Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/555596
Contract highlights include: • Retaining overtime and related pay for all members of the unit; • The 403(b) retirement plan will remain fixed at 7 percent of pay and overtime for the next two years; • Union-guaranteed benefits remain intact in the contract; and • NPR agreed to pay 70 percent of the total health insurance premiums, with the remaining 30 percent to be paid by employees. SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White said, "SAG- AFTRA members, with the support of our dedicated staff in Washington, D.C., were able to negotiate a solid successor agreement with NPR that includes preserving important benefits and pay increases. I congratulate our negotiating team and our amazing NPR members on their new contract, as well as for their tenacity on Twitter, which demonstrated what member solidarity and staff collaboration can accomplish." "I think the social media campaign was extremely effective in that it involved not just our NPR members but also SAG- AFTRA, which immediately made sure #WeMakeNPR went viral," said Jack Speer, NPR newscaster and SAG-AFTRA negotiating team member for this contract. "It showed what the union can accomplish when members are united. I really believe it helped to turn the tide in our negotiations." Speer also sits on the Executive Board of the Washington-Mid Atlantic Local as well as the National Broadcast Steering Committee representing the interests of all broadcasters nationwide. SAG-AFTRA member Eyder Peralta, an NPR reporter who served on the negotiating team and designed the logo for the campaign, commented on the successful action. "The #WeMakeNPR campaign worked for three simple reasons: It was positive. It showed management that we are united. But, most importantly, it showed the world that the journalists at NPR are willing to do just about anything in service to NPR's mission," he said. Sonari Glinton, who is a NPR correspondent and shop steward for NPR West, also served on the negotiating team and helped spearhead the social media campaign. Glinton said, "At NPR, we were fighting to preserve the culture that made all this excellent journalism possible in the first place. What was great to me about our social media campaign, #WeMakeNPR, is that it showed management our solidarity while it helped create it at the same time. It was organizing 101, but on Twitter and Facebook." In addition to NPR, SAG-AFTRA represents several public media professionals at news organizations across the country, including Chicago Public Media, KPBS in San Diego, KPCC in Los Angeles, KQED in San Francisco, WNYC in New York, KPLU in Seattle and WETA-TV/FM in Washington, D.C. "The #WeMakeNPR campaign worked for three simple reasons: It was positive. It showed management that we are united. But, most importantly, it showed the world that the journalists at NPR are willing to do just about anything in service to NPR's mission." — Eyder Peralta, NPR reporter and negotiating team member SAG-AFTRA members at NPR gather for the silent march through the newsroom. Video production by Fred Nye. Music by Michael Hampton.