Strike against Comcast's NBC10 gets nastier

The strike by 65 NBC10 camera operators and broadcast technicians is heating up.

NBC10 general manager Ric Harris told employees in an email on Wednesday that Philadelphia's No. 2 local news station is looking to hire replacement workers and that the positions of strikers had been posted on job sites.

Harris also emailed that the company's final offer included a "no-layoff guarantee" for the contract that extends to 2018.

On Thursday, union spokesman Frank Keel - accompanied by strikers who are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 - held a news conference in City Hall on the same day that Comcast officials were to meet with city officials over the company's cable-TV franchise renewal.

The union has targeted Comcast, which owns NBC10 through its NBCUniversal subsidiary, as a strike tactic. The union has picketed the Comcast Center and posted an inflatable rat outside its doors.

The NBC10 broadcast technicians also walked out two days before the pope's visit, forcing NBC10 to find freelancers and others as replacements for its live coverage of the papal festivities.

Keel contended that NBC10 violated safety protocols during Pope Francis' visit in late September so that an uncredentialed cameraman from Texas could participate in the pope coverage for NBC10.

Keel said an NBC10 news executive gave his picture-ID pope credential to the out-of-town NBC cameraman. Security flagged the Texas NBC employee, who then obtained an official credential on the spot, Keel said.

An NBCUniversal spokeswoman did not comment on the claim.

James Foy, the union's assistant business manager, said on Thursday that the union has been flexible in its negotiations and that it would like a deal. The last contract between NBC10 and the IBEW expired more than a year ago.

One issue holding up a deal is related to automating the NBC10 control room, where two people now work, Foy said. After the automation, one will work there.

The second issue is an "amnesty" provision for strikers.

Without the provision, NBC10 could take action against union members for behavior during the strike, Foy said. "Our members are always concerned about getting back in that building," he said.

The contract offer does not contain an amnesty provision, according to a copy of the offer reviewed by The Inquirer.

The contract offer includes a $1,500 ratification bonus and wage increases of 2.75 percent initially and 3 percent in each of the next two years. The offer also includes a buyout for IBEW members to voluntarily leave NBC10 with a severance of two weeks' pay for each year of service. The maximum payout is 52 weeks.

Source: Philly.com