Labor Updates (8/22/07)

'CAN WE BUST A UNION': ABC'S NEW REALITY SHOW? More than 150 ABC employees, members of NABET-CWA and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), rallied outside ABC headquarters in New York City last week to call attention to their need for new contracts and protest the recent loss of 17 union jobs in Washington, DC. In contract talks with the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA (NABET-CWA), management is demanding severe givebacks, including freezing pensions, which would cause workers to lose 25 percent of what they are due. At the same time, ABC has refused for two years to bargain a contract with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). Last week, NABET members called for ABC to give them a fair contract when they return to the table this week. Click here to read the whole story by James Parks on the AFL-CIO NOW blog.