The Writers Guild of America and CBS News are apparently at labor odds again.
Nearly two and a half years after the union and the network narrowly avoided a strike, WGA East executive director Lowell Peterson (pictured) sent a letter to the guild’s membership Friday, stating that “negotiators for CBS have decided to come at us with guns drawn” regarding a new contract.
“Although we had agreed informally before bargaining started that the parties would exchange limited proposals directed at the most salient issues,” Peterson wrote, “the company presented 25 proposals.
"Many of the company’s demands would eliminate the guild as an effective representative and would threaten the job security of most, if not all, guild members. The rest of the company’s proposals would slash members’ compensation.”
“We have made it clear at the bargaining table that we are prepared to address the company’s concrete concerns with specific accommodations, but that we simply will not agree to our own destruction,” Peterson added.
In January 2008, the WGA East and CBS agreed to a new three-year contract, ending what had been three years of stalemate and a threatened walkout.
CBS officials have not yet been reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Peterson also used his missive to take aim at PBS, noting that negotiations with the public broadcaster have also been “very difficult” so far.
At issue: The WGA wants to make sure PBS stations use guild members to create programming that shows up on emerging internet platforms before television.
“After many months of arduous negotiation, we were confident the (PBS) stations had agreed to our position,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, at the last bargaining session, it became clear that the stations were still fighting us on this issue.”
In his letter, Peterson put the troubled talks with CBS and PBS in direct contrast to those with ABC News, with which the WGA has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract covering news-writers, graphic artists, desk assistants, production assistants and researchers working in New York and Washington, D.C.
“We were pleased to win wage increases in the current climate — general increases of 2 percent in each of three years, plus some additional increases for specific groups of employees,” Peterson noted.
Finally, Peterson addressed the movement of WGA East headquarters from its longtime digs in midtown Manhattan’s far-west side to a new downtown location.
“Our lease expires at the end of June 2010, and, after a lengthy and exhaustive search, we selected a new space at 250 Hudson St., near Soho and Tribeca,” he wrote. “The severe downturn in the commercial real estate market gave us a unique opportunity to afford a space that members will want to come to, that will enable us to hold events, and that will permit an open and appealing work environment.”
