KEYT Staff Votes to Unionize Amid Calls for Fair Wages and Workplace Safety

Employees of the Central Coast news station KEYT have voted to unionize, with their decision certified on December 3 by the National Labor Relations Board.

This vote secures Local 600, a union representing workers in 13 other broadcast news stations across the nation, as the official representative for collective bargaining for the staff. KEYT staff roles include videographers, editors, multimedia journalists, directors, and producers.

The move to unionize saw a 17-13 majority in favor last month, highlighting the growing concerns among staff for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Local 600’s mission emphasizes fighting for fair compensation, sustainable benefits, a safe working environment, and dignity for its members and their families.

News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG), KEYT’s parent company, headquartered in Missouri, is a family-owned entity that controls several West Coast TV stations, including in areas like Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz, and Palm Springs.

Despite being a part of a considerable network, KEYT has confronted challenges with competitive compensation among its staff, as depicted by recent job postings. A full-time role for a bilingual multimedia journalist/weekend sports anchor offers $37,000 to $39,00 per year, while a Newscast Director can expect $34,500 to $36,000 annually. Furthermore, audio/graphics operators are offered rates as low as $16 an hour, just skirting the minimum wage allowed in the state.

A similar online job listing for a multimedia journalist at KSBY in San Luis Obispo, owned by Scripps Media, is offering an annual salary of $50,000 to $60,000. The average annual pay of Multimedia Journalist in California is $53,271, according to salary.com.

Local 600 stated that KEYT marks the first station under NPG ownership to opt for unionization, overcoming what the union describes as a substantial anti-union campaign waged by the employers. Additionally, the union has initiated action with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that NPG California engaged in coercive tactics and interrogated employees about their union affiliations.

“Congratulations to the employees at KEYT in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria who voted to unionize with IATSE Local 600 in a wall-to-wall bargaining unit representing broadcast multimedia journalists, editors, producers, directors, and videographers,” Local 600 stated in a social media post.

This pivotal moment for KEYT’s employees reflects a broader trend across media outlets for workers to seek collective bargaining rights as a solution to industry-wide issues related to pay equity and job security. As the first NPG station to unionize, KEYT’s decision may pave the way for similar movements across the company’s network, signifying a potential shift in how media companies address employee relations and workplace standards.