Guild Contract at Radio Free Asia
Extended an Additional Month

WBNG and Radio Free Asia management agreed late in December to a second extension of the contract that was set to expire Sept. 30.

That contract, WBNG’s first at the unit of more than 100 members, was initially extended to the end of December while Congress and the White House wrangled over appropriations.

Shortly after the Guild and RFA management signed off on the latest extension (one month), a bill was passed. President Bush then signed an appropriation measure that gives RFA about $35 million for the next fiscal year, which should fully fund current operations.

Founded in 1996, Radio Free Asia broadcasts in nine languages to China, Tibet, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and North Korea. RFA Guild members also produce and feed audio-stream broadcasts to the Internet.

Leading up to the vote on appropriations, RFA’s governing board, the Broadcasting Board Governors (BBG), made a budget request that proposed eliminating the Cantonese-language service and slashing the service to Tibet. The House and Senate rejected the proposals, thanks in large part to the efforts of Guild members in the two services.

The BBG, the independent federal agency responsible for government-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting also oversees the budgets of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio and TV Marti.
The latest extension between the Guild and RFA continues all terms of the contract set to expire September 30, 2007. After the first extension was agreed to, RFA management said that if non-Guild employees got an across-the-board pay increase, Guild employees would get the same raise.

One non-economic issue still unresolved is the discipline procedure. The Guild has proposed language that would ensure employees get union representation throughout the discipline process. Negotiations on all issues, including wages and other economic items such as health insurance and severance pay, began anew in early January.

The Radio Free Asia bargaining unit was organized in 2003. The first Guild contract, signed in December 2004, was reached after nearly 15 months of bargaining.