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Michael Malone

WABC Reduces Staff

July 17, 2008

Even the news leaders are not exempt from the layoff bug. Around 10 staffers are being dismissed at WABC New York, reports TV Spy , primarly playback and tape people.

A WABC spokesperson said the reductions are not layoffs, but buyouts for positions no longer required due to automation. Local 16 Vice President Jim Nolan, part of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET), says the 10 workers have until September 5 to accept or decline the buyout, and will be laid off September 12 if they don’t accept.

TV Spy also takes WPSD Paducah to task for refusing to be upfront with its news colleagues in other local media about reported layoffs at the station.

Spy offers up a boilerplate response for all station managers forced to deal with layoffs these days.

We’re having a tough quarter, and we regret that we will have to make some cuts. We’re at the point where we have no choice but to cut personnel. We don’t want to impact our news coverage any further, but today we had to layoff 7 people…

Posted by Michael Malone on July 17, 2008 | Comments (12)

6/7/2009 12:54:45 PM EDT

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
X-nabeter commented:

Cashdan & Kane, PLLC
(908) 264- 9331
CALL THEM!!!!!! CAN YOU SAY: LAWSUIT!!!!

2/2/2009 10:46:58 AM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Ross Skipper commented:

Hey Roger! I\’m at the Emerald Inn with Ron Woods. What happened to the cart machines?

1/29/2009 2:35:31 AM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Bill Lumbergh commented:

Based on the responses, the writer of the article should do a follow up. He would be surprised to find out what is actually going on over there. I can sum it up in 2 words-
DAILY HIRES

1/28/2009 12:11:05 PM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Roger Grimsby commented:

I have arisen from the dead to protest this grave injustice and get a drink. Is Skipper still working?

1/28/2009 12:11:04 PM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
tennistart47 commented:

Jim Baker got it right…and he ought to know. What he didn\’t get right was whom he hired as his replacement.

1/28/2009 12:11:03 PM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Colonel Klink commented:

Remember me? I was Baker\’s bootlick. I used to be a NABET member but found it more fun to be like all the other ex-NABES who went into management. It\’s fun to mess with peoples lives.

1/28/2009 12:11:02 PM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
EVP commented:

Jim Baker & Mark Abrahams got it right!

Does anyone think these layed off employees have a case against the company?

1/26/2009 11:12:10 AM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Noetic commented:

Jim Baker and Mark Abrahams got it right.

Does anyone think these layed off employees have a case against the company?

1/26/2009 11:12:09 AM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Mark Abrahams commented:

It\’s been a long time since Jim Baker and I have agreed on anything, but he\’s absolutely correct. The way WABC and the Disney Company has conducted business is a prime example of what the real economic problem in this country is. Big businesses are allowed to force out full time employees under the guise of downsizing, while in reality all they are doing is eliminating the need to pay vacations, benefits, and pensions to their employees. The need for people is not disappearing, nor are the positions. This is why the cuts come only from represented areas, not from the over staffed management ranks. Yes, they just had executive layoffs, but hose jobs jobs are truly disappearing, and the compensation packages don\’t even come close to comparison. We as taxpayers need to take our federal representatives to task on what is going on in the workplace, and have the most serious impact on our economy.

1/21/2009 1:21:10 PM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
Jim Baker commented:

It's not really a reduction in force. The workers are in two departments "created" especially for the purpose of the layoffs. One department "Graphics Playback Operators" had an employee transferred out, to avoid being laid off, and another transferred in to be laid off. The "Videotape Department" was created so the Local 16 president who works there could be laid off.

These jobs are not going away, just the people. They will be replaced by daily hires, and that is the company's real goal. None of the affected employees were offered jobs elsewhere in the station or at the network, where many of them came from originally.

1/21/2009 1:21:08 PM EST

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
NABETguy commented:

These are not really layoffs. The long-term staff people will be replaced by daily hires.

8/6/2008 3:36:50 PM EDT

In response to: WABC Reduces Staff
BB commented:

Can You Say Age Discrimination !!!

Seems to be a Growing trend @ abc tv.

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