• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Breaking: iHeart agrees to recognize union, offer BZ jobs (Herald)

raccoonradio

raccoonradio

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/co...grees_to_recognize_bz_union_offer_jobs_to?amp

The radio conglomerate set to buy local news powerhouse WBZ-AM has agreed to recognize the station’s union and offer jobs to all of its employees, averting a nasty fight that threatened to derail the sale, the Herald has learned.

IHeartMedia’s agreement with the union is a major concession from its initial threats to refuse to honor union contracts and force staffers to reapply for their jobs.

The radio company and union reached an interim agreement last night setting out terms of the new deal, sources said.
 
Well the folks down the street at the shoe building, at the radio station that under the leadership of Howie Carr voted their union out, are probably wondering if that was such a good idea right about now.
 
If you read this carefully, the company really didn't change anything. I wouldn't characterize it as any kind of concession. They recognized the union in the original email, and they stated they intended to sit down with the union and negotiate a new deal. That's exactly what they did. It's not honoring the previous contract. It's a new contract. They said last week that they hoped everyone at WBZ would want to work for iHeart, and so now they offered everyone jobs. The fact is that everyone will still have to fill out new forms for benefits and other systems that will make it seem as though they're re-applying for their jobs. As I said before, a lot of people were jumping to conclusions, assuming iHeart was against the union or firing everyone. They never said they were.
 
TheBigA said:
If you read this carefully, the company really didn't change anything. I wouldn't characterize it as any kind of concession. They recognized the union in the original email, and they stated they intended to sit down with the union and negotiate a new deal. That's exactly what they did. It's not honoring the previous contract. It's a new contract. They said last week that they hoped everyone at WBZ would want to work for iHeart, and so now they offered everyone jobs. The fact is that everyone will still have to fill out new forms for benefits and other systems that will make it seem as though they're re-applying for their jobs. As I said before, a lot of people were jumping to conclusions, assuming iHeart was against the union or firing everyone. They never said they were.
Click to expand...
I hope when it comes up for a vote in the bargaining committee, it is shot down
 
No, it's not " defying the leadership "
It's reflecting the best interest of the majority of the bargaining unit, and It's procedure.
 
inorm99 said:
I hope when it comes up for a vote in the bargaining committee, it is shot down
Click to expand...

That's absurd.

If the desired outcome is to have WBZ remain much as it has been, then what iHeart has agreed to is the best chance for it to happen.

The purchase by iHeart was an asset agreement, meaning that agreements and contracts all have to be redone in the name of the new company.

The union would be best served by, initially, trying to get all the WBZ staff rehired and the existing agreement written with the new owner's signatures.
 
inorm99 said:
No, it's not " defying the leadership "
It's reflecting the best interest of the majority of the bargaining unit, and It's procedure.
Click to expand...

Hardly. The union has stated that it wants the existing contract be "replicated" and continued with the new owner.

Why wouldn't the rank and file want exactly that rather than no agreement at all?
 
DavidEduardo said:


Hardly. The union has stated that it wants the existing contract be "replicated" and continued with the new owner.

Why wouldn't the rank and file want exactly that rather than no agreement at all?
Click to expand...

I would be happy with most other new owners, but not IHEART.
Throughout their history, they have had too many instances of not acting in good faith to their employees .
As a listener, I want the all news programming to continue. IHEART has no all news stations formats on the stations they own.
Will All NEWS FROM 5:00 AM TO 8:00PM WEEKDAYS , AND 5:00AM TO 7:00PM WEEKENDS continue on WBZ AM?
 
Last edited:
All news except for Rea, Bradley Jay etc but certainly more than, say, their sister-station-to be WRKO. I thought the iHeart station in Sacramento KFBK was all news but I think they too have some talk.(Just checked..yes they have Rush Limbaugh,Tom Sullivan etc
This was where Rush had his talk show just before going national.) Still quite a chunk of news has been on WBZ every day..and yes some stations say "newsradio" like iHeart's WHJJ but are talk plus news headlines.(KFBK slogan "news traffic and weather 24 hours a day" though)

Gary Francis said on FB that technically they have to terminate all employees (of CBS) but then can rehire them with iHeart contracts...Will iHeart wind up with mass layoffs at the other stations in town they're getting, WKAF and WRKO from Entercom, and WZLX from CBS?

Wikipedia:"WBZ runs an all-news format during the day and a talk radio format at night. "
 
Last edited:
I didn't post what I did thinking that someone would have to correct me about WBZ going talk at night.
I want someone to respond to my last post, for the message intended, without some child with ADD disrupting the thought
 
Thanks for editing your post to point out that a good chunk of their airtime is talk.If I'm the child being referred to, I'm 55 and have been on radio since 1981. I may be old but I got young fashioned ways--Muddy Waters
1080x360
 
Last edited:
inorm99 said:
I didn't post what I did thinking that someone would have to correct me about WBZ going talk at night.
I want someone to respond to my last post, for the message intended, without some child with ADD disrupting the thought
Click to expand...

Huh?
 
inorm99 said:
I didn't post what I did thinking that someone would have to correct me about WBZ going talk at night.
I want someone to respond to my last post, for the message intended, without some child with ADD disrupting the thought
Click to expand...

So this is the post you are referencing, correct?

inorm99 said:
I would be happy with most other new owners, but not IHEART.
Throughout their history, they have had too many instances of not acting in good faith to their employees .
As a listener, I want the all news programming to continue. IHEART has no all news stations formats on the stations they own.
Will All NEWS FROM 5:00 AM TO 8:00PM WEEKDAYS , AND 5:00AM TO 7:00PM WEEKENDS continue on WBZ AM?
Click to expand...

1. Too bad, it's who owns them.
2. I was twice a victim of the infamous Clear Channel "Reduction in Force" and I have hardly the disdain for them that you do. But to your point, it's radio in 2017, no one should expect loyalty from a mega-corporation, regardless of business. Does that suck? Yes. But that's part of the risk/reward of being in this crazy business.
3. By your own admission in your last line, WBZ is not an ALL NEWS operation.
4. Unless someone on this board is a member of upper management at iHeart/Boston, any response will be pure conjecture.

And please let me add, you seem like the petulant child, not Raccoon.
 
raccoonradio said:
All news except for Rea, Bradley Jay etc but certainly more than, say, their sister-station-to be WRKO. I thought the iHeart station in Sacramento KFBK was all news but I think they too have some talk.(Just checked..yes they have Rush Limbaugh,Tom Sullivan etc
This was where Rush had his talk show just before going national.) Still quite a chunk of news has been on WBZ every day..and yes some stations say "newsradio" like iHeart's WHJJ but are talk plus news headlines.(KFBK slogan "news traffic and weather 24 hours a day" though)

Gary Francis said on FB that technically they have to terminate all employees (of CBS) but then can rehire them with iHeart contracts...Will iHeart wind up with mass layoffs at the other stations in town they're getting, WKAF and WRKO from Entercom, and WZLX from CBS?

Wikipedia:"WBZ runs an all-news format during the day and a talk radio format at night. "[/QUOTE
Sorry for my attitude. It gets frustrating sometimes out here on the discussion group
Click to expand...
 
inorm99 said:
No, it's not " defying the leadership "
It's reflecting the best interest of the majority of the bargaining unit, and It's procedure.
Click to expand...

The union leadership represents the unit. They're workers like the other union members. If you've EVER been in a union (and I've been in AFTRA and NABET) you respect your leadership, because they're the ones who fight for you with management. So if the membership shoots down the deal worked out by their leadership, it would be defying the leadership. The next step would be a new election within the unit. But it basically is mutiny. I've seen it happen, but it's not a good thing.
 
No prob, was just mentioning it.They still do have news most of the time unlike talk stations like WHJJ that use the 'newsradio' nickname..I think when WBZ goes into an hour of talk they say, "and when we're not covering the news, we're talking about it".
I recall one night about 2:45 am seeing the Danversport paint plant explosion from rt 128 nr the Peabody-Danvers line. WBZ listeners in the area called in with details. I don't know if WGBH or WBUR had any details of the explosion, but WBZ (Steve Leveille show at the time) was the go-to place and perhaps the only place for that story before local TV got to it around 5 am.

CBS put WBZ on its FMs during the week of the marathon bombing with extended coverage. (WEEI simulcast WRKO, WTKK had audio from CH 25 etc) Remains to be seen if iHeart may put WBZ news and talk on FM at some point.
 
raccoonradio said:
No prob, was just mentioning it.They still do have news most of the time unlike talk stations like WHJJ that use the 'newsradio' nickname..I think when WBZ goes into an hour of talk they say, "and when we're not covering the news, we're talking about it".
I recall one night about 2:45 am seeing the Danversport paint plant explosion from rt 128 nr the Peabody-Danvers line. WBZ listeners in the area called in with details. I don't know if WGBH or WBUR had any details of the explosion, but WBZ (Steve Leveille show at the time) was the go-to place and perhaps the only place for that story before local TV got to it around 5 am.

CBS put WBZ on its FMs during the week of the marathon bombing with extended coverage. (WEEI simulcast WRKO, WTKK had audio from CH 25 etc) Remains to be seen if iHeart may put WBZ news and talk on FM at some point.
Click to expand...

I was in Salem at the time of that explosion and felt it at my house. Yes, I turned to radio that morning to find out what happened. Some 10 years (?) later, I would never go to the radio first (and I work in the industry), I would be on Twitter and other social media platforms looking for details, let alone an AM station. The marathon bombing and subsequent search is different due to the magnitude of situation.

WBZ's ultimate success (regardless of who ended up owning the station) is its ability to live across multiple platforms. Since WBZ radio will not have WBZ TV for this (unless an agreement is forthcoming), this station ended up in the hands of the company that does digital best. For as much as some may mock the iHeart Radio branding, it's successful and good.
 
Agreed about iHeart and digital...and who knows, they could ally with Ch 25, Ch 4, Ch 7 etc somehow.

Yes, friend of mine from Salem was awoken by the blast and windows shattered in Peabody Sq. I had just passed the 114 exit on 128, heading toward the Endicott St exit and it literally looked like a mushroom cloud and I heard a boom then what sounded like firecrackers. People were calling in to Leveille to report what they were hearing or seeing. (A messageboard I'm on also was getting some action)
---------------------
(Free Republic Nov of 2006):
>>Propane place in Danvers blew up.
Houses demolished.
Calling for every ambulance in the area.
(From the Donut Shop across the street.)

Oh OK--Route 35? yikes, it was huge...Thought it could have been that
---
I called WBZ radio, they confirmed they are sending reporters to investigate.
---
WBZ, someone reporting their windows got blown out.
 
We're in NE Pennsylvania here, between Pottsville and Hazleton, living hours away each from our original, respective home towns of Long Island and Scranton. But five years ago next April, we had the WBZ stream on for most of the day after learning that two friends of ours whose wedding we attended lived in the neighbourhood where the search for the bombers was being held.
Yes, we're WAY out of any realistic range where WBZ's management is concerned. But some subsequently erroneous early reports did have a suspicious vehicle headed west on I-84, toward us. We had a few reasons to keep up to date.
And yes again, radio stations cannot count on catastrophic events to maintain their revenue. However, WBZ's broadcasts and their stream 'did it' for us here. I hope they don't change that approach to broadcasting.

Incidentally, sometimes nearing sunset, WBZ 1030 can be louder on the car radio along Route 1 in Philly than KYW 1060 is. Although such AM signals are losing their prestige (especially at night) WBZ remains quite a mammoth signal when the sun goes down. IHeart should leave the thing alone, as is, and continue to let the flow of nickels and quarters going to San Antonio via stagecoach.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom