CWA Creates New Voice for Workers in Public Broadcasting

For Immediate Release

June 9, 2000

Communications Workers of America local unions representing journalists, broadcast technicians and other media and communications employees have joined together to form a new voice for workers' and public interest concerns in public broadcasting.

The group, representing some 4,000 workers at public broadcasting stations in the U.S. and Canada, has joined with Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting and other organizations in a campaign to defend public broadcasting against attacks on funding and operations - in the United States, Canada and around the world - and to secure a voice for workers throughout the public broadcasting networks.

CWA, The Newspaper Guild-CWA, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA, and the Canadian Media Guild-CWA are determined to fight the assault on public broadcasting - from political interests and corporations - that has been on the rise in both the U.S. and Canada.

CWA President Morton Bahr stressed that "public broadcasting stations are being deliberately underfunded and are losing their independence from commercialization that was so important when the public broadcasting system was initiated over three decades ago. The multi-national media conglomerates are dominating the airwaves and the independent not-for-profit voice of public broadcasting is being silenced," he said.

In a letter to Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, Bahr outlined the union's opposition to H.R. 4201, which would strip all educational requirements from broadcast licenses now reserved for providing educational programming for communities.

The bill would repeal "the public's right to participate in license approval proceedings and jeopardizes the right of the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that a broadcast license is used to serve the public interest," Bahr wrote. "Over time, the legislation would end public broadcasting as we know it," he warned.

CWA represents more than 4,000 workers at public broadcasting stations throughout Canada and the United States, and also is affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists, which represents workers at public broadcasting stations in 30 different countries.

Linda Foley, president of TNG-CWA which represents some 35,000 journalists in the U.S. and Canada, said the union group also will work with Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting for the creation of "an independent public broadcasting trust to be funded by a tax on the give-aways of the air-waves to the media conglomerates."

In Canada, "our members who work at the Canadian Broadcasting Company are also under attack, said Arnold Amber, vice president of the Canadian Media Guild. "The Canadian Parliament is refusing to fund the CBC at the levels needed to ensure quality programming for our Canadian citizens."

Amber also noted that the International Federation of Journalists will take up the issue and problems that public broadcasting faces throughout the world at a special meeting that begins June 12 in London.

John Clark, president of NABET-CWA which represents workers at more than 15 public broadcasting stations in the United States, pointed out that many broadcast employees remain in public broadcasting, despite lower salaries than at commercial stations, "because they believe in the product. But unfortunately it is becoming increasingly difficult to earn a decent living at a growing number of public broadcasting stations."

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