Union label looks for a place inside Channel 4 Staffers weigh pros and cons of labor effort

Ask those leading the drive to organize a union at WDAF, Channel 4, and they'll tell you they're fighting for respect and common courtesy around the newsroom as much as for higher pay. To others around Channel 4 the campaign is mainly about money - and it won't work. The local chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or AFTRA, has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to represent the approximately 55 reporters, anchors and photographers currently employed at Channel 4. An AFTRA spokesman said a majority of those employees have filled out union cards. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday to determine whether to divide on-air talent and photographers into separate voting groups for the union election, expected to take place in early December. Neither side is free to speak for the record. Management can't be perceived as trying to influence the vote, and those leading the union drive will be suspended without pay if they're quoted in the press without permission (a wonderfully self-contradictory policy for a news organization). But among those staffers interviewed recently - on the condition of anonymity, of course - even those not wild about organizing say they understand why so many have union fever. They say the work environment can be harsh and inflexible. And the demand for 46 1/2 hours of local news per week can be exhausting. On top of it all employees are paid less than their colleagues at Channels 5 and 9, both union shops, even though they put out far more news product. The boiling point, insiders agree, came on July 1 (or "Black Wednesday" as some called it), when general manager Stan Knott announced that overtime pay for all reporters and anchors would be eliminated the following week. In effect, claim union organizers, Knott was proposing as much as a 15 percent pay cut for some employees who work overtime routinely to fill WDAF's enormous news hole. Organizers say Knott pledged to help them fight for higher pay after he joined Channel 4 earlier this year. That's why the news relayed on Black Wednesday spurred new interest in organizing. (Knott was merely passing along Fox corporate policy to eliminate nonexempts in his reporting ranks.) "We have a group of people who work very, very hard and are putting out a lot of product filling a lot of news hours each day, and in some instances staffing is low and people are working harder than they should," said Don Scott, acting executive director for the AFTRA local. "They've gotten to a point where they think they need an outside voice for their issues and concerns, because management wasn't hearing them." Knott takes exception with that assessment. After the July 1 meeting, he offered a compromise: Reporters could stay nonexempt - or they could choose exemption and receive a salary hike to compensate for the lost overtime pay. "I met with 44-45 people individually and only three or four had any displeasure," Knott said. "They certainly have communicated with you more than they've communicated with anyone else, and that's sad, isn't it?" As Knott is always ready to point out, his door is wide open to hear any employee complaints. Many at WDAF say Knott's arrival earlier this year has been good for newsroom morale. The problem, employees on both sides of the union question say, is a news operation that's been unresponsive to them for years. They say reporters and photographers are assigned back-to-back or weekend shifts and informed of them at the last minute - usually by young, inexperienced managers. And even after hardship duty, getting a day off to recuperate is a hassle. "Everything is a hassle," one staffer said. Recent losses include anchor Courtney Maxwell Greene and reporter Randy Eilts, and some claim that the work environment encourages burnout. Others say the tough work would be easier to take were employees better compensated - although Knott contends that WDAF's total compensation package is competitive. "There's no question that the situation is intolerable," said one staffer who is undecided on whether to unionize. "The question is whether collective bargaining would improve it for the better." New GM at KTWU Eugene Williams is the new general manager at Topeka's public television station KTWU, replacing Dale Anderson, who retired this summer. Previously Williams managed the Chicago City Colleges' public TV outlet and was executive producer for the video satellite unit run by Western Illinois University in Macomb. His chief task at KTWU will be getting the station's digital signal on the air by the year 2003, as mandated by the government. That will involve raising millions of dollars and solving countless problems related to the new technology. At least Williams won't have to worry about equipment breaking down at KTWU's modern new facility, for which he has Anderson to thank. Williams called Anderson "a broadcast pioneer." "In my career I've always been building facilities and putting together staffs," Williams said. "Here I didn't have to do that." StarTouch: 889-7827 and enter 8852 (TVKC). E-mail: writeme@tvbarn.com.