As Larry Mendte Returned from Libya Empty-Handed, Some Question Wisdom of Trip

By Andrew Gauthier TVSPY

WPIX reporter Larry Mendte returned from Libya last week after a hectic trip to the country’s capital with U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon, and now some are questioning the wisdom of the mission as Weldon’s planned meeting with Muammar Qaddafi never materialized. “This is a station that fires people left and right, and they’ll pay for a Libya trip,” a WPIX insider complained to the New York Post recently.

This morning the New York Post published a takedown of WPIX, which is currently trailing far behind its rival WNYW in the ratings, and wondered if Mendte’s trip to Libya was less about bolstering the station’s hard news identity and more about repairing the image of the troubled reporter, who is in the midst of a messy legal battle with his former KYW co-anchor Alycia Lane:

Skeptics inside the station told The Post they believed Mendte wanted to go on the assignment so he could rebuild his reputation weeks before he faces charges for damaging Lane’s reputation.

Weldon and Mendte this week returned from Libya essentially empty-handed.

After a splash of publicity early last week, Qaddafi ultimately refused to meet with Weldon. And the congressman, who has a long-term relationship with the Qaddafi family, was left trying to fabricate moral victories from his trip. As WPIX reported last week:

While the initial goal of the trip proved elusive, Weldon’s visit was a timely one as he says he was able to work on pressing humanitarian missions — securing the release of four journalists who were seized Tuesday by Qaddafi loyalists, and escorting rape victim Eman al-Obeidi out of Tripoi to her family in Benghazi.

According to Weldon, he organized a face-to-face meeting between Eman and Muammar Qaddafi’s son, Saadi Quaddafi, to garner support for her release. He also claims to have reached out to Angelina Jolie’s publicist through U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (CA) to coordinate an escort to Benghazi through Tuis and Cairo.

Even after meetings with high Libyan officials including Quaddafi’s son and the prime minister, al-Obeity and the four journalists are still detained, however.

In the meantime, Mendte was left reporting, not on a historic summit with the famously elusive Libyan leader but on “The Beauty of Libya,” a segment that certainly won’t provide the type of ratings momentum that WPIX so badly needs.

Tribune Troubles: Lenders Fiddle As WPIX-TV Stumbles

By JOSH KOSMAN and CLAIRE ATKINSON

 

Competing Tribune lenders are still fiddling over the bankrupt company -- while its local TV station WPIX burns. If they do not reach an agreement, the bankruptcy judge may take another six months to choose a winning plan, another source said.

The confirmation hearing for bankrupt media conglomerate Tribune is expected to resume today, after months of haggling among creditors, if court-ordered talks yesterday between two competing groups of lenders do not result in a settlement, a source close to the situation said.

A confirmation plan for Tribune and a new plan of attack for WPIX appear badly needed.

Ratings for WPIX among the highly coveted 25-54 age group, which were trailing WNYW-Fox 5 by just 1.16 to 1.10 in October, saw the gap widen to 1.35 to 0.92 in December and then 1.96 to 0.84 last month, according to Nielsen. In addition, Chris Burrous, who joined the station last June as part of an overhaul directed by News Director Bill Carey, and anchored the "PIX Morning News," was transferred last month to Tribune's Los Angeles affiliate KTLA after ratings failed to grow under his stewardship.

A WPIX spokeswoman pointed out that WNYW's lead-in, "American Idol," draws much higher ratings than WPIX's CW reruns.

That may be true, but the ratings disparity started in December, a month before the "American Idol" season debut on Jan. 19.

WNYW, like The Post, is owned by News Corp.

Carey also ran into turbulence last year when he hired long-time friend Larry Mendte as a commentator although he had been let go by KYW-TV in Philadelphia after allegedly hacking into co-anchor Alycia Lane's e-mail. Soon after salacious details of a bitter lawsuit between the two recently surfaced, Carey sent Mendte to Libya for an exclusive interview with Muammar Khadafy.

He accompanied former Pennsylvania Rep. Curt Weldon, who has a long history with Khadafy, and went to broker a truce.

Skeptics inside the station told The Post they believed Mendte wanted to go on the assignment so he could rebuild his reputation weeks before he faces charges for damaging Lane's reputation.

Weldon and Mendte this week returned from Libya essentially empty-handed.

"This is a station that fires people left and right, and they'll pay for a Libya trip," a WPIX insider said.

As for the Tribune reorganization, hedge fund Aurelius and Deutsche Bank, which have competing plans, are trying to get JPMorgan and others who financed Sam Zell's disastrous 2007 Tribune buyout to pay them more for settling charges of profiting from financing a deal that they say rendered Tribune bankrupt from the start.

ABC'S WTVG Ch. 13's New Owners Cut 20-Plus Jobs

Toledo Blade: Only a week after SJL Broadcasting purchased WTVG-TV, Channel 13, and station officials announced there would be no job losses among the station's 100 or so employees, approximately two dozen positions have been eliminated.

The job cuts were to Channel 13's production, support, Web, and sales staff -- none involved on-air talent -- and included several buyouts, sources at WTVG said.

SJL Broadcasting of San Luis Obispo, Calif., purchased WTVG, Toledo's ABC affiliate, from ABC-owned Television Stations Group, part of the Walt Disney Co., for $16.8 million. The transaction also included a second station, WJRT-TV, Channel 12, in Flint, Mich., for $13.2 million. The Federal Communications Commission approved the sale in February.

SJL Broadcasting has also cut approximately the same number of positions at WJRT, including two of the station's longtime anchors, Bill Harris and Joel Feick.

Toledo and Flint represent two of the smallest markets out of ABC's 10 corporate-owned stations, which include Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Houston.

SJL President and Chief Executive Officer George Lilly owned the Toledo and Flint stations 16 years ago before selling them to ABC.

In the most recent Neilsen ratings book for the industry's February sweeps, Channel 13 won five of the six head-to-head newscasts over its longtime rival Channel 11.

Tribune’s WPIX Skips Over Breaking News in Assembly Line Newscast

By Andrew Gauthier - TVSPY, 
Jerry Barmash and Jerry Barmash - FishbowlNY

New York’s WPIX was constrained by its newscast’s slick format on Monday night when breaking news hit.

 

Just after 8 p.m. on Monday, two planes collided while taxiing at JFK airport. And while WPIX’s rival WNYW began its 10 p.m. newscast with prolonged coverage of the accident, the Tribune-owned CW-affiliate launched into its regular “11 in 11″ segment, giving just a few seconds to the breaking news before darting to another story in the fast-paced rundown of news that begins every WPIX nighttime newscast.

 

WNYW (FOX5) Anchors Ernie Anastos and Dari Alexander opened the newscast with the story, supplementing information available (no one was injured) with live video and reporting from the chopper. Fox 5 remained on that lead story for four minutes.

 

As FishbowlNY points out, anchor Jodi Applegate  mentioned the JFK accident as the #1 story of “11 in 11″ as the station showed still photos from a website. Applegate said Marvin Scott was on the scene, but they would get to him “in just a little while.” Instead, PIX moved along to “number two.”

 

Meanwhile, WNYW, which has lately been expanding its 10 p.m. ratings lead, devoted several minutes of “Breaking News” coverage to the story with live video and reporting from its chopper.

 

As promised, WPIX returned to the Kennedy Airport story at 10:20 p.m., this time with Scott live on the scene for a 2 minute and 30 second report. Continuing with the “lack of urgency” theme, WPIX didn’t even have the breaking news graphic on the screen.

 

There would be no follow-up for WPIX during the remainder of the newscast.

Meantime, back at WNYW, after their initial four-minutes from Kennedy, Anastos and Alexander gave updates three times during the broadcast.

At 10:13 and 10:30, the WNYW anchors reiterated the breaking news to viewers. Then at 10:54, Fox 5 closed the newscast with a one-minute report from Andrea Day at the airport.

WPIX Channel 11 underwent a new 10 p.m. look on October 11, bringing in Jodi Applegate, late from News 12 Long Island as the solo anchor of the PIX News At 10.

The station built a new look in the newsroom, allowing Applegate to be free of the usual TV news constraints. If nothing else, WPIX management, led by news director Bill Carey, should be recognized for trying to break with the norm. Unfortunately, there’s not much else.

The tandem of Kaity Tong and Jim Watkins was relocated. Tong still has roots on the weeknight newscast, but “anchoring” portions from remote locations in Brooklyn or Queens. Watkins anchors four newscasts, but he has been relegated to weekends. Tong appears live for five-minute segments from the outer boroughs. But, along with the dramatic metamorphosis back at the home base, Tong’s appearances are almost jarring. Tong is a solid pro who shows off her interviewing skills. However, with decades of anchoring on her resume, seeing someone throw to her for a live remote seems amiss.

Sherry from Bayside tweeted that “the format just worked well for sports and not much else in my opinion.” It actually makes sense given since sports is commonly delivered quick and upbeat. Unfortunately, the sports section of WPIX is no more, other than Applegate reading a few scores (the no-frills graphic is a throwback to the Jerry Girard days). 

With the station about to mark the pivotal six-month period, FishbowlNY spoke to Carey for his examination of the product and the all-important ratings.

“When I put my plan together last year, I forecast that we would go down in ratings for six months, and that it would take a while to find its audience and build,” Carey tells FishbowlNY. “But the evaluation that I had made was that we could grow it to a higher height than where we were treading along.

“Much to all of our delight, and hard work of the staff, we blew through our own estimates … We enjoyed a win in November, which was very gratifying to the team and validated ourselves for a month,” Carey says. “And now, we’re measuring our success against ourselves.”

You can put an asterisk next to the “win” that Carey mentioned. The November sweeps got underway as Fox 5/WNYW and Cablevision were embroiled in a bitter carriage dispute. It affected the first two days of the sweeps results.

“…We’re delighted with our objective measurements, subjectively we’re resumes from all around the country of people who want to come here and try to do the news differently, and break out of the same rut that everybody’s in,” Carey says.

WPIX is giving itself those personal goals, because they haven’t been able to beat the competition (save for November), specifically WNYW/Fox 5 with anchors Ernie Anastos and Dari Alexander.

WPIX performed well behind WNYW in the all-important February 2010 sweeps. Among the pivotal Adults 25 to 54 demographic, which is used by the sales department to generate ad rates, WNYW had a 1.8 compared to WPIX with a .8 rating.

Delving further, FishbowlNY has obtained the March rating that shows WNYW actually making gains on WPIX (although Channel 11 did have its own slight improvement). In the 25 to 54 demo, Fox 5 outpaced WPIX, 2.2 to .9.

Carey says viewers will have the opportunity to participate in conversations with Channel 11 staffers.

“We want to be known as the best place where you can tune in and sound off in real time and be validated and count,” Carey says. “Where this goes is going to be a fun experiment with New Yorkers about how engaged we can get with them in the course of an hour.”

Once they complete the hard news, live remote-intensive Top 11 stories in 11 minutes, another of Carey’s newscast signature is on display—opinion and commentary.

“You got to remember, a year ago nobody was doing any commentary in late news. Then, when we first launched Larry Mendte (a multiple-Emmy winner Sunday night) as commentator it was received with a lot of looks over the shoulder,” Carey recalls. “Next thing you know, I got general managers showing up doing editorials on other stations.”

Carey is referring to WNYW vice president/general manager Lew Leone who does a Lew’s View segment on the Fox 5 newscast and posted on the Web. (WNYW also incorporates stand-up comedian Jessie Cantrell into the news for a witty repartee with people on the street.)

Sources close to Fox 5 tell FishbowlNY that several Fox-owned stations began doing commentaries in January 2010, one month prior to the first Mendte sighting at WPIX. Fox eventually brought the Leone commentaries to WNYW in July 2010.

Back to WPIX, they didn’t stop with Mendte, adding Lionel to the mix, and even reporter Greg Mocker is known to intersperse opinion.

WPIX news director Bill Carey told FishbowlNY, “We’re emboldened by going our own way with stories, People may like it, they may not like it, but we're getting away from the obvious stories that everybody does.”

Unfortunately, that goes for breaking news as well.

"NYS WE ARE ONE" - 15,000 RALLY IN TIMES SQUARE



"NYS WE ARE ONE" - 15,000 RALLY IN TIMES SQUARE

15,000 union members rallied in Times Square on Saturday, April 9, 2011

All sectors of the labor movement stood in solidarity delivering one simple message:

"We Are One-Respect Our Rights"

Click HERE for media coverage

Click HERE for more photos of event

New York State AFL-CIO & Central Labor Council Hold Solidarity Rally On Behalf of New York's Working Men and Women

Labor's Message: "We Are One - Respect Our Rights"

New York City -- The New York State AFL-CIO and the New York City Central Labor Council held a giant rally in Times Square on Saturday on behalf of workers' rights in both the Empire State and throughout the country.

Workers from the public sector, private sector and building trades lined Seventh Avenue, starting at 42nd Street and stretching several blocks south, in a show of solidarity to deliver one simple message: "We Are One - Respect Our Rights."

The rally was held in response to unprecedented attacks on the rights of working men and women to organize, to engage in collective bargaining and to hold safe those benefits won at the bargaining table over the past 50 years. It was one of more than 1,200 AFL-CIO Days of Action events - rallies, teach-ins, faith services and town halls - held throughout the week of April 4th.

Denis M. Hughes, President of the New York State AFL-CIO, stated, "Working men and women across the country are under attack like never before. But as today's rally has shown, these attacks have only served to energize working people. Today's massive turnout is a testament to New York labor's strength, solidarity and commitment to our shared sense of purpose. For anyone who doubts our resolve, our message today is clear: We are one movement, and we demand that our rights be respected.

"New York's labor movement is rich in tradition when it comes to the unity and solidarity of its members. That's why it comes as no surprise that brothers and sisters from all sectors of our movement; public sector, private sector and building trades, stood together side by side, to respond to these unprecedented attacks.

"With 2 ½ million union members in this state, the labor movement will continue to speak with one voice on behalf of all working people. We urge all those interested in the future well-being of our state, to join us in a thoughtful and comprehensive dialogue regarding the important issues of shared concern and interest facing all New Yorkers."



Furloughs For Workers, But Big Paydays for Brass At Gannett

New York Times reporter David Carr wrote in an April 10, 2011 article " Just in case Gannett employees thought 2011 might bring better news after years of layoffs and furloughs, the year was just four days old when a note landed in the in-box of people who work for the community news division saying, once again, they were required to take an unpaid week off."

Gannett CEO Craig A. Dubow

Carr goes on to report " After explaining that revenues at the newspaper giant continued to be soft and the outlook was uncertain, Robert J. Dickey, Gannett’s president of U.S. Community Publishing, said, “I know furloughs are very hard on you and your families and I thank each of you for the continued commitment and great work.”

Mr. Dickey made it clear that not only did the company’s executives feel their pain, they would share the sacrifice, noting that he too would take a furlough and that Craig A. Dubow, the chief executive, and Gracia C. Martore, the president and chief operating officer, “each will be taking a reduction of salary that is equivalent to a week’s furlough.”

Carr wrote "Revenues have declined at the company four years in a row and the stock price is down more than 70 percent, but even divine intervention could probably not fix all that is wrong with Gannett and publishing in general. The company has 23 television stations, but with 82 newspapers, many of them dailies in small and medium-size cities, the company was bound to be clobbered by a recession on the one hand and a systemic flight from advertising in newspapers." 

Gannett, a company best known for publishing a newspaper mostly only read in hotels, and for decimating and demoralizing community newspaper staffs across the country, saw a marginal revenue drop last year and, according to the company, operating cash flow was $1.3 billion, up 19 percent from 2009, while debt was reduced by $710 million, to $2.35 billion. That’s a testament to what Wall Street would call “aggressive cost management.”

But out in the rest of the world, we know that generally means dumping bodies overboard, and Gannett is a high achiever when it comes to downsizing. In the five years that Mr. Dubow has run the company, its work force has gone from 52,000 employees to just over 32,000.

Most of its employees are nonunion, so the leadership is free to manage as it sees fit, including telling some people their careers are over and telling the people that remain not to come to work. Under Craig Dubow, who became CEO in 2005, the company has now eliminated 20,000 jobs -- more than one in every three.

Although CEO  Craig A. Dubow took a 17 % pay cut for 2011, this gesture was offset by  a cash bonus of $1.75 million for 2010. COO Gacia C, Martore received a  $1.25 million bonus. They were also received stock, options and deferred compensation rasing their combined compensation packages to $17.6 million. The top six executives at Gannett will take home compensation packages of more than $28 million, if certain financial projections come to fruition.

Two years of mandatory week long furloughs for the rest of Gannett employees saved the company $33 million, harships for Gannett workers that covered less than half the executive compenseation of the top six bosses over the same period.

“It has been incredibly galling to watch them lining up for these big compensation packages while they have squandered every opportunity to make the kind of changes necessary for the company to survive,” said an employee of USA Today. "Meanwhile, we have had furloughs three years in a row, so you can’t help but feel exploited and angry.” Mr. Carr noted that employees he interviewed feared there would be retaliation if they spoke for attribution.

In announcing Dubow's hefty package, double the previous year, Gannett was very clear about was driving the certainly generous award: “The company achieved substantial expense reductions through a variety of efforts, including continued centralization and consolidation efforts and salary freezes, positioning the company for growth as economic conditions improve.”

On the Gannett Blog, gannettblog.blogspot.com an independent site about the company, employees have expressed a high level of frustration and outrage about the compensation going to the folks at headquarters while people in the field watch newsrooms and their compensation shrink. “Pure and simple, a laugh in every employee’s face,” said one anonymous poster on the day the packages were announced.

Another posted, "Have they (the CEO, COO and others) no shame? It takes no leadership skills to layoff people, to order furloughs or to cut expenses. Why is the New York Times rolling out significant changes for new media and Gannett does little beyond layoffs, furloughs and expense reductions?"

Time Warner CEO Pay $26.3 Million, NBCU CEO $34.74 Million, But Viacom CEO Wins With $84.5 Million

By NAT WORDEN
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes received total compensation for 2010 of about $26.3 million, up by more than a third from what he received in the previous year.

The compensation, disclosed in a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes after Mr. Bewkes has transformed Time Warner, spinning off Internet business AOL Inc. and cable provider Time Warner Cable Inc., in pursuit of his vision of a pure-play multimedia content company.

Last year was Time Warner's second year in a row of stock price gains, with its shares adding about 10%. Mr. Bewkes has acknowledged the company's history of wasteful acquisitions and refocused its efforts on returning capital to shareholders.

Time Warner Chief Financial Officer John Martin's compensation for 2010 rose to $10.2 million from $6.3 million.

----------

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke is Comcast's Most Highly Compensated Executive, Pay not close to Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman's 84.5 million.

  

Steve Burke,
CEO of NBCUniversal



Meg James, Los Angeles Times reports that Steve Burke, who became chief of Comcast-controlled media giant NBCUniversal in January, received $34.74 million in 2010, topping the $31.05 million earned by his boss, Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts. For the second consecutive year, Steve Burke received a richer compensation package than that of his boss, Comcast Corp. Chief Executive Brian L. Roberts.

Burke, who became chief executive of Comcast-controlled media giant NBCUniversal in January, was awarded a compensation package in 2010 valued at $34.74 million — a 2% increase from 2009.

His compensation last year included a $2.24-million base salary, a $3-million signing bonus (the second installment after renewing his contract in 2009) and nearly $15 million in stock and option awards.

Percentage-wise, Roberts got the bigger bump. His total package for 2010, valued at $31.05 million, was a 14% increase over his 2009 compensation. Roberts received a base salary of $2.8 million, $11 million in stock and option awards and $10.9 million in non-equity incentives. Roberts did not receive a bonus. His 2009 compensation was $27.24 million.

The Comcast executives' bounties put them in slightly higher leagues than some of their rivals in the media world. Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger collected $28 million last year, and Time Warner Inc.

Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes' 2010 package was valued at $26.3 million.

However, Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman outpaced his peers with a total compensation for 2010 valued at $84.5 million. Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman was awarded salary, stock and other benefits totaling $84.5 million during the nine months of 2010 that were covered in Viacom's fiscal year.

That amount included one-time stock award worth $31.65 million -- money that was not paid to Dauman in 2010 but will vest over the next five years if the company achieves certain performance goals. The grant was bestowed on Dauman as a signing bonus in April after he extended his employment contract six and a half years. Viacom is the parent of several cable networks including MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, as well as Paramount Pictures. Dauman's second in command, Thomas Dooley, received a total package estimated at $64.7 million.

The company defended the amounts saying compensation of its top executives was based on performance measures. Viacom's common shares increased in value 22% for the nine months covered in the reporting period, significantly outperforming the market.

"About 90% of the 2010 compensation is long-term equity awards that align our executives’ interests with those of our stockholders," Viacom said in a statement. "The majority of 2010 compensation is one-time equity grants related to the previously announced long-term extensions of employment agreements, which vest over the life of those agreements. In 2010 Viacom achieved outstanding operational and financial results, including double-digit growth in operating income, adjusted net earnings and total shareholder return."

Philadelphia-based Comcast, the nation's largest cable television company, filed its compensation data for its five highest-paid executives Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 2009, Burke received a $33.98-million package, which was boosted by the first installment of his signing bonus. The award was calculated, in part, to reflect Burke's increasing responsibilities overseeing Comcast's interest in NBCUniversal. He spent most of last year learning NBCUniversal's operations and assembling his new executive team.

Burke also spent more time on the corporate jet than Roberts. Burke and Roberts both are required to fly on the corporate jet for personal travel for security reasons. Burke's travel time added $386,752 to his compensation, while Comcast spent $195,767 to fly Roberts around.

Michael J. Angelakis, the financial architect of the NBCUniversal deal and Comcast's chief financial officer, received compensation valued at $22.9 million for 2010 — a slight increase from his $21.55-million package in 2009.

Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen was given a package valued at $12.69 million, up from his $9.83-million package in 2009. Comcast general counsel Arthur R. Block received $4.23 million for 2010, down from his $6.15-million package in 2009.

meg.james@latimes.com

Broadcast Union News: The images in this article were added by me and do not reflect the opinions of the reporters quoted here, nor their publications. - BD

NLRB News Release: Board Orders Compound Interest

This press release reinforces the board's policy that back pay will be with interest that is compounded daily. Decisions update NLRB remedial actions to reflect current practices.

Click here to view this news release in pdf.

CNN/Time-Warner files their opposition to Expedited Hearing Before the Board.

Look here.

CWA and NABET-CWA Call for Immediate NLRB Decision on CNN Case

"This case has been languishing before the NLRB since 2003, and points out the total failure of U.S. labor law when it comes to workers' rights", said CWA President Larry Cohen. CNN set out to get rid of union workers and their bargaining rights. Despite overwhelming evidence that CNN broke the law, today, nearly eight years later, workers still are denied justice. It is time for the NLRB to take action.

In November 2008, NLRB Administrative Law Judge Arthur Amchan issued a scathing decision against CNN, finding that the network created a phony reorganization scheme to get rid of workers because they had a union, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA (NABET-CWA). The judge said that "CNN engaged in widespread and egregious misconduct, demonstrating a flagrant and general disregard for workers'  rights."

He ordered the immediate reinstatement of the 110 workers who were not rehired through CNN's scam hiring system, called for the restoration of the economic losses of all 250 workers and ordered CNN to recognize and bargain with NABET-CWA. None of CNN's defenses was accepted by the judge.

"Two years after that decision, after the NLRB judge confirmed CNN's union-busting practices, CNN technicians still are waiting for justice," said Jim Joyce, president of NABET-CWA.

CWA's motion calls on the NLRB to give this case priority over all other pending cases. This action is necessary, CWA said, because none of the remedies ordered by the ALJ in 2008 have been implemented and more than 204 workers are due substantial remediation.

The saying "justice delayed is justice denied" has particular relevance to violations of the National Labor Relations Act, CWA said, because such delay makes it more difficult for workers to believe they will ever obtain justice under the law. CWA called for a decision to be issued without further delay.

Read the full filing here


http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/cwa_calls_for_immediate_nlrb_decision_on_cnn_case

Further Update information on NLRB vs. CNN/Team Video:

Members want to know, what does the NLRB decision mean? Look here.


Landmark NLRB Decision Against CNN America


CWA Communications
Candice Johnson, 202-434-1168 cjohnson@cwa-union.org  
or Chuck Porcari, 202-434-1168  cporcari@cwa-union.org

Comcast Execs Strike Pay Dirt

By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News

Burke, Roberts Each Top $30 Million in Total Compensation

Comcast executives, knee-deep in integration and regulatory issues connected to its landmark NBC Universal joint venture last year, reaped some rather handsome financial rewards for their efforts, according to a proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Leading the pack for the second year in a row was former chief operating officer Steve Burke, who received $34. 7 million in total compensation in 2010, a 2.4% increase from the previous year.

Burke, who was named CEO of NBC Universal after the JV was closed in January of this year, resigned as Comcast COO shortly after the deal was finalized.

Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts saw his total compensation increase 14.3% for the year to $31.1 million from $27.2 million in 2009.

Roberts' base salary actually declined slightly during the year - to $2,.8 million from $2.9 million in 2009 - but he received $10.9 million in non-equity incentive compensation, a 33% increase from the $8.2 million he received in 2009.

Executive vice president David Cohen had the largest percentage increase - 29.6% -- to $12.7 million from $9.8 million in 2009, largely due to a $1 million bonus (he received no bonus in 2009) and a $1 million increase in stock awards to $3.5 million from $2,5 million in the prior year.

Cohen led Comcast's efforts to gain federal regulatory approval of the NBCU joint venture.

Chief financial officer Mike Angelakis, largely considered to be the financial architect behind the NBCU deal, received a 6% bump in total compensation to $22.9 million.

Broadcast Union News: Meanwhile, back at NBCU, the NABET-CWA broadcast engineers whose hard work helps create the profits to pay the enormous executive salary and bonus packages NBCU management enjoys, have been without a contract and without a raise for over two years. Although contract negotiations are ongoing, the Company has refused to bargain in good faith, a strategy that has resulted in an NLRB complaint. Recent meetings between the new management following the sale of NBC to Comcast, have led to some optimism on the part of the NABET-CWA negotiating committee. We live in hope.- BD

The War On The Middle Class In One Chart

Instead of the Republican proposal to cut much-needed programs for families, children and low-income people (the blue column), why not remove the tax breaks for the wealthy (green column)?

Originally reported by AmericanProgress.org.

Activists Fight Back on Many Fronts

From Wisconsin to Connecticut, the struggle to protect the rights of public employees and the communities they serve continues. While conservatives scapegoat public employees for budget deficits, activists show it's a smokescreen to further enrich the wealthiest of Americans and big corporations. And it's those tax dodging corporations that are becoming the targets of the widening protests.

In "Connecticut Public Employee Activists Fight For Pension Justice," James W. Russell describes the hard-fought campaign for a defined benefit package, one which pits state workers against the powerful financial services industry. On September 22, 2011 an arbiter ruled in favor of Alternate Retirement Program (ARP) members that they had been unfairly steered as new employees into their plan when the much better traditional pension plan was available. They had not been given sufficient information to make informed choices nor had they been told that their decisions, once made, would be irrevocable.

As a remedy, the arbiter ordered that ARP members be allowed to voluntarily transfer to the pension plan using accumulations from their defined contribution plans to purchase credit for years of employment.

Mazher Ali provides the historical context of decades of declining union power and widening inequality in "Class, Race & the Attacks on Public Employees." 

Mazher Ali is the

Communications Coordinator

for United for a Fair Economy,

 Mazher Ali wrote; the Wisconsin uprising has become as loud a wake-up call as there has ever been that working America is under attack. Attempts by Governor Scott Walker and the Republican majority to steal away the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers – as a false premise for the state’s budgetary hardships – has triggered a national uproar by labor rights supporters. The top 10 percent of U.S. households own nearly three-fourths of the country’s total wealth; 34 percent is held by the top one percent alone. Some among this very wealthy elite have a profit-lust so insatiable that it’s causing the American middle class to fade from existence, as income stagnates and the unemployment crisis continues.



Steve Early formerly wth the CWA.

He is the author  of

The Civil Wars in U.S. Labor



Steve Early reminds us of the heightened importance of organizing low wage workers in "Caregiver Unions: Much Needed But Most Vulnerable Now." 

Early concludes; The dramatic display of labor-based “political activism at the state house” in Madison this month is not just a fight for what unions invariably (and misleadingly) call the “middle class.” It’s also a defense of the working poor who care for other poor people—and many of us in other classes—while receiving little recognition and financial compensation for the essential services they provide.



Bill Fletcher, Jr., board member of BlackCommentator.com,

Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, 

and the co-author of “Solidarity Divided.”



In "Modern-day Pirates: The Republicans vs. the Public Sector," Bill Fletcher Jr. focuses on the privatization goals of the Right Wing and the need for "social justice unionism."  Fletcher wrote; "What we are witnessing is a well-orchestrated effort on the part of the Republicans to cleanse the USA of viable labor unions. It is really that simple. While those Democrats who have attacked public service unions, such as New York Governor Cuomo, are little better, they have a different objective, which is more about totally subordinating the unions to their economic agenda and appeasing many conservative voters. For the Republicans, which have consolidated as a hard-line right-wing party-bloc, the aim is to weaken labor unions into irrelevance and by doing so, eliminate an institution which they believe supports the Democratic Party, as well as other liberal and progressive motions."

In "After Wisconsin: Stop the Corporate Tax Dodgers," Chuck Collins brings our attention to a lively campaign started in Britain but needed in the U.S. to target the biggest tax avoiders of all.



Chuck Collins is a
senior scholar at the
Institute for Policy Studies

Collins wrote; " This is the strategic moment to dramatically juxtapose the pain of local budget cuts with the scandal of corporate tax dodging. This April 15th Tax Day, let’s make our national focus be on stopping tax haven abuse and closing corporate tax loopholes. Every time a politician complains that “there is no money” or “we must make these cuts,” we should be pointing to the corporate tax dodging that could immediately close our budget gaps."

Collins goes on to say; " We should name names and show up at their branches. First there are the banks that wrecked our economy and accepted billions in taxpayer funded TARP funds. These include Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Our message: Pay up!"

"Pay up! General Electric, Carnival Cruise lines, Boeing, FedEx, News Corp, ExxonMobil, Pfizer. They pretend their profits are earned in tax havens like the Grand Cayman Islands and their losses are earned in the U.S., lowering their tax bills."

"These US companies use our shared infrastructure, but don’t pay their fair share. They enjoy our roads, national defense, emergency services, and federally-funded research. They are profitable but don’t pay their full freight. They undercut local businesses that pay their taxes while struggling to compete on an unlevel playing field."

“There’s a direct connection between corporate tax dodging and what’s happening in people’s lives,” said Carl Gibson one of the founders of US UNCUT Mississippi. “If we close those loopholes, we wouldn’t have to be cutting back on firefighters, library hours and student loans.”

Gibson started a web site after being inspired by the movements in England. “I work three jobs and can barely cover my $450 per-month rent,” said the 23-year old Gibson. “But I still pay my taxes. All I’m asking is that the wealthiest corporations pay what they owe, too.”

A national nonprofit founded in 2004, Class Action inspires action to end classism.

Class Action is a project of the Institute For Policy Studies  - Program on Inequality and the Common Good at 30 Germania St. Building L, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 USA

A Big Win For Labor!

Judge re: McPier - No Interference in Collective Bargaining by Illinois State Legislture Allowed

By Michael Barnes

Chicago Conservative Examiner

In a ruling that has far-reaching implications for Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri, a federal judge threw out labor law reforms at Chicago’s McCormick Place that the Illinois state legislature enacted in 2010 following supplication from the convention industry.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman affirms that collective bargaining rights cannot be overturned by governmental edict.

Judge Guzman told the Legislature “it had no business trying to interfere with collective bargaining” according to Marvin Gittler, an attorney representing Local 727 of the Teamsters.

Judge Guzman held that the National Labor Relations Act preempts the Legislature from dictating terms for unions working at McCormick Place.

This ruling is similar to the finding of The International Commission for Labor Rights (ICLR), which has said, in part:

"The The International Commission for Labor Rights (ICLR)  identified the right of "freedom of association" as a fundamental right and affirmed that the right to collective bargaining is an essential element of freedom of association. These rights, which have been recognized worldwide, provide a brake on unchecked corporate or state power."

In 1935, when Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (also known as the NLRA, or the Wagner Act), it recognized the direct relationship between the inequality of bargaining power of workers and corporations and the recurrent business depressions. That is, by depressing wage rates and the purchasing power of wage earners, the economy fell into depression. The National Labor Relations Act  therefore recognized as policy of the United States the encouragement of collective bargaining.

While the NLRA covered US employees in private employment, the law protecting collective bargaining in both the public and private sectors has developed since 1935 to cover all workers "without distinction."

Judge Guzman also said “Despite its breadth, it’s not clear that (the reform bill) advances the state’s goal of reducing exhibitors’ costs.” He noted that exhibitors don’t pay for union work directly, but are billed by show contractors. Without intruding on labor relations, the General Assembly could have limited contractor markups on labor.

Before the General Assembly passed the ‘reform’ legislation, unionized trades had lowered their hourly rate and changed work rules, and had complained that exhibition contractors were pocketing the savings instead of passing it on to the exhibitors.

David Causton, general manager of McCormick Place, said McPier will ‘soon’ begin audits of its shows to ensure that contractors pass along labor savings.

Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno said, “We are hopeful the Authority wins a quick stay and that the decision is overturned on appeal."

Broadcast Union News: Good luck with that Christine. I think you will find that in over reaching in your, and your fellow Republicans' attacks on workers rights, you have awakened the outrage of the American people. We are slow to anger, but fierce in our ire. The higher courts will uphold this wise decision, and the people will voice their displeasure at the polls come November. Advice to Republicans and turncoat, anti-labor Democrats: buy some luggage and start packing, you are out of here. Let freedom ring!