CBS News Employees Vote for Strike Authorization

The WGA announced on Nov. 19 that CBS News employees represented by the guild have backed its strike authorization with 81% support.

The WGA-CBS agreement covers about 500 newswriters, editors, desk assistants, production assistants, graphic artists, promotion writers, and researchers in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. Those employees have been working without a new contract for 2½ years, with no negotiations having taken place for almost a year.

The vote give the WGA the authorization to call a strike at any time.

"Our members at CBS News consistently have demonstrated their hard work and commitment to quality journalism, but have had their dedication and diligence rebuffed by management's refusal to negotiate a fair, respectful contract," said Michael Winship, president of the WGA East. "By this powerful vote and other actions they have taken, Writers Guild members are sending their CBS bosses an irrefutable message of solidarity: we will do whatever it takes to get what we have earned and deserve."

The WGA said key elements in the rejected CBS offer included a two-tier wage package -- TV and network radio members in one tier and local radio members in another -- with no retroactive pay; the right to assign current WGA responsibilities to non-WGA employees; and the ability to merge or combine guild shops with non-guild units at WCBS-AM 880 and 1010 WINS in New York, and KNX and KFWB in Los Angeles.

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