
Bloomfield, MO – Several top officials with CWA Local 6300 turned out in a show of strong support for sister union CWA 6314, which is battling for a fair contract with a television station in the Columbia/Jefferson City-Mo. market.
CWA 6314’s contract with KRCG-TV in Bloomfield, Mo., expired over a year ago, said Mark Crawshaw, CWA 6300 vice president. It used to be a family-owned station until a “big, corporate conglomerate recently bought it out.”
The union proposed a new contract that would have phased in a 4 percent, across-the-board salary increase over three years while keeping all benefits the same, he said.
“The station flat out rejected the contract,” Crawshaw said. “It’s a small station and not a lot of people work there – that’s why we drove out to support our CWA 6314 brothers and sisters.”
Members of the two unions set up a picket near the station on Feb. 22 and 23 with a giant, inflatable rat and held signs asking viewers to turn off the station because it is unfair to its workers.
CWA 6314 is continuing efforts to negotiate a contract with the station.