HENDERSON, Ky. — Members of the news and production departments, as well as creative service employees, at local television station WEHT/WTVW announced Monday afternoon that they intend to unionize.
The group said it wants to join the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA.
Organizing employees sent a news release to local media outlets and claimed to have the support of about 70% of what they said were 60 employees in the three departments.
WEHT/WTVW, which brands its local news broadcasts as "Eyewitness News," is owned by Texas-based Nexstar Media Group, Inc. A Nexstar representative told the Courier & Press that company spokesman Gary Weitman was out of the office Monday afternoon.
An article about the employees' unionization announcement was posted to the station's tristatehomepage.com news website at 1:11 p.m., according to a screengrab posted to Twitter . The article was no longer on the website two hours later, at 3:20 p.m.
The Courier & Press left a message with WEHT/WTVW News Director Warren Korff seeking comment about the apparent removal of the article.
The station's employees are the second among area news organizations to announce an intention to unionization this year. Courier & Press staffers did so in February.
According to the news release, the group has asked management to voluntarily recognize the union.
"We know that without our daily dedication, the product that is sold by WEHT/WTVW would not be able to continue with present levels of precision and professionalism," the release states. "We are also unionizing with hopes of improving the workplace environment and our personal lives beyond the walls of Eyewitness News. Both the mental/emotional health and financial security of our members are important."
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: TV station WEHT/WTVW employees announced their intention to unionize on Monday
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