Writers Guild of America East members at the streaming service CBS News 24/7 are holding a 24-hour walkout on Tuesday after no agreement was reached following the expiration of their contract last week.
The walkouts are taking place at the CBS News Broadcast Center in Manhattan and KPIX-TV CBS News Bay Area in San Francisco. The contract for the 60-member bargaining unit expired at the end of the day on March 9.
The union’s bargaining committee said in a statement, “CBS News 24/7 journalists are walking off the job on both coasts today because management refuses to agree to a new contract with essential work protections and fair wages. Despite multiple days of good faith negotiations and a strike pledge signed by 95% of our members to emphasize the seriousness of our demands, management continues to offer us worse terms than in our last contracts. We chose this field to cover the news, but we believe this work stoppage is necessary to achieve a fair contract. We eagerly await an acceptable contract offer from Paramount—which just shelled out tens of billions of dollars to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.”
A CBS News spokesperson said, “We continue to negotiate in good faith and hope to reach a fair resolution quickly.”
The newsroom has undergone rounds of layoffs and buyouts, and more are expected. There also are fears of further downsizing when Paramount completes its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, given that will leave the company with two global news outlets, CBS News and CNN.
Beth Godvik, WGAE vice president of broadcast/cable/streaming news, said in a statement, “Paramount has billions to spend acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, but still hasn’t guaranteed fair wages and basic job protections for the workers who make their streaming operation run.”
The walkout will end at 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the union said.
