NABET, the union that represents the released WSEE employees, has been under fire here on The Press and Tower, with comments asking why the union wasn’t able to cushion the impact of this massive job loss. Their representative Eric Seggi responded to our request for comment.

Here’s our e-mail exchange:

P&T: What has been NABET’s role since the beginning when Lilly Broadcasting started talking about the merger of WSEE with WICU?

ES: The Union has been discussing the merger situation since the end of last summer/early fall (2008). As part of contract negotiations with WICU for the NABET unit at the station, the Company brought up the merger proposal. Because WICU has two collective bargaining agreements, one with NABET and another with AFTRA, we believed the best way to approach the discussion was to have all of the parties together (WICU units AFTRA & NABET, and the WSEE NABET unit). The three parties put together a comprehensive proposal which would allow the company to assign members of each unit to perform work under the other agreements. This process took several months, with several revisions. We presented the proposal to the Company and they decided to go in another direction (They did not give the Union a reason for their change in position). We finished the WICU negotiations in early December without an agreement on the merger.

P&T: In my discussions with NABET members at WSEE over the past few months, very few knew what was in store for them. What kinds of communication have you been able to facilitate to your members as they’ve navigated this process?

ES: We have held several meetings with the membership, and the stewards at WSEE (I just met with the Stewards from WSEE and WICU two weeks ago) . Unfortunately, we can only speculate on what path the Company will take. We have tried to advise the membership on what the possibilities are, and how NABET will respond in each instance. There have been many rumors as to when the merger would occur, some had the weather and sports departments moving to WICU in February.

P&T: Is there anything in the current union contract that the way these layoffs are being executed are in violation of the contract and if so, what if any action is being taken?

ES: So far the Company has followed the contractual procedure regarding layoffs, there have been no contract violations. If, for example, the Company began to assign work covered under the WSEE/NABET collective bargaining agreement to employees outside of the bargaining unit, the Union believes that would be a violation. If that were to occur, the Union would file a grievance under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which could end up in arbitration if the matter is not resolved between the parties.

P&T: There’s seems to be many misconceptions of how much power a union has during job losses. Can you explain what protections NABET can and can’t give members during a massive layoff?

ES: Most of the power of any Union regarding massive layoff would be subject to the collective bargaining agreement. Some agreements have minimum staffing levels, this type of language is difficult to negotiate in to contracts because Company’s are concerned about economic downturns etc. The WSEE agreement does not have a minimum staffing level, it does contain jurisdictional language that requires the Company to use only bargaining unit members to perform the work, unless otherwise allowed under specific conditions. The Union believes the merger is not one of those conditions. Moreover, Unions have the ability to negotiate severance, medical/health care extensions, request information regarding plant closure/mergers and bring political leverage to a situation in order to protect as many jobs as possible. The television industry is no different than manufacturing when it comes to mergers/downsizing.

P&T: What kind of encouragement would you like to say in public to your NABET brothers and sisters?

ES: I want our members to know that they will be informed on any proposals/changes etc., as soon as it becomes available. I know how tough it is not knowing what your future employment will be in the next couple of weeks. We have scheduled a meeting with the Company and we will try to provide answers to all of their questions. The Company has abided by the collective bargaining to date, we cannot respond until there is a violation of the agreement.