Philly Radio: Entercom, SAG-AFTRA Reach Agreement For KYW

Entercom Communications has reacheded a contract with SAG-AFTRA on behalf of Newsradio KYW 1060 AM.

Stephen Leshinski, executive director of the local chapter of SAG-AFTRA, tells the Philadelphia Business Journal the two sides have reached an accord, ending a contentious series of bargaining talks that at one point had the local Philly chapter calling for federal mediation to resolve the issue.

Fifty union employees at KYW had been working without a contract for the past eight months.

Leshinski declined to provide more details on the new contract, because the union is still negotiating with other Entercom-owned stations in five other large markets.

In a statement, Philadelphia-based Entercom said it was “pleased that after a productive negotiation, we have reached an agreement that reflects how much we value our team at KYW Newsradio and our commitment to outstanding, community-focused, agenda-setting news coverage in Philadelphia.”

According to the Pilly Business Journal, a stumbling block was severance benefits for new hires.

Reporters, editors and anchors currently accrue two weeks’ severance for each year of service under a policy that dates back to when Westinghouse owned the station. But that deal expired last October and Entercom was pushing for newly hired KYW employees to accrue only one week of severance per year, consistent with its longstanding company policy, while keeping the two weeks policy in place for existing station staffers.

Another issue was reported to be jurisdiction over non-broadcast work such as KYW’s website or podcasts.

As bargaining talks became more contentious, SAG-AFTRA had taken to issuing statements to the press as a bargaining chip. In one it accused Entercom of “low-balling on wages and retirement.”