National Labor Relations Board Orders Spanish Broadcasting System to Bargain in Good Faith with SAG-AFTRA

LOS ANGELES — SAG-AFTRA today announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 31 office has ordered recidivist law-breaker Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) to comply in part by Nov. 29 with a unilateral settlement agreement in connection with a series of unfair labor practices. For over three years, SBS has continuously violated labor laws. Consequently, the NLRB has issued two significant complaints against SBS for its plethora of bad-faith bargaining and retaliation for union activity.

“We’d like to thank the NLRB for seeing SBS’s bad-faith bargaining for what it is and for requiring them to do the right thing: Comply and bargain in good faith,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. “We will continue to fight on behalf of our members for a fair first contract and will not rest until we have an agreement that is just.” 

Added SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White, “SBS hypocritically continues to tout its excellent ratings and revenue growth within the Hispanic media markets while it proposes double-digit wage decreases for its on-air talent. Our members are key to the company’s growth and deserve respect and dignity in the work place.”

SBS is not only required to post an NLRB notice delineating it violations of federal law at its Los Angeles station facility, it is also obligated to send it to all unionized employees in English and in Spanish. SBS will also have to read this notice, in English and Spanish, to unionized employees at radio stations MEGA and LA RAZA. In addition, SBS remains liable to make payment of back wages due to eight employees who were affected when SBS unilaterally assigned bargaining unit work to non-union employees.  

Further, SBS must provide information it previously refused to furnish to SAG-AFTRA, and SBS is compelled to bargain in good faith with SAG-AFTRA until a collective bargaining agreement is achieved or a good-faith impasse is reached. 

In 2016, on-air talent at La Raza (KLAX/KXOL – 97.9 FM) and MEGA (96.3 FM) voted for SAG-AFTRA to represent them, making them the first unionized Spanish-language radio stations in Los Angeles. In 2018, Chicago SBS station (WLEY “La Ley”) also voted to join SAG-AFTRA, but has not reached a fair deal. 

SAG-AFTRA represents Spanish-speaking broadcasters and journalists across the country, including at Univision in Los Angeles (KMEX), New York (WXTV and Radio WADO) and San Francisco (KDTV), and Telemundo in New York (WNJU/TV), Philadelphia (WUSI/TV) and Chicago (WSNS/TV).

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.