicly comment and asked for anonymity.

The Writers Guild of America did not immediately respond to e-mail and phone requests for comment.

Bargaining between the writers guild and the studios' trade group, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, broke down Dec. 7 after the alliance demanded the guild take a half-dozen issues off the table, including unionization of reality TV shows. The guild refused.

The informal meeting held Tuesday were designed to lay the groundwork for a return to formal bargaining.

The approach mirrored a series of meetings held by the Directors Guild of America and studio heads before they began formal negotiations and reached a tentative deal last week after less than a week of bargaining.

The writers strike that started Nov. 5 has shut down production of most scripted TV shows, disrupted movie schedules and the Golden Globes ceremony and has put next month's Academy Awards at risk.

The informal writers-studio talks began on the day Oscar nominees were announced.

When the directors guild announced its deal, studio heads urged the writers to join in talks that could lead to the resumption of their negotiations.

In its deal with producers, the directors union resolved new-media compensation issues that are also central to the writers guild dispute, including compensation for movie and TV projects delivered over the Internet.

The executives said the deal with directors established a precedent for the industry's creative talent to "participate financially in every emerging area of new media."


]]> 2008-01-22T20:50:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/writers_strike_threatens_grammys_show/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Producers of the Grammy Awards have requested an interim agreement that would allow striking Hollywood writers to work on next month's telecast, The Recording Academy said Tuesday.

Writers Guild of America spokesman Gregg Mitchell said the request was referred to the board of the union's West Coast branch for a decision. He said earlier in the day, however, that a deal "is unlikely to be granted."

The situation raised question about the fate of the Feb. 10 Grammys ceremony, set for live broadcast by CBS.

The writers guild refused to grant a waiver for last weekend's Golden Globe Awards and threatened to picket that event. Actors were advised by their union to stay away from the ceremony, prompting Globes organizers to replace the normally glitzy telecast with a scaled-down news conference lacking stars, glamour and ad revenue.

Next month's Academy Awards could face the same fate.

The Recording Academy said it remained hopeful that there would be a quick and positive response to its request involving the 50th annual Grammy Awards show.

"We will take whatever action is necessary to ensure that a program so vital to our industry, artists, charitable beneficiaries, and the great city of Los Angeles is held as planned," said the statement by Neil Portnow, president and chief executive of The Recording Academy, which owns all rights to the Grammy telecast but does not produce the show.

The academy said it supports efforts by Cossette Productions, which produces the Grammys, to reach an interim agreement with writers such as the one previously made with Worldwide Pants, which makes David Letterman's late-night show.

Earlier in the day, the guild said it would allow its members to work on the NAACP Image Awards and would not picket the Feb. 14 show at the Shrine Auditorium.

The awards presented by the National association for the Advancement of Colored People honor those who promote diversity in the arts. Awards in 44 categories, including movies, TV and literature, will be presented in the ceremony broadcast live on Fox.

"Because of the historic role the NAACP has played in struggles like ours, we think this decision is appropriate to jointly achieve our goals," guild leader Patric Verrone said at a news conference.

The writers guild said it had not yet decided whether to picket the upcoming Grammys ceremony.

Screen Actors Guild spokeswoman Pamela Greenwalt said her union's members "have been unwilling to cross a picket line and we anticipate that solidarity will continue."

In a joint statement, the American Federation of Musicians and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists stressed that events surrounding the telecast of the Grammys help fund educational, charitable and advocacy activities of The Recording Academy.

The statement urged members to participate in Grammy events but also "express support for our ongoing efforts to ensure that musical artists and creative talent receive fair compensation for their work in digital media."

Members were also encouraged to show support for writers.

The American Federation of Musicians represents performers at the Grammys as well as many of the recording artists honored. Other participants are members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

In a separate development, production and distribution company Spyglass Entertainment reached an interim deal with the writers guild allowing Spyglass to resume production, company co-chairman Gary Barber said.

Barber would not disclose further details. Mitchell, who represents the guild, said he could not confirm the agreement.

The writers guild previously struck deals with Worldwide Pants, United Artists, The Weinstein Co. and independent studio Media Rights Capital.

Meanwhile, four major studios said they had canceled dozens of writers' contracts in a possible concession that the current television season cannot be saved, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The deals were terminated by 20th Century Fox Television, CBS Paramount Network Television, NBC Universal and Warner Bros.


]]> 2008-01-20T15:08:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/writers_talks_could_resume_next_week/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Striking Hollywood writers could begin informal talks with studio chiefs as early as next week in an effort to end a two-month walkout that has hobbled the entertainment industry, according to a person familiar with the bargaining strategy of the writers union.

Word of the possible break in the stalemate came Friday, a day after the Directors Guild of America announced a tentative contract deal, and studio heads urged the Writers Guild of America to join in talks that could lead to the resumption of formal negotiations that broke off Dec. 7.

The Writers Guild is prepared to sit down with executives such as Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., who participated in similar informal talks with directors, said the person who was not authorized to publicly comment and asked for anonymity.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, said it had no comment on the possible start of informal talks.

In its tentative deal with producers, the Directors Guild resolved new-media compensation issues that are also central to the Writers Guild dispute, including compensation for movie and TV projects delivered over the Internet.

In a joint statement Thursday, top executives from eight major companies, including Fox, Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp. (VIA) (CBS) (CBS), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., MGM and NBC Universal called on the Writers Guild to join in the kind of informal talks that preceded the directors' negotiations.

The executives said the deal with directors established a precedent for the industry's creative talent to "participate financially in every emerging area of new media."

Officials at the Writers Guild were waiting to receive a copy of the directors' tentative pact and evaluate how it fits in with what writers are seeking.

The agreement gives the directors union jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet. It also provides for residuals paid on a percentage of distributors' gross - also a key Writers Guild proposal.

"I think the DGA deal is good. Very good. For writers, for directors, for the future," writer-producer John Wells, whose credits include "ER" and "The West Wing," said in a letter posted online.

Some out-of-work writers said they were heartened by the directors' pact. But they tempered their optimism about a possible end to the walkout by writers, which has halted work on dozens of TV shows, has disrupted movie production, turned the usually star-studded Golden Globes show into a mundane news conference and has threatened the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony.

Screenwriter David Garrett said new-media elements of the directors' deal appeared to reflect at least some of what the Writers Guild is seeking.

"I think it's important the producers have acknowledged the unions need jurisdiction over the Internet," Garrett said. "There can't be any argument about that when they come back (to talks) with the Writers Guild. Then the amounts can be negotiated."

The deal might jump-start formal negotiations, writer Steven L. Sears said.

"Everybody is hoping it's a great deal and will help bring the producers back to the table," he said as he walked a picket line with about 40 other people outside NBC studios in Burbank.

Still, he said the majority of Directors Guild members don't face the same contract issues that are key for writers.

Negotiations broke down after the studio alliance demanded the Writers Guild take unionization of reality and animation shows and other issues off the table.

In Utah, Robert Redford told The Associated Press that an agreement between studios and writers could be imminent.

"Once you see one element of the talent side settling, it's only a question of time before it will all fall in that direction, so I would imagine that it's a sign that the strike won't last too long," Redford said at his Sundance Film Festival.

Meanwhile, a fund to help workers who are not part of the Writers Guild but face financial hardship because of the strike has been established, the guild said. The fund will provide emergency assistance for food, housing and other expenses.


]]> 2008-01-19T19:56:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/striking_hollywood_writers_reach_deal_with_united_artists/ {summary} Labor

From the Associated Press
January 8, 2008


Striking Hollywood writers have reached a deal with Tom Cruise's production outfit United Artists Films to resume working on films while the strike continues against other studios.

The deal announced today was the first reached with big-screen producers by the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since Nov. 5. Terms were not disclosed.

"United Artists has lived up to its name. UA and the Writers Guild came together and negotiated seriously. The end result is that we have a deal that will put people back to work," said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West.

A news release from the guild said the agreement addresses key issues of writers, who walked off the job over their cut of potential profits from programming on the Internet and other new media.

The deal does not include MGM, the main parent company of United Artists.

Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner took over the venerable United Artists banner in 2006 after they severed long-term ties with Paramount, where their production company had been based.

Founded in silent-movie days by Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith, United Artists had been largely mothballed in recent years.

The guild "agreement is important, unique and makes good business sense for United Artists," Wagner said. "In keeping with the philosophy of its original founders, artists who sought to create a studio in which artists and their creative visions could flourish, we are pleased to have reached an agreement with the WGA," Wagner said in a statement.

The first United Artists release under Cruise and Wagner's stewardship, the war-on-terror drama "Lions for Lambs," was a flop despite a top-name cast that included Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who also directed.

]]> 2008-01-08T12:49:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/nbc_set_to_pull_the_plug_on_globes_telecast/ {summary} Labor Source says network likely to make announcement this week



NEW YORK (MSNBC) -- The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and NBC engaged in 11th-hour sessions Sunday to try to save the boycott-stricken Golden Globes, but the network apparently is poised to pull the telecast as a result of the Hollywood writers strike.

A source close to NBC told msnbc.com that the network has already made its decision to pull the Golden Globes telecast, and to expect an announcement confirming the telecast cancellation on Tuesday or Wednesday.

“NBC feels that it’s better to have an awards show with no one watching than have a show where no one shows up,” the source told msnbc.com. “They decided this over the weekend, despite saying that they’re still negotiating. Now, what hasn’t been decided is what they’re going to do with all that airtime, and that’s why they haven’t made an announcement yet.”
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The HFPA, whose 100-odd members organize the ceremony, is pushing NBC to pull the plug on the broadcast because that will prompt the Writers Guild of America to lift its pickets and enable stars to attend the January 13 event. On Friday, the Screen Actors Guild said its members would not cross picket lines to attend.

NBC and its chief Jeff Zucker had through the weekend maintained that it will broadcast the event. But one person with knowledge of the situation described NBC as trying to find ”a middle ground,” potentially including a scaled-back event or a postponement. As of late Sunday, NBC was said to be close to yielding to the HFPA’s request for the Globes to be taken off the air.

Were a postponement agreed upon, the Globes would likely have to occur before Oscar nominations are announced on January 22, which buy only a week or two, a very small amount of time for an interim agreement or larger strike resolution to take place. The Beverly Hilton may also not be available for the following Sunday, January 20.

It’s unclear how much contractual wiggle room NBC would have if it sought a postponement that the HFPA didn’t want.

As of Sunday night, Dick Clark Productions, which produces and co-owns the Globes, was readying for preproduction in the way it would for any awards broadcast that’s one week away. It’s unclear what its involvement would be if the Globes were to go on without a telecast.

The weekend conferrals between the HFPA and NBC come after a Friday in which the guilds essentially shut the door on star attendance for an NBC-aired show.

With NBC continuing to say it will broadcast the event, SAG said that conversations with members had resulted in the collective decision not to cross the picket line.

“After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters,” SAG president Alan Rosenberg said.

Also on Friday, a number of prominent talent-publicity firms, including BWR, 42 West and Stanley Rosenfield, announced that their clients would be no-shows.

“After much discussion by our clients, we have concluded unanimously that the actors we represent will not cross the picket line out of respect for the WGA membership. Our clients are extremely grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press and would love the opportunity to be recognized for their work but will only do so in the event that NBC and Dick Clark Productions reach an interim agreement with the WGA for the Golden Globes,” the group said.

Meanwhile, Dick Clark Productions, which has said that it has offered terms to the WGA similar to those that Worldwide Pants negotiated, also jumped into the fray. It released a statement saying that it “has reached out to the WGA on numerous occasions, from the very beginning of the WGA strike, and offered to enter into an interim agreement similar to the agreement reached by Worldwide Pants” and was “disappointed that the WGA has refused to bargain with us in good faith.” It also noted that it was not a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television and Producers, the studios’ bargaining ram.

]]> 2008-01-07T16:03:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/sag_actors_likely_to_snub_golden_globes/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Golden Globe-nominated actors are expected to snub the awards in support of striking Hollywood writers, the actors union said Friday, jeopardizing one of the entertainment industry's signature showcases.

NBC, however, said it was sticking by its plans to air the Jan. 13 ceremony, despite the uncertainty about how much - if any - star power the Globes could muster.

"The network plans to move forward with the broadcast at this point," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said, adding that it has yet to be determined which actors will participate.

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg made the announcement after canvassing nominees during the past several weeks.

"There appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross" the picket lines to present or accept an award, he said in a prepared statement.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the awards, said it was wrestling with the "unfortunate predicament."

"We are making every effort to work out a solution that will permit the Golden Globes to take place with the creative community present to participate," Jorge Camara, the group's president, said in a statement.

The association hoped to announce a resolution Monday, Camara said.

The writers strike, which began Nov. 5, has broad implications for the way Hollywood does business. Whatever deal is struck by writers on payment for shows offered on the Internet could affect talks with actors and directors, whose contracts expire next June.

The Golden Globes show brings in a reported $5 million for the association and millions more in advertising revenue for NBC.

On Friday, a dozen publicity firms representing what they called a majority of Golden Globe-nominated actors, writers and directors, as well as many stars invited to appear as presenters, released a letter sent to NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker.

"After much discussion with our clients, we have concluded the vast majority of the talent we represent are not comfortable crossing a picket line," the letter said.

The stars would appear only if NBC and dick clark productions, which produces the show, reaches an interim agreement with the writers guild, the publicists told Zucker.

The Clark company lashed out at the guild in a statement Friday, citing repeated efforts to reach an interim agreement akin to the union deal with another independent company, Worldwide Pants, which produces David Letterman's show.

"We are disappointed that the WGA has refused to bargain with us in good faith. It is apparent that we are being treated differently from similarly situated production companies," the Clark company said.

An e-mail request for guild comment was not immediately answered.

Meanwhile, writers guild President Patric M. Verrone lauded the move by actors and said the "entire awards show season is being put in jeopardy by the intransigence of a few big media corporations."

In his statement, Verrone urged studios to resume talks that broke off Dec. 7.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in negotiations, did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

The Writers Guild of America had refused to grant a waiver to allow its members to work on the Globes, the People's Choice Awards and the prestigious Academy Awards.

A total of 72 actors are among this year's Golden Globe nominees. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has repeatedly tried to seek the blessing of the writers guild.

The actors union said previously that the choice to attend was a personal one that its members would make for themselves.

In his statement Friday, Rosenberg also weighed in on the late-night talk shows, which are back on the air. Some are working without writers, while others made deals with the writers guild.

Rosenberg stopped short of pressing actors to skip the picketed shows, like Jay Leno's "Tonight."

"We urge our members to appear on the two programs that have independent agreements with the WGA, 'The Late Show with David Letterman' and 'Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,'" he said.

Actors who appear on other shows have to cross picket lines, he said.

That creates "the same situation that has led to the consensus among actors to skip the Golden Globes," Rosenberg said.

]]> 2008-01-05T22:50:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/daly_nbc_gave_ultimatum_to_return_to_tv/ {summary} Labor
LOS ANGELES (AP) - For Carson Daly, the phrase "the show must go on" has taken on a whole new significance. "An ultimatum was put in front of me," Daly told the Los Angeles Times of his decision to return to host NBC's "Last Call With Carson Daly" during a continuing writers' strike. "It was, 'Put a new show on Dec. 3 or 75 people are fired. What's your answer?'"

Daly said he quickly decided he couldn't live with putting loyal staffers out of work, the newspaper reported Monday. When asked who at NBC delivered the ultimatum, Daly said it was his "immediate bosses" but wouldn't be more specific.

Messages left with an NBC spokeswoman seeking comment Monday were not immediately returned.

Daly told his studio audience a similar story on his first show back, saying he didn't want to do the show without his writers, but felt he had to save staff member jobs.

Since Daly's return, other network late-night hosts Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have all announced plans to return next month. But Daly received the most criticism, partly because he was first to return to the air during the strike, now in its eighth week.

After NBC announced Daly would be returning, the Writers Guild of America issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" and "appalled" by the decision. A group of protesters - presumably writers on strike - noisily disrupted a "Last Call" taping.

]]> 2007-12-25T08:59:01-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/labor_board_under_attack/ {summary} Labor Democratic Critics Allege Anti-Worker Stance


By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 14, 2007


Democrats escalated attacks on the National Labor Relations Board at a congressional hearing yesterday, accusing the panel's Republican majority of turning the nation's labor laws "inside out" by making it harder for workers to form unions.

In an unusual public airing of ideological differences, NLRB Chairman Robert J. Battista, a Republican appointed by President Bush, sparred with Democrats, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and fellow board member Wilma B. Liebman, over interpretation of the nation's New Deal-era labor laws.

Battista was challenged to defend a string of decisions that have favored management. The rulings cover technical procedures that unions use to organize, as well as remedies, such as back pay, that the board can order when companies illegally try to stop union campaigns.

"Our critics' prognostications that the NLRB system is broken and has become a tool of corporate interest are simply false," Battista said in prepared remarks. "Unions are winning a majority of representation elections." Under questioning, Battista said the board was focusing on what employees want, not on the demands of unions or companies.

Labor unions have become increasingly frustrated with the NLRB's rulings since Bush took office. They say the board, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats, has removed large categories of workers from coverage by the National Labor Relations Act, including nurses, teaching assistants at private colleges and temporary employment agency employees. They say the board has made it more difficult for workers to win back pay or other remedies when employers unlawfully try to block organizing drives.

The tension is threatening to paralyze the agency, which could have as many as three vacancies on its board by year-end. In a memo last month to their congressional allies, labor officials urged Democrats to "stanch the bleeding" at the agency by blocking board appointments. Last month, union activists marched in front of the agency's headquarters, some chanting, "Shut it down!"

The fight could be a precursor of larger battles over reform of U.S. labor laws. "Unions want to build momentum for labor law reform," Battista said outside the hearing room after his testimony. "This might be part and parcel of that."

The National Labor Relations Act, passed in 1935, gives the NLRB exclusive authority to bring labor cases, making the agency highly influential in setting the nation's labor policy. Its members are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate and hold five-year terms.

Some academic analysts say the board has become increasingly politicized in recent decades, starting with the anti-union appointments by President Ronald Reagan and continuing under President Bill Clinton, who appointed union lawyers to the board. But the latest decisions have a drawn a firestorm of criticism.

"The act is supposed to protect the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining," said James J. Brudney, a law professor at Ohio State University. "But if the agency charged with supervising and enforcing the act is perceived as part of the problem and not the solution, then that's a dangerous development for the future of the agency."

Democrats and labor leaders are angry at a set of 61 decisions released by the board in September. A major disappointment was a ruling involving Dana Corp., in which the board required the auto-parts maker to post information on how workers could begin the process of decertifying a newly organized union, even though the company didn't oppose the organizing drive.

Liebman contended that the Dana decision broke precedent that dated to 1960 and allowed a "minority to undo what a majority has expressed a desire to do." She accused Battista and the board majority of "narrowly casting existing precedent" or ignoring precedents "if they stand in the way of a desired result."

She and Battista also battled over basic interpretation of labor relations law. Battista said revisions to the laws in 1947 require the board to take a more neutral stance in organizing controversies. The view sharply contrasts with the view of Liebman, union lawyers and prevailing academic opinion.

However, John N. Raudabaugh, a former NLRB member and chairman of the U.S. labor-relations practice at the law firm Baker & McKenzie, said that "if you study the various labor boards, you will find there is an ebb and flow in the way that statutes apply to fact patterns, and from time to time precedent is reversed. What you'll also find in the last 15 years, the Clinton board reversed case precedent some 400 to 500 percent more than this Bush board has. Look at the history of the Clinton board and then the compare the Bush board and I think the unions would need to sit down and shut up."

Brudney said much of the blame for the breakdown of the agency lies with Congress for letting decades pass without revising the labor relations act.

"Part of what makes the agency's job challenging is that Congress hasn't given them any new direction since 1959 on these issues," Brudney said. "I can't think of another federal regulatory statute that affects millions and millions of people that hasn't been touched for this long."

]]> 2007-12-14T12:54:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/no_action_directors_delay_labor_talks/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Directors Guild of America said Thursday it will hold off on contract negotiations with studios for now but could start talks after New Year's Day.

The move could put added pressure for striking Hollywood writers to reach a new contract with studios.

In a statement Thursday, the directors union says it was deeply disappointed by the collapse of talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Directors say the impasse is having a dire effect in Hollywood.

The directors guild represents about 13,500 directors and associated production workers. Its contract with the alliance is set to expire June 30.

]]> 2007-12-13T18:42:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/hollywood_on_strike_impasse_in_5th_week/ {summary} Labor


LOS ANGELES (AP) - A few days ago, hopes were high that a deal to end a costly five-week strike by thousands of Hollywood writers was imminent. But optimism that writers and producers would soon sign a new pact all but crumbled Friday, as talks broke down and the sides blamed each other for the stalled negotiations that have sidelined many prime-time and late-night TV shows.

"We're puzzled and disheartened by an ongoing WGA (Writers Guild of America) negotiating strategy that seems designed to delay or derail talks rather than facilitate an end to this strike," the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in a statement.

In response, the guild said the chief alliance negotiator, Nick Counter, slammed the door on bargaining after presenting an ultimatum and before the union could respond to his latest proposal regarding crucial new-media compensation issues.

"As we prepared our counteroffer, at 6:05 p.m., Nick Counter came and said to us, in the mediator's presence, 'We are leaving. When you write us a letter saying you will take all these items off the table, we will reschedule negotiations with you,'" according to a union statement.

A detailed alliance announcement on the talks' collapse was released a short time later. Counter was unavailable Friday night for comment, the alliance said.

A letter the guild said it received from Counter said negotiations could resume only after the guild removed a half-dozen demands.

The guild said it remained "ready and willing to negotiate, no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are, because the stakes are simply too high."

"If someone called tomorrow and said let's start on Sunday and we want to hear your counterproposal, I'd say great," chief guild negotiator David Young told The Associated Press.

The writers guild represents 12,000 members but not all are on strike, with about 2,000 or so news writers and others covered under a separate contract.

Just two days ago, the sides had expressed their first hint of optimism. But on Friday, it appeared that the industry's first walkout in 20 years was far from being resolved.

The entertainment industry contributes an estimated $30 billion a year to the Los Angeles economy, or about $80 million a day.

The alliance reiterated its position Friday that its latest offer aimed at settling a central contract issue - compensation for the Internet and other digital media - makes it "possible to find common ground."

Last week, the studios had proposed a flat $250 payment for a year's use of an hourlong TV show on the Web. That contrasts with the $20,000-plus residual that writers now earn for a single network rerun of a TV episode.

Friday night, the guild said producers were holding to their $250 offer and demanding that writers give up on proposals including unionization of animation and reality and, "most crucially, any proposal that uses distributor's gross as a basis for residuals."

As word of the breakdown spread, some writers expressed frustration.

"It's disheartening that a month into this, I'm not getting the overwhelming sense that we're getting any closer to a settlement," said Robert Port, a writer for the CBS series "Numb3rs.""I hope we can continue to negotiate and wrap this thing up."

Earlier Friday, in a letter sent to its members and released publicly, the guild said that "highly placed executives" have told some writers that the companies are preparing to abruptly end the talks by accusing the guild of an unwillingness to bargain.

The letter said any such anti-union claims are "absolutely untrue" and challenged studios to negotiate "day and night, through the Christmas and New Year's holidays" to reach a settlement.

]]> 2007-12-08T11:29:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/tonight_show_nonwriting_staff_laid_off/ {summary} Labor

Nov 30, 2007
By LYNN ELBER


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nonwriting staff members of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" became the latest casualties of the four-week Hollywood writers strike when they were laid off Friday.

NBC confirmed the layoffs at the show without providing further details. The show went into reruns when the strike began on Nov. 5 and Leno honored the picket lines.

NBC had been covering the salaries of the nonwriting staffers. Conan O'Brien has promised to cover the salaries of about 75 nonstriking "Late Night" staffers next week.

The layoffs came as the Writers Guild of America mulled a new contract offer. Negotiations were recessed until Tuesday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it was willing to offer $130 million in extra pay over the life of the proposed three-year deal along with the $1.3 billion writers already receive each year.

The Writers Guild of America countered that the offer amounted to a "massive rollback."

]]> 2007-12-01T00:39:01-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/hollywood_studios_send_writers_new_offer/ {summary} Labor

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Film and TV writers who've been on strike for nearly a month are mulling a new contract offer from Hollywood studios. Producers said the offer they presented Thursday, dubbed the "New Economic Partnership," would pay writers millions of dollars extra for work shown on the Internet, a central issue in negotiations.

The writers asked for a recess in the talks until Tuesday to consider their options, but called on members to continue picketing Friday and Monday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it was willing to offer $130 million in extra pay over the life of the proposed three-year deal. The offer is "above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year," the alliance said in a statement.

The Writers Guild of America countered with a lengthy response, saying the producers' proposal only dealt with advertising-supported programs streamed for free and jurisdiction over shows created for the Web "and it amounts to a massive rollback."

The writers said their plan, also presented Thursday, would cost producers $151 million over three years.

"That's a little over a 3 percent increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10 percent," the statement said. "We are falling behind."

No further details of the terms were released in the first statements since both sides imposed a media blackout Monday.

The conflicting details and tone of the statements is confusing, said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer who served in the 1990s as an associate counsel for the writers guild.

"None of this computes," he said. "It's very difficult to analyze this in any rigorous way."

The tone of the writers' statement seems angry, Handel said, while the producers' statement seemed more upbeat.

He said both sides should end the confusion by publishing the full details of the proposals.

Meanwhile, about 30 protesting writers converged on NBC's studios in suburban Burbank on Thursday night to rally against restarted production of the late-night show "Last Call With Carson Daly."

Several people said Daly circled the lot before entering a gate with no pickets.

"Last Call" was the first late-night show to resume production since the strike began on Nov. 5. The walkout has also idled production on many scripted television series.

Daly has defended the move, saying he still supports the writers but did not want to see all 75 members of his staff and crew lose their jobs because of the work stoppage.

Conan O'Brien has promised to cover the salaries of about 75 nonstriking "Late Night" staffers next week, an NBC spokeswoman said Thursday.

"He's paying the staffers' salaries out of his own pocket," Rebecca Marks said.

Through this week, NBC had been covering the salaries of its nonwriting staffers, along with those of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Last Call," which are also in reruns.

But the network thus far has not said whether it intends to continue paying employees of any show on hiatus. All three programs are owned by Universal Media Studios, which, like NBC, is owned by General Electric.

About two weeks ago, staffers of CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" were promised continued payment at least through December by Letterman, whose production company, Worldwide Pants, owns both shows. They continue in reruns.

Staffers for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" continue to be paid by ABC, according to a network spokesperson.

As news of the producers' new offer went around, the protesters gave their initial impressions.

"It's sad that the producers aren't coming forward with a real offer," said David Grae, a writer for "Gilmore Girls."

David Kidd, a screenwriter from Glendale, said he was hopeful, but not overly optimistic, about what he described as an apparent "sweet offer" from producers.

"I don't know what sweet is until I taste it," Kidd said. "Nobody wants to go in and accept a bad offer."

]]> 2007-11-30T12:50:05-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/as_strike_ends_theatergoers_line_up_for_bway_tickets/ {summary} Labor

NEW YORK (AP) - Theatergoers lined up for tickets Thursday as Broadway returned to business following a crippling 19-day strike that cost producers and the city millions of dollars.

Tickets sold at a discounted $26.50 as people lined up for the musical "Chicago."

"I never thought I'd have the opportunity to see a Broadway show! And the price is right," said Susie Biamonte as she waited for tickets. The play was re-opening with a new cast - Aida Turturro and Vincent Pastore of "Sopranos" fame.

The stagehands and theater producers reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday, ending a strike that kept more than two dozen shows dark for nearly three weeks. The strike took an economic bite out of New York, with businesses like restaurants, stores, hotels - even hot dog vendors - losing an estimated $2 million a day.

But Biamonte and her friends from Canada said they'd help fix the damage during their weekend in the city.

"We're going to make sure they'll be successful again, because we'll leave money behind," Rosemary Girardo said as the "Chicago" line moved ahead.

The settlement came Wednesday night, the third day of marathon sessions between Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers to end the lengthy work stoppage that has cost producers and the city millions of dollars.

Most plays and musicals that were shut during the walkout, which began Nov. 10, were expected to be up and running Thursday evening.

"The contract is a good compromise that serves our industry," said Charlotte St. Martin, the league's executive director. "What is most important is that Broadway's lights will once again shine brightly, with a diversity of productions that will delight all theatergoers during this holiday time."

Union President James J. Claffey Jr. was equally effusive in signing off on the agreement, saying, "The people of Broadway are looking forward to returning to work, giving the theatergoing public the joy of Broadway, the greatest entertainment in the world."

Details of the five-year contract, which must be approved by the union membership, were not disclosed.

But negotiations, which began last summer, were difficult, right up to the last day, as both sides struggled with what apparently was the final hang-up: the issue of wages. It concerned how much to pay stagehands in return for a reduction in what the producers say were onerous work rules that required them to hire more stagehands than are needed.

Until then, the talks had focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means moving scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; installing the set and making sure it works; and keeping everything functioning well for the life of the production.

The strike couldn't have happened at a worse time for Broadway. Such popular shows as "Wicked,""Jersey Boys,""Mamma Mia!" and "The Lion King" were shut during the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday week. It's normally one of the best times of the year for Broadway, when the city is filled with tourists and Christmas shoppers.

Financial losses were staggering. But it wasn't just producers and stagehands who were hurt. Actors, musicians and even press agents lost paychecks, too. And theater-related businesses also suffered.

City Comptroller William Thompson estimated the economic impact of the strike at $2 million a day, based on survey data that include theatergoers' total spending on tickets, dining and shopping. The league put the damage even higher.

Eight shows remained open during the strike (their theaters had separate contracts with Local 1), and they were joined by a ninth when "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" got a court order to let it reopen.

The end of the walkout means a scramble for new opening nights for several shows that were in previews when the strike hit. They include Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention,""August: Osage County" from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company and an adaptation of a long-lost Mark Twain comedy, "Is He Dead?"

Disney's "The Little Mermaid" already has announced it would push back its scheduled Dec. 6 opening - with a new date still to be set.

"We are so excited," Tituss Burgess, who portrays Sebastian the crab in the lavish musical, told New York 1 TV. The actor said he hadn't anticipated the strike would last as long as it did.

"We hope everyone's satisfied ... the atmosphere around our stage door was: We tried to remain positive," Burgess added. "We're just happy to be going back to work."

Alecia Parker, executive producer of "Chicago," said that she wasn't worried theatergoers might not come back to Broadway.

"I think people have been very disappointed to have Broadway dark," Parker told the television station. "I think we'll see an outpouring of support from the community."

Parker said rehearsals were planned Thursday to get the cast back up to speed, but she anticipated few problems. "You can imagine the adrenaline for coming back after 19 days," she said.

Broadway's last strike occurred in 2003 when musicians staged a four-day walkout. The musicians also struck in 1975, shutting musicals but not plays for 25 days.

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Associated Press Drama Writer Michael Kuchwara and AP Writers Dino Hazell and Jennifer Peltz and contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Union: http://www.iatselocalone.org

League of American Theatres: http://www.broadway.org

]]> 2007-11-29T17:47:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/producers_stagehands_to_resume_talks/ {summary} Labor

NEW YORK (AP) - Striking stagehands and theater producers agreed to return to the bargaining table almost a week after negotiations collapsed and kept most of Broadway dark during the lucrative Thanksgiving week - the second full week of no performances.

The plans to resume talks on Sunday were announced by Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers on Saturday, and were confirmed by the stagehands union.

"We are glad they accepted our invitation to negotiate," said Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

More than two dozen plays and musicals have been closed since Nov. 10, when the stagehands walked off the job.

A settlement was believed to have been in the works last Sunday after a marathon weekend of negotiating, but the talks ended abruptly with producers walking out. No negotiations were held during Thanksgiving week, traditionally one of the best weeks for Broadway business.

The complicated contract dispute has focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means moving scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; installing the set and making sure it works; and keeping everything functioning well for the life of the production.

The producers want a flexible number; the union wants a set number and ample compensation for any concessions made.

The negotiations have been protracted. They began last summer, with each side preparing for the worst.

The producers set up a $20 million strike emergency fund, taking a couple of cents out of each ticket sold over the past several years to pay for it. The money was to help struck shows struggling with the costs of a shutdown.

The union, too, has its own fund - benefits of more than $4.1 million for its members, as well as another $1 million allotted for members of other unions affected by the walkout.

Meanwhile, one shut musical - "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - came back to life Friday after its reopening was ordered by state Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman.

The judge said she believed the show's production company would be irreparably harmed if the $6 million holiday musical wasn't permitted to resume its limited run, which ends Jan. 6.

Eight other shows, whose theaters have separate contracts with the league, remain unaffected by the walkout: "Pygmalion,""The Ritz,""Cymbeline,""Young Frankenstein,""Mary Poppins,""Xanadu,""The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Mauritius," which closes Sunday as scheduled. All off-Broadway productions are open, too.

]]> 2007-11-25T11:47:01-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/doom_and_gloom_plays_out_on_broadway/ {summary} Labor

NEW YORK (AP) - It's a worst-case scenario that became a reality. As the Broadway stagehands strike enters its third week Saturday, there doesn't seem to be any way out of the thorny, seemingly intractable dispute that has shut down more than two dozen plays and musicals since Nov. 10.

Losses because of canceled performances are in the millions and climbing each day - a disaster not only for producers and theater owners, but for everyone employed in the theater and for those whose businesses depend on curtains going up.

Both sides are hanging tough and have not talked for almost a week. The standoff has meant dark theaters during the Thanksgiving holiday, usually one of the year's best weeks for business.

Not this year. There was a weird disconnect in the Times Square area during the holiday. On Thanksgiving Eve, side streets were filled with lively, noisy crowds. They were in stark contrast to the silent pickets walking slowly in front of padlocked theaters that looked forlorn even with lighted marquees.

Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees says it's willing to meet again with the League of American Theatres and Producers. But the league says it won't go back to the bargaining table unless the union is ready to make a deal.

And none is in sight.

A settlement was believed in the works last Sunday after a marathon weekend of negotiating. But the talks ended abruptly when the producers informed union president James J. Claffey Jr. that what the local had offered was not enough.

The complicated contract dispute has focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means moving scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; installing the set and making sure it works; and keeping everything functioning well for the life of the production.

The producers want a flexible number; the union more specificity, including ample compensation for any concessions made.

Claffey, a second-generation stagehand, is a quiet, unfailingly polite man, but with a fierce commitment to his union, which has never in its more than 100-year history struck Broadway. At a somber union news conference on the Sunday after the strike first started, he spoke of the need for respect.

"We want respect at the table," he said. "If there's no respect, they will not see Local 1 at the table. The lack of respect is something we are not going to deal with."

On the league side of the table sits Bernard Plum of Proskauer Rose, a high-powered law firm with long experience in labor battles. Plum is a tough negotiator, too, something younger, more militant members of the league want in their confrontation with the union.

The talks, from all reports, have been businesslike, with only an occasional flaring of tempers. Yet both sides seem more adept at preparing for a strike than in negotiating their way out of one.

The producers set up a $20 million strike emergency fund, taking a couple cents out of each ticket sold over the last several years to pay for it. The money would help struck shows struggling with the costs of a shutdown.

The union, too, has its own fund - benefits of more than $4.1 million for its members as well as another $1 million allotted for members of other unions affected by the walkout.

And if an agreement isn't reached before Christmas, both parties may end up using every penny.

]]> 2007-11-24T12:08:00-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/dems_wont_cross_cbs_picket_line/ {summary} Labor

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Three of the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination said Wednesday that they would not participate in a Democratic National Committee sanctioned debate next month if workers for CBS go on strike.

CBS is the broadcast partner for this final DNC debate, and the network’s news writers are threatening to walk out unless an agreement on a contract can be reached. Sen. Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and former Sen. John Edwards said they will not cross the picket line.

“The workers at CBS News have been without a contract for close to two and a half years,” Clinton said in a statement. “It is my hope that both sides will reach an agreement that results in a secure contract for the workers at CBS News but let me be clear: ‘I will honor the picket line if the workers at CBS News decide to strike.’”

Edwards expressed a similar sentiment on the eve of Thanksgiving saying he will “honor any picket lines at CBS News, up to and including the CBS presidential debate.”

He also announced that he and his wife, Elizabeth, will cancel a scheduled appearance the ABC daytime talk show, “The View” as a direct result of the current strike by the Writer’s Guild of Amerca.

The debate is scheduled to be held December 10 in Los Angeles, California. CBS news writers authorized their union leaders Thursday to commence a national strike if a contract could not be negotiated.

]]> 2007-11-23T16:00:01-06:00 http://www.therochesterdemocrat.com/index.php/weblog/stagehands_and_producers_resume_talks/ {summary} Labor

NEW YORK (AP) - Broadway's stagehands and theater producers resumed talks at an undisclosed location in their first meeting since a walkout by Local 1 shut down more than two dozen plays and musicals.

The two sides met Saturday for the first time since Nov. 8, when Thomas C. Short, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, gave the local authority to strike. The walkout two days later forced 27 productions to cancel shows during the run-up to one of the most lucrative times of the year for Broadway, Thanksgiving week.

Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers would not comment on the resumption of talks.

Pressure to settle the contract dispute is increasing as the holiday approaches and losses mount for the shows, which include some of Broadway's biggest hits such as "Wicked,""Jersey Boys,""The Phantom of the Opera,""The Lion King" and "Mamma Mia!"

Ticket sales for Thanksgiving week could easily top $1 million for several of those shows. One limited-run, holiday attraction, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" has 15 performances scheduled for next week to take advantage of the crowds expected in the city for the start of the Christmas shopping season.

The stagehands, who include scenery and prop handlers, carpenters, electricians, and lighting and sound technicians, have been working without a contract since the end of July. Negotiations have focused on work rules - how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running.

]]> 2007-11-18T13:58:01-06:00