Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees who work for Fox owned stations WNYW in New York and WTTG in Washington, D.C. say they are feeling the pinch of the drawn out negotiations for a new bargaining agreement.
Members of Local 794 at WNYW and Local 819 at WTTG have the same collective bargaining agreement with Fox Owned TV Stations. IATSE spokesperson Nick Kroudis told TVSpy he hasn’t had a raise in over 15 years—and that if he compares his paycheck from 2006 to one he got a week ago, he’s “actually making less now.”
“We’ve been at the table for eleven years now trying to reach a successor agreement and Fox has been trying to erode our ability to represent our members, erode our jurisdiction, no job protections, reduced severance and eroding our benefits,” said Kroudis. “Any raise they have put on the table results in a negative gain with all the concessions they are forcing on us. So it’s all losses for our members in their current package. Our members are struggling big time.”
For its part, a Fox Television Stations spokesperson told TVSpy, “We’re currently in private discussions with IATSE and have always negotiated in good faith and will continue to do so.”
In July, Fox employees who had worked for the station group for more than a year received at least a $2,000 bonus, which, at the time, Kroudis said was “definitely welcome.” But he also pointed out that, “as they give us $2,000 in a bonus, they’re trying to take away up to 30+% in benefits, severance and jurisdiction.
“Ultimately, we want Fox to come to the table to negotiate fairly and reasonably with a group of employees that have been nothing but standout employees for the last 25-30 and close to 40 years for some,” said Kroudis. “And we’ve been here every single day no matter what the conditions and what the circumstances, including 9/11, hurricanes, disasters and pandemics.”