NABET-CWA/ABC-DISNEY NEGOTIATIONS 2022 - BULLETIN #16

NABET-CWA/ABC-DISNEY

WASHINGTON, DC

BULLETIN #16 - MAY 16, 2022

A tentative agreement has been reached with ABC-Disney on a new contract to replace the Master Agreement which was set to expire on March 31, 2021. The full terms of the current Master Agreement have been extended by mutual agreement of the parties through June 30, 2022.

Complete details of the new contract offer will be made available in the coming days. This overall tentative agreement is the result of more than seven months of bargaining, which began in September 2021.

When ratified, the new contract will cover more than 3,000 daily hire and staff employees working as studio and field broadcast technicians, newswriters, producers, desk assistants, publicists, and other personnel at ABC Network news, sports and entertainment divisions; as well as Owned Television Station operations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The parties negotiated across-the-board wage increases - totaling 9.75% over the next three years – as follows:

• 3.25%  - upon ratification and retroactive to April 1, 2022
• 3.25% - second year (effective April 1, 2023)
• 3.25% - third year (effective April 1, 2024)

For the first time, daily hire employees assigned to a “travel-only” day will receive hourly pay (with a minimum of eight hours of pay), replacing the current travel-only flat rate stipend. Other improvements for daily hires include a uniform paid sick leave provision, as well as increases and enhancements in the daily payment in lieu of benefits (PILOB).

Improvements for full-time staff employees include: a significant increase in the accrual rate (the retroactive “pop-up”) for current participants in the ABC-NABET pension plan. Additionally, staff employees and daily hire employees who have 401(k) retirement accounts will benefit from an increase in the Company contribution from the current 4% to 5%.

The tentative agreement also provides for new offers of staff employment for no fewer than 35 full-time positions, with some staff hires in each office of the Company.

NABET-CWA Locals 16 (New York), 31 (Washington, DC), 41 (Chicago), and 51 (San Francisco and Los Angeles) will be conducting membership meetings and providing further information on this contract offer in the coming weeks. Ratification ballots are being prepared and will be mailed in the near future.

Full copies of the tentative agreement will be posted on Local and Sector websites in the coming days.

In Solidarity,

The ABC NABET-CWA Network Negotiating Committee