WROC union plans picket over stalled contract talks

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Newly unionized workers at WROC-TV (channel 8) plan to picket outside the station’s broadcast studios on Tuesday in an attempt to bring management to the bargaining table.

The planned demonstration will run from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at 201 Humboldt St. in Rochester and coincides with the station’s 75th anniversary. WROC is Rochester’s oldest TV station.

Employees voted in February of 2023 to join the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communication Workers of America (NABET-CWA).

However, management at WROC, a Nexstar Media Group, Inc.-owned station, refuses to recognize results of the union election and has been unwilling to negotiate terms of a new contract, the union says.

WROC contends that producers are members of management and therefore cannot be part of the union, a union news release said. The matter was referred to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which ruled that the producers could join the union.

Despite an order by the NLRB to negotiate, the station has refused, the union says.

For that reason, the NLRB filed a charge with an administrative law judge against Nexstar in April and a month later asked for summary judgment. No decision has been rendered.

Station management said a review of the entire unionization process is ongoing.

“WROC has always acknowledged the right of its employees to organize, and supported the process by which the National Labor Relations Board and the courts review these situations,” Wendy Bello, WROC vice president and general manager, said in a prepared statement.

“The NLRB’s review process, which may include a judicial review for the election at WROC, remains open and ongoing.”

Union members are seeking better compensation as well as job protections as the company implements new technology.

“We need to revisit our practices and procedures, taking measures to fairly and reasonably compensate our employees for the hard work they do,” a union statement said. “Above all else, we need to slow the turnover rate. We have tried working with Nexstar to no avail.

“We believe that working together as a union will ensure bettering working conditions for all. Our goal is — and always has been — to deliver news that you, the community, can use.”

Across town, unionized journalists at the Democrat and Chronicle continue to work without a contract. The journalists went on strike for 19 days in April before returning to work — without a new contract. The employees are seeking better pay as well as job protections from parent company Gannett Co. Inc.

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