NBC MAKES 'FINAL' OFFER TO WRITERS, TECHNICIANS
The National Broadcasting Co delivered
its "final offer" for a new contract to representatives of
2,800 writers, editors and technicians early today and waited
for a response.
    A committee of the National Association of Broadcast
Employees and Technicians discussed the offer but after three
hours they had not come to any decision.
    If the union walks out it would mean simultaneous strikes
against all three major U.S. television networks. A different
union struck CBS Inc <CBS> and Capital Cities/ABC Inc <CCB> a
month ago. NBC is owned by the General Electric Co <GE>.
    "We're instructing all our members to continue working
without a contract," said John Krieger, a union official. The
contract expired at midnight March 31.
    Krieger said the committee is empowered to call a strike if
it sees fit but he added, "we're not gun shy and we're not
strike-happy, we don't take it lightly." He said the union
needed time to draft a formal response to the NBC proposal,
which the network billed as its "best and final offer."
    A spokeswoman for NBC said management personnel were
prepared to take assume technical duties if its radio and
television facilities are struck.
    "If there were a strike, we would not expect any
interruption in our service," the NBC spokeswoman said. At CBS
and ABC, where the Writers Guild of America has been on strike
since early March, viewers have noticed little difference in
the programs. However technicians are not involved in the
walkout at CBS and ABC.
    Krieger said the "major stumbling block" in the talks with
NBC was the network's insistence on having the right to hire
engineers and writers on a daily basis. "In a broad sense this
would decimate the union," he said, with temporary workers
jeopardizing the jobs of staff employees.
    NBC said its proposal "contains assurances that there is no
intention to replace regular employees with daily hires." NBC
said regular employees who may be on layoff would be offered
employment first.
    NBC also said any daily hires would be represented by the
union and would be phased in at four pct of regular staff in
the first year of a contract and six percent afterward.
    Top scale wages would increase to 855 dlrs per week in the
first year of the two-year contract and 895 dlrs in the second
year, under the NBC proposal. Krieger said the network's wage
proposals were "disappointing" but not the main issue.
    NBC said its proposals would give it greater flexibility in
sports and news coverage. It said its proposals would permit
limited access to news materials from affiliates and
subscription services and allow Cable News Network to join
network pool facilities. Cable News Network is owned by Turner
Broadcasting System <TBS>.
    Material from subscription servoces would be limited to an
average of about one minute in a half-hour program, NBC said.
The network said the changes it seeks "would reduce costly
duplication and are vital to NBC's long term health."
    The major U.S. networks have experienced cost cutting
campaigns following a series of ownership changes that affected
the parent companies of all three in the past two years.
    Laurence Tisch became the largest shareholder in CBS, NBC's
former parent RCA was acquired by General Electric and ABC was
merged into Capital Cities Broadcasting.
    The broadcast operations have been hit with layoffs and
other belt-tightening measures. Network executives cited cable
television services and video cassette players which compete
for viewers.
 Reuter
