Support WGME Workers (IBEW 1837) Fighting for a Fair Contract

Members of IBEW Local 1837 at WGME-TV (CBS 13) have been fighting for months for a fair contract, but the company’s parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group stubbornly refuses to give them living wages. These talented workers are Photographers, News Producers, Directors, News Editors, Assignment Editors, Operating Technicians, Maintenance Engineers, and Creative Producers who work extremely hard to deliver quality journalism about what’s happening in our communities.

Here’s how you can support our IBEW 1837 brothers and sisters:

1.) Show up to support WGME workers at an informational picket in Portland on Monday, March 3 from 7:30am to 9am. (Location - on the public sidewalk on Washington Avenue near the old Parker's Restaurant - 1349 Washington Ave).  Parking on the side streets (Maplewood St, Abbott St, Mona Rd.)

2.) Call WGME General Manager Susan Walther at 207-228-7703 and leave a voice mail or email SWalther@sbgtv.com and ask her politely to settle a fair contract with her employees.

3.) Upload a photo or video of yourself with a sign stating: “I support WGME workers #FairContract” to https://wgme.com/chimein

WGME has repeatedly stalled in negotiations, first meeting with workers just twice last October. Following a picket by union members in December, the union met with the company and agreed to a three-month contract extension to March 8.

This is a multi-billion dollar company that hauled in record revenues last year thanks to massive political ad spending during 2024 election. They can absolutely afford to pay their dedicated employees enough to keep up with the soaring cost of living in Southern Maine.

As Chief Steward and Photographer Jack Amrock, a 30-year veteran at the station, said recently, he and his colleagues “will fight for what is right for as long as it takes to get a contract that allows them to pay rent, buy groceries, and heat their homes. They shouldn’t have to decide which bill might not get paid because a MULTI-BILLION dollar corporation refuses to pay a fair and livable wage.”