590 MIGHTY MEMORY #346

WARM HAD LABOR DISPUTES 

Years ago you'd hear about Radio and TV strikes. The very fact that there was such a thing is amazing in this era of no unions pretty much anywhere in America. WARM Radio was not immune to disagreements when the station was trying to make its mark in the 1940s. This is an article from June 4th, 1947 regarding a union dispute. Here is the article, and a retype of it follows. 

RADIO STATION, UNION AT ODDS

PROPOSED CONCILIATION IN WARM DISPUTE 

The U.S. Conciliation Service will be asked to step into the dispute involving radio stations WARM and the American Communications Association, CIO, in a last effort to avert a threatened strike, it was learned yesterday.

W.A. Lamey, Vice President Northeastern Branch ACE, disclosed in Philadelphia that with national union officials sanction, he would as the Conciliation Service “to move in’.

If the radio station does not agree to this, Mr. Lamey said a 24 hour notice of termination of the existing contract would be given and a walkout of four radio technicians will take place.

Three separate sessions have been held since April 30^th in an effort to reach agreement with the union’s request for increase in wages. Mr. Lamey said “station officials flatly refused any demands.

Martin Memelo, President of WARM, is credited with the statements that the four technicians covered by the contract receive 60 dollars per week. The union is demanding $78.00.

“This demand”,  Memelo said “is excessive and almost twice as much as unorganized stations in the region are required to pay”.

The union is asking the company to grant the same wage scales which are in effect at stations WBRE and WBAX in Wilkes Barre, Mr. Lamed said.

The union official said it had been  a practice in the past for WARM to agree to wage scales negotiated at the Wilkes Barre stations. Mr. Memolo denied his station had the same contract terms as the Wilkes Barre stations.

We are competition with other stations that are not organized and we have to look after our own interests. Basically are differences are based on the unions wage demands Mr. Memolo added.

Letters dispatched by the ACA reaching local unions yesterday stated that “there is a possibility we have to resort to strike action to receive our demands”.

Support of these units was asked.

Officials of the ACA also revealed they are conducting an organization drive among engineers and announcers at radio station WGBI Scranton.