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| June/July 2001 A Message From The President We discussed the troubling trend of 'hubbing'. Hubbing occurs when, for instance, NBC in New York has a Master Control that feeds its New York station, its Chicago station, and other east coast owned and operated stations (O&O's). Using server technology, they can feed different commercials to each station and then return control to the local stations for news. Hubbing is possible because of the NBC programming that exists almost around the clock. NBC in Chicago will become the hub for NBC O&O's west of Chicago. There was also a lot of talk of NBC stations feeding PAX stations. How this will effect NABET at WDIV and Fox is not clear. Because Fox has only 2-3 hours of network originated shows/day, it is unlikely that they would hub and try to feed different syndicated shows, along with local commercials, to all their O&O's. Post-Newsweek own NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates. This makes hubbing problematic, but not impossible. NABET will keep abreast of this situation and make sure no contract violations are allowed. The Fox Coalition of IATSE, NABET and IBEW Unions across the country work very well together despite belonging to different Unions. It was fun meeting face to face those who we had before met only via conference calls. One issue that affects Fox employees is Fox's attempt to have employees use personal credit cards for business travel. The Coalition consensus is for members to resist this. If necessary, deny having credit cards or insist that cards are 'maxed' out so Fox will have to pay. The Fox Coalition is checking into state laws that may make the Fox practice illegal. This includes their quite disturbing practice of retaining member credit card numbers in company files. CWA is restructuring to allow for the CWA Locals, that represent Radio/TV facilities, inclusion into the NABET sector. This will allow for a greater exchange of ideas. The NABET move into the standard CWA budget has been very successful. Previously somewhat in debt NABET is well financed by CWA. Fears of loss of control to CWA seem ill-founded. CWA likes the way NABET operates and support us as well. Local 43 offers printed copies of Mark Bell's ENG Safety Newsletter to our members. After reading it feel free to pass it on to a reporter, assignment editor or to shooters you may encounter on the street. Internet Access: AOL's price increase may give you a reason to shop around for cheaper service. Recently, Bignet .net offered Union's rates of $119/year ($226/2year) waiving their $25 set up fee for Union members. For more info call 810-939-4660. Check out the AFL-CIO's www.workingfamilies for unlimited internet access. The cost is $14.95/mo. Call 800-806-2150 for more information.
Free Trade Of The Americas, or NAFTA On Steroids
Endorsed by corporate America, FTAA would give the Bush Administration “fast-track” negotiating authority. Congress would only vote yes or no on trade deals and would not be able to make amendments, even if changes were badly needed to protect workers' rights or the environment. FTAA would create a free trade zone between every country but Cuba in North and South America and the Caribbean. FTAA has been dubbed as NAFTA on steroids by labor, environmental and human rights activists throughout the hemisphere. A study by the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit, nonpartisan group, reports NAFTA directly contributed to worker loss of jobs, wages and benefits. Since its inception in 1994, the US lost 766,000 jobs. Michigan lost 46,817 jobs, second only to California (82,354 jobs lost). Seventy two percent of all jobs lost were in US Manufacturing. These losses mostly impact unskilled workers (non- college educated) who then must seek lower paying service jobs leading to lower average wages for all US workers, according to the study. In a Wall Street Journal poll of 500 corporate executives, one quarter said they were very likely or somewhat likely to use the threat of moving as bargaining leverage-lowering benefits and wages for working families. NAFTA has created a more unequal Canadian society. According to the study, real incomes declined for a majority of Canadians in the 1990's and employment became more insecure. And while productivity has grown, wages have not. The NAFTA prediction of a more narrow productivity gap with the US has not come to pass, rather the gap has widened. In Mexico, middle class jobs are phased out in favor of lower paying jobs. A vote on FTAA is expected in early June. A letter on the CWA website can be downloaded and sent to your representative: www.cwa-union.org For a complete copy of the study: http://www.epinet.org/briefing papers/nafta01mx.html.
However, the Company again violated our contract by installing server software in Master Control. This is clearly not allowed. Our contract states the Company may handle the equipment for testing, instruction and evaluation purposes. This blatant jurisdictional violation is also going to arbitration. A watchful tech brought the software violation to the steward's attention and the Union depends on each of us to guard our contract. Please take a few moments to become familiar with your contract. It is a legal document the Company must abide by and enforce. The contract protects your jurisdiction and your job.
After 1 year: 2 weeks (one of which may be taken at the end of 6 months); after 5 years: 3 weeks; after 15 years: 4 weeks. Contrary to the Fox2 memo on vacations, our contract does not allow the Company to take away vacation time-ever. They can assign vacation. If you have unused vacation, try to use it to avoid having it assigned. The Company's problems of covering time-off gives us concerns that they won't be able to cover vacations. This could be a real problem in the next negotiations, if things don't improve dramatically. It also could precipitate grievances. For the majority of us, working on our 6th day, first day off within the Company work week of Monday-Sunday, gives us 1 & one-half time pay, while working on day 7 (2nd day off) in the same work week gives us double time. However, there is one exception! If you have Sunday/Monday off which crosses between work weeks: your 6th day can be Sunday of one work week and your 7th day, Monday of the next week, if you work those two adjacent days. In those cases you will be paid 1 & one half pay for Sunday and double time for Monday. The Company now agrees they were wrong in turning down that pay. If you can dig up time sheets and pay stubs that show you were not paid accordingly, the Company will retroactively pay for their mistakes. Having Sunday/Monday off, working Monday on your day off and the following Sunday on your day off is not considered adjacent days so you would just get one and one half time pay for both days, not double time for Sunday. Consider this when agreeing to accept OT assignments. Steward's Report: The Company agreed to pay a daily hire for canceling work with improper notification; we wrote Management on the possibility of a staffing shortage due to their refusal to hire additional daily hires for peak vacation period, their reply did not address our concerns. Remember that Long Term Disability (LTD) is cheap, but effective. Please make sure you select it for your family's peace of mind. Color Space Conversion and Sub-Sampling for Data Compression As you can see from Table 1 uncompressed video files are extremely large and some form of data compression must be employed for practical storage and transmission of digital content. The first method of data compression we will be considering will be Color Space Conversion.
There are different Color Space Conversion models as you as you can see in Table 2. For the sake of brevity we will only consider the CCIR-601( Y,Cr,Cb) model and dispense with mathematics involved but only consider the components where Y=Luminance (Black & White), Cr=Luminance-Red and Cb=Luminance-Blue. From these components all three primary video components can be derived.
Color Sub-Sampling One method of Data Compression is to simply remove data that will not be used. The Human visual system is less sensitive to variations of color than to variations of intensity. This has been known for years and is the basis for NTCS, PAL, and SECAM encoding systems. The International Consultative Committee on Broadcasting recommendation CCIR 601-2 specification for Color Sub-Sampling is represented by three digit sequence separated by colors. The first digit represents the Y (luminance) sample, the second digit represents the Cr (luminance-red) sample and the third digit represents the Cb (luminance-blue) sample. The Most common color sub-sampling ratio are 4:2:2, 4:1:1. Using an 8-bit sample size, a pixel of uncompressed is represented by 24 bits of data (8 bits Red, 8 bits Blue, 8 bits Green). After color space conversion and color sub-sampling this pixel can be represented by 16 bits (4:2:2) or 12 Bits (4:1:1).
As you can see from Tables 4 and 5, we have been successful in reducing the file size and in the next article we will examine other ways to reduce the size further.
Dan Morgan, WDIV editor, can be reached at (313)222-0543. Strengthening Patients' Rights
The legislation is important because it would improve the quality of care that people receive. CWA recognizes though it is only one step on the road toward our ultimate goal of universal health care coverage. Last year, legislation to expand health care benefits and protections to more people was derailed by the Republican leadership in an effort to weaken the measure and draw a Presidential veto. The House-passed measure, commonly known as the Patients Bill of Rights, was considered a giant step forward toward the enactment of basic rights for patients. Unfortunately, the measure was amended with provisions that only continue the trend of limited patient rights. CWA supports the Bipartisan Protection Act of 2001. It would require health plans and insurance companies to offer consumers more care options, and greater access to patient information.
Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' declaration of independence from the Republicans is firing a warning shot across the party bow. If a party member can't find middle ground within his own ranks, who can? Certainly not middle America who, according to latest polls, are questioning George W. Bush's policies and his true agenda. Americans do not look favorably upon Bush's extreme policies aimed at working families and the environment. But while times are certainly raucous behind the stone walls of the GOP, working families are breathing a sigh of relief because the Jeffords' party switch has quite possibly derailed the biggest boondoggle ever for big business and oil. While the GOP (gas and oil party) placate the likes of Exxon-Mobil and Enron, Bush's first 100 days in office has launched the harshest attack of our times on working families and their unions. Already in May, the president has packed a new Social Security commission with privatizers. In April, Bush supported a draft of the Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty that would extend NAFTA throughout the Western Hemisphere; rescinded strict reporting requirements for union-busting consultants and attorneys; revoked a rule to reduce the acceptable level of arsenic in drinking water; submitted a budget with deep cuts in working family priorities to fund his millionaire (they get up to $55,000/year) tax cut; canceled OSHA grants for 19 workplace health and safety programs; proposed cutting federal health care programs for the uninsured by 86 percent; suspended and moved to repeal contractor responsibility rules. Bush sided with big business in scuttling OSHA's ergonomics rule that would have prevented crippling injuries to workers, mostly women. Bush's agenda abolishes corporate income tax and capital gains taxes for businesses, shifting that burden to individuals. Corporate and business taxes provide 10 to 35% of federal revenue. And in a move to discourage retirement, Treasury-Secretary Paul O'Neill told the Financial Times, “able-bodied adults who have the ability to earn income have an obligation not to pass part of their own responsibility on to a broader population.” The Bush agenda threatens social security and medicare, yet subsidizes the nuclear industry by reducing their liability in case of nuclear meltdown or disaster. Bush's agenda threatens overtime pay and waters down a patients bill of rights. Bush's agendas ignores his loss of the popular vote by well over 500,000 votes. His mean-spirited, arrogant actions prove his pledge for compassionate conservatism and moderation was a ploy to win moderate voters; a cynical bait and switch game that promises consumers one thing, before selling them something else. It's a game most unworthy of voters who took Bush at his word. Senator Jeffords' party switch serves as a reminder that most Americans are moderate and won't accept extreme policies; it calls for Bush to honestly push for pro-working family and pro-environment policies rather than simply having a photo op when his polls look dicey. So far, the GOP led by Senator Trent Lott is not heeding the shot across the bow. Instead, Lott has issued a declaration of war and is battening down the hatches, hell bent on pushing Bush's unpopular and regressive agenda through Congress. Give a resounding no to unfair Corporate influence in our government. Tell Senators Levin and Stabenow, you are against Bush's anti-working family agenda: (800)-611-0063.
A Call To Action: Important Member Information The same is true of work. When called into the bosses office for a 'chat' err on the side of caution, take your Steward with you. The Weingarten Rule states that you have the right to have a Union Steward present. If that right is denied you can terminate the meeting. Ask your Steward for a copy of Weingarten Rule. Help Detroit Public School workers (DPS) save their jobs from privatization. Join DPS for a rally, Tuesday, June 12 outside the Detroit Schools Center Building, 4:00 to 5:30 pm. It's a New Orleans style revival complete with jazz band, sashes and parasol umbrellas. 5057 Woodward, one block north of Warren Ave. Journey Through Michigan's Labor History Between Now and Sept. 3, workers are joining Detroit's 300th birthday celebration under the theme, “We Built This City.” Plan For Your Child's Education Plan your child's future before he/she is born. The goal should be to establish your child's financial security in case something happens to you. Family Medical Leave Act The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), instituted in 1994 allows all employees an opportunity to take time off from work to care for family members without the fear of losing their job. Campaign Finance Reform CWA has long advocated the need to reform our country's campaign finance laws. The amount of money needed to pay for election campaigns has steadily increased with no end in sight. The necessity of politicians to raise such funds leaves public officials little choice but to spend much of their time replenishing their coffers. The cycle of fundraising and campaign spending has led to unseemly reliance on money to fuel legislative action.
20833 Southfield Rd, Ste 104 |
The Network Committee (NCC) meeting and Fox Coalition meetings this April in Las Vegas were both very informative and useful.
In April, George W. Bush met with other government leaders in Quebec for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) conference. Billed as the answer to the vast trade capability of the European Union (EU) media conglomerates, not surprisingly, supplied little detail on FTAA, which literally affects millions of working people.
CWA is pursuing the passage of legislation that would provide patients with expanded health care protection. The legislation would alleviate some of the abuses resulting from health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other managed care plans that prevent or delay the delivery of necessary care.
from the editors desk: George W. Bush Pulls A Bait And Switch