Congress monitoring NBC-Telemundo merger. (Media).THE NBC-Telemundo merger is getting some prime time on Capitol Hill. The deal is generating interest within the Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is comprised of 21 Democratic Members of the United States Congress of Hispanic descent. The Caucus is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States and Puerto Rico. because it has brought up issues of pay disparities between English-language broadcasters and their Spanish-language counterparts. Also, the merger will set a precedent for other media companies that may enter the Latino market. The caucus, an informal group of legislators of Hispanic descent, can't do much more than take a public stance on the issue. However, its involvement adds to the pressure on the General Electric Co.-owned network to offer Telemundo employees the same wages and benefits NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. workers get. Locally, the deal affects KNBC-TV (Channel 4) and two Telemundo stations, KVEA-TV (Channel 52) and KWHY-TV (Channel 22). The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty is trying to organize employees at the Telemundo stations and wants them included in the NBC contract, without having an election for union representation. NBC officials are insisting that AFTRA AFTRA American Federation of Television & Radio Artists hold a vote sanctioned by the National Labor Relations Board National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), independent agency of the U.S. government created under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act), and amended by the acts of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Labor Act) and 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act), which affirmed labor's right . The union has found support among community and political leaders, including L.A. City Council President Alex Padilla Alex Padilla is a politician in California. He was elected as the State Senator for the 20th District of California in November 2006 and was inaugurated in early December. In order to enter the Senate he had to resign as Councilman for the 7th District on the Los Angeles City . Members of the caucus's Telecommunications and Technology taskforce, headed by Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, met with AFTRA and NBC representatives earlier in the month. Staff reporter Claudia Peschiutta can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229, or at cpeschiutta@labusinessjournal.com |
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