WBZ/Boston Got Them Union Blues
• As the reported closing date of Nov. 17 fast approaches, the pending Entercom/CBS Radio merger and the ancillary spin-offs to iHeartMedia are creating some anxiety in certain hallways — most notably at CBS Radio’s heritage News-Talk monster WBZ-AM/Boston, which is being spun off to iHeartMedia as part of the transaction. As the Boston Globe reports, iHeartMedia said it does not plan to honor two union contracts in place, adding that WBZ employees will have to re-apply for their current positions. In a letter sent last Thursday to a union official, an attorney for iHeartMedia said that the company “will interview and consider for employment the on-air announcers and off-air production staff currently employed by CBS at WBZ-AM.” The letter goes on to say that iHeartMedia “will not be assuming the two collective bargaining agreements between CBS Radio” and SAG-AFTRA.
Tom Higgins, Boston-based National Director for SAG-AFTRA, said he hoped the letter represented a “misstep.” A handful of iHeartMedia managers who visited the station last Thursday said they had wanted the station’s transition to new ownership to be seamless. “And a couple of hours later, I get that letter,” Higgins told the Globe in a Friday evening phone interview. “This sure doesn’t sound like ‘seamless.'” Higgins said he forwarded the letter to WBZ staff on Friday. The station’s employees, he said, were in “total disbelief.”
Higgins estimates as many as 75 to 100 WBZ employees — including on-air talent, writers, producers, editors and production assistants — could be affected by this announcement. “They should honor our union contracts,” he said. “They should not disrespect people by having them re-apply for jobs that they’ve had for decades, in some cases.” Higgins remarked, “WBZ is a desirable commodity because it’s a very successful radio station. They do what they do well and they generate revenue. I don’t expect a company coming in would come in to sabotage that success.” Higgins added that he did not think iHeartMedia has “any intention of gutting” the heritage station.
