Contributor: Dennis Csillag

Dennis Csillag

The nearly 7-year battle for a new contract for workers at KGTV ABC10 in San Diego has finally come to an end.  NABET-CWA Local 54 members ratified a new pact on December 29th that protects job security, provides wage increases and includes a signing bonus.

in San Diego refuses to negotiate a fair contract with employees for the fifth year. They have actively engaged in union-busting campaigns and employee intimation.

The San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council and the California Labor Federation have held an advertising and consumer boycott of KGTV Channel 10 News for several years. Despite their drop in ratings and millions in lost ad revenue, KGTV has launched further attacks against the workers, represented by NABET-CWA Local 54. While the boycott has been extremely successful, it is time to advance the campaign and take it to the next level.

since it went on the air in 1953. While there were a few minor scuffles along the way, there was never a major dispute and the union and company enjoyed a unique partnership that maintained KGTV as a market leader.

That all changed in the Fall of 2005. KGTV cancelled the scheduled “informal” negotiations with Local 54 and hired a law firm that brags on its website about providing union-free environments. And that’s exactly what KGTV was up to. They intended to frustrate employees to the point that they gave up and decertified their union. But the employees said, “I don’t think so.”