2025 ABC Negotiations; BULLETIN #1

B U L L E T I N
NABET-CWA/ABC-Disney
Washington DC

2025 ABC Master Agreement Update - Bulletin #1
July 31, 2024

NABET-CWA and ABC, Inc. announced today that the Union and the Company have extended the 2021-2025 Master Agreement through September 30, 2026.  This contract extension will provide workers covered by this agreement with a total of 8.5% in base wage increases, across the 18-month period which begins April 1, 2025.  Additionally, all the other terms of the 2021-2025 Master Agreement will remain in place through September 30, 2026, without any concessions to the Company.  This unprecedented agreement was reached while the Union’s ABC Network Negotiating Committee held internal meetings in New York City last week.  Those meetings were in preparation for the upcoming Master Agreement bargaining with ABC, which had been scheduled to commence on September 23, 2024.  

Details of the extension agreement include:

●    A 5% base wage scale increase for all Groups, in all Units, in all locations, effective on April 1, 2025.
●    An additional 3.5% base wage scale increase for all Groups, in all Units, in all locations, effective on April 1, 2026.
●    Both increases will be also applied to the daily hire travel-only day pay rates.
●    Substantial increases to Flex Plan and 401(k) contributions for daily hires through both the reallocation of cash, as well as an overall $10 increase to the total amount of the payment in lieu of benefits, effective April 1, 2025, for every daily hire workday, including travel-only days.

The Union also proposed that these raises be applied to overscale rates.  However, the Company was averse to that proposal.  Improvements are still needed in this contract, but the benefits of this extension, particularly 8.5% in base wage increases, and the improvements to daily hire benefits and travel-only days, outweigh the delay in bargaining.  The Master Agreement will now expire on September 30, 2026, with bargaining mandated to begin no later than April 1, 2026.

Use this link to access the executed extension agreement: 

The Union received great feedback in response to its pre-bargaining survey and appreciates the time and thought that members put into their answers.  The Union received great ideas, many of which have been incorporated into the proposals which were being drafted for September 2024.  That work will now be the foundation for negotiations in the spring of 2026.  In the meantime, the Union’s leadership intends to use the extra time to focus on mobilizing members and building the power and solidarity that will carry us into the 2026 negotiations and beyond.

In Solidarity,
Your NABET-CWA-ABC Network Negotiating Committee
Local 16: William Bores, President; Jim Joyce, Vice-President
Local 31: Alex Staherski, Vice-President; Bantu Opiotennione, President
Local 41: Stephen Griswold, Region 4 Vice-President; Patrick Keating and Michael Johnson, 
               WLS Shop Stewards; Gene Maxwell, Temporary Administrator
Local 51: Carrie Biggs-Adams, President; Brad Belstock, Vice-President
NABET-CWA Sector: Charlie Braico, NABET-CWA President and Chief Spokesperson; 
Judi Chartier, General Counsel; Steve Rubbinaccio, Sports Agreement Coordinator; 
Ron Gabalski, Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President