Washington, DC, Dec. 25 – The IATSE and Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic have reached a tentative agreement covering freelance broadcast technicians in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. Covered are about 60 techs who help produce Washington Wizards and Capitals and regional college sports games for Comcast Sportsnet. The pact covers both home and away games.
The agreement came after 40 technicians staged a one-day strike on Tuesday, Dec. 19, which left network managers to cope with the Captials’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This is the first contract that covers freelancers made directly with Comcast as opposed to a subcontractor. In New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, the same jobs are covered by contracts with either crewing or trucking companies.
The agreement concludes 15 months of negotiations which failed to produce an accord. Last fall, the freelancers voted overwhelmingly to join the IATSE following an NLRB-supervised election.
The agreement is expected to be ratified by the bargaining unit before mid-January.
