Nabet's Protest Call: 'turn Oscar Upside Down'

Still angry about being cut out of this year's Oscar telecast, NABET is gearing up to stage an Oscar night protest against ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The union, claiming that the network and the Academy have engaged in "unfair labor practices," is urging its members and the members of its parent union -- the giant Communication Workers of America -- to show up at the Shrine Auditorium on Oscar night to protest this year's awards show.

According to a union leaflet, the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians has dubbed its anti-Oscar campaign "Turn Oscar upside down."

The union is angry because this year's Oscar show will be the first one in more than 20 years to be produced without NABET-represented technicians.

NABET lost its role on the Oscar show this year because the Academy was worried that the union might stage a grievance strike against ABC and walk off their jobs right in the middle of the live Oscar telecast.

"This is something that NABET did to themselves," said ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover. "ABC would have been delighted to work with NABET had we had assurances that there would not be a grievance strike. But when the Academy came to us, we could not assure them that this would not happen at the Academy Awards."

The Academy's worries were not completely unfounded. The union staged a similar grievance strike against ABC in November when NABET members walked off their jobs during ABC's live coverage of the third round of PGA golf tournament in Houston, forcing ABC to air a rerun from the previous year's golf tournament.

For obvious reasons, that's not an option for the Oscars.

Instead, ABC and the Academy decided to go around the union. ABC, which has a long-standing contract with NABET, agreed this year to give up its producing chores and to let the Academy hire the technical and support crews directly. The Academy then rehired essentially the same crews that worked last year's Oscar show, and let them decide which union would represent them. The crew members then voted overwhelmingly to be represented by NABET's rival union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which then signed a deal with the Academy.

"For the past 20-plus years," the union said in a flier, "NABET-CWA-represented engineers and technicians have worked on the Academy Awards show, bringing you an outstanding, quality production. This year, Disney/ABC eliminated all NABET-CWA-represented personnel from the show in retaliation for striking over unresolved grievances. We have been without a contract since March 31, 1997, and grievance strikes have been our only recourse when Disney/ABC refuses binding arbitration."

NABET, meanwhile, has also filed an unfair labor practices charge against ABC and the Academy with the National Labor Relations Board.

In that complaint, filed Feb. 11, the union said ABC and the Academy "have failed and refused to bargain in good faith with NABET-CWA by conspiring to deprive NABET-CWA-represented employees of work opportunities because of their union's exercise of concerted, protected activities, and have unilaterally implemented changes in existing terms and conditions of employment."

Rob Hulteng, the attorney representing the Academy in the labor dispute, said: "The Academy has responded and urged the labor board to dismiss all allegations against the Academy. The Academy has never had any contractual relationship with NABET. Therefore, the charges appear to have no connection with the Academy or its labor relations practices."

ABC spokeswoman Hoover said that the union's NLRB charges are "without merit."