Arbiter gives WDAF leg up on union; KMBC loses Houston

Management at WDAF, Channel 4, was handed a victory this week when a federal arbiter kicked the station's 19 photographers out of the organizing unit that will vote on whether to join a union. The ruling leaves the 33 on-air reporters and anchors at WDAF to decide whether to become part of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). If the photographers want to join AFTRA or any other union, they'll have to organize separately. Channel 4 general manager Stan Knott had asked the NLRB to split up the unit, but he wouldn't gloat over the decision. Strictly business, he said. "We told the employees we didn't feel like that was appropriate and that was why we did what we did," Knott said. "Frankly, the career pathing (between on-air and photographers) is not the same, and our photojournalists tend to be a little more technical in nature." Don Scott, head of the local AFTRA chapter, said he was not surprised by the decision but was disappointed nonetheless. "Our primary focus is to make sure that both groups, on-air and photographers, have the elections they want," he said. "There are some different approaches to take to get to that, and I'm not sure what they'll be." One of those approaches might involve waiting until the NLRB concludes its investigation of an unfair labor practice filed a week ago by AFTRA. That could take a month and would postpone a union vote until after the holidays. Or the union could file to proceed with a vote anyway. Knott thinks a delay would be unfair to employees who have contract negotiations coming up. Staffers concur, saying that the longer a vote is postponed, the more steam will go out of the organizing effort. Houston leaves KMBC You get the sense this isn't the last we'll see of Carlton Houston. The 28-year-old native Kansas Citian is leaving KMBC, Channel 9, where he has been a reporter for five years, to join ABC affiliate WEVC in Norfolk, Va. The Norfolk area market is comparable in size to Kansas City. But the big attraction to Houston is the chance, for the first time since college, to sit in the anchor's chair. The Hickman Mills and Mizzou graduate got his start in journalism 11 years ago as a high-school stringer for The Star. "Having grown up in Kansas City, I never expected to come back here and work. A lot of people still consider that an impossible jump from Columbia," said Houston, who was hired right out of college. "I worked with some of the finest people I'll ever work with here at Channel 9." To reach Aaron Barnhart, television writer for The Star, call 234-4790 or send e-mail to tvbarn@kansascity.com