Working without a contract since 2017 at rates that have remained stagnant despite inflation and the parent company’s continued financial success, photojournalists at Fox 8 in the IATSE union are fighting for better wages.
“Crews were being sent out to cover Covid, homicides and chemical spills (to name a few) to bring crucial information to their community,” one told Scene. “These photojournalists want their wages to match their contributions to the station’s long-term success.”
An I-480 billboard and petition site are helping to get their message out.
IATSE is negotiating with the Fox 8 management team and parent company Nexstar in Federal mediation. According to the photojournalists’ statement, the Nexstar team has been unprepared for meetings and isn’t taking their concerns seriously.
“It also seems like management hasn’t been moving as quickly in negotiations as they can, really taking their time and not getting things back in a timely manner to the union,” one of the photojournalists said, adding that the negotiating team failed to bring a proposal to a scheduled session when it was their turn to do so..
Meanwhile, Nexstar reported net revenue of $5.2 billion in the 2022 fiscal year.
“2022 was a monumental year for Nexstar as we generated $5.2 billion of revenue as well as record levels of Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow,” Nexstar Chairman and CEO Perry Sook wrote in a quarterly report. “We returned approximately 68% of our 2022 attributable free cash flow, or a record $1.02 billion, to our shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends.”
Meanwhile, the group notes on a petition site that “photojournalists were only offered a 1.25% wage increase.”
“[They] have endured the worst of the worst conditions over the last two and a half years putting their lives in danger to bring the news to the public fearlessly,” the petition says.
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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.