Union pickets WTMJ studios during Conan O’Brien visit

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/03/02/daily76.html

Friday, March 6, 2009

The Business Journal of Milwaukee - by Rich Rovito

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 715 conducted informational picketing outside WTMJ-TV studios in Milwaukee Friday morning as talk show host Conan O’Brien visited the NBC affiliate on his nationwide promotional tour.

O’Brien recently left “Late Night,” a talk show he had hosted on NBC since 1993. He will take over as host of the “Tonight Show,” which also airs on NBC, from Jay Leno in June.

Local 715 is attempting to negotiate a new contract covering about 40 broadcast engineers currently employed at Milwaukee-based Journal Broadcast Group’s local radio and television stations, including WTMJ-TV, WTMJ-DT, WTMJ-AM and WLWK-FM. Broadcast engineers operate and maintain the electronic equipment at the stations.

In May 2008, Journal Broadcast Group suspended bargaining and announced it planned to merge broadcast engineers represented by IBEW Local 715 with employees represented by another union. IBEW accused Journal Broadcast Group of forcing the merger as a means of dividing its work force and eliminating seniority.

IBEW filed several charges with the National Labor Relations Board’s Milwaukee office accusing Journal Broadcast Group of “bad faith” bargaining and various violations of the National Labor Relations Act.

FULL story at link.