Tensions Mount in Deadlock between Narrators and APH Management

Tensions Mount in Deadlock between Narrators and APH Management

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The Braille Monitor – October 2000 Edition

Tensions Mount in Deadlock between
Narrators and APH Management

by Sheila Koenig

Sheila Koenig

From the Editor: One of the most familiar organizations in

the blindness field is the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in

Louisville, Kentucky. And one of the most familiar parts of the APH operation

is the recording studio that provides books and periodicals for the National

Library Service. Less well known is the fact that APH narrators and management

have been engaged in a wage dispute for more than two years. The problem seems

to be coming to a head, so we thought that Braille Monitor readers would be

interested in knowing something about what is going on since it may well affect

everyone who reads Talking Books.

But figuring out what is going on has not been easy. Since

the two sides are and have been negotiating, Dr. Tuck Tinsley, APH President,

has been unwilling to say much for the record. The narrators and their union

representative have been more forthcoming, but of course there are two sides

to every disagreement. Braille Monitor reporter Sheila Koenig has done

her best to discover what has been going on. This is what she says:

Dr. Tuck Tinsley, President of the American Printing House for

the Blind (APH), maintains, "People are our most important resource. We appreciate

and respect the work of all our employees." The book and periodical narrators

who work at

APH might disagree. In 1998 narrators organized a union as part

of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in order

to try to obtain a stronger voice in determining their working conditions.

APH currently employs twenty-seven part-time narrators, who work varying numbers

of hours. According to narrators, the two full-time employees, who work about

twenty-five hours a week, do the bulk of the reading.

The narrators are currently paid eighty-five cents per good

recorded minute: a rate, they believe, that is completely inadequate. "For

every minute we put on tape," says narrator Roy Avers, "we probably spend

a total of three minutes working." Avers explains that narrators spend much

additional time in the reference center reviewing dialect, word pronunciation,

and background information. After the book has been recorded, it is sent to

a proofreader, who checks it looking for errors. If any are found, the book

is returned to the narrator to correct. The narrators say that the current

pay schedule does not account for preparation or correction time, and the

wage does not take into consideration differences in the level of reading

difficulty.

Charles Abbott, studio director of Boston's Talking Book recording

studio, WRS, confirms that his studio pays between $50 and $60 per good recorded

hour. The range in pay depends both on the length of readers' tenure and the

level of the material's reading difficulty. Narrators say that other studios

pay comparable rates to Boston, with Talking Books Publishers, Inc., in Denver

paying a rate of $1 a minute and the American Foundation for the Blind in

New York paying $1.17.

When they raised this disparity, APH narrators say, management

agreed to meet informally to discuss the matter. According to narrators, however,

management was only willing to discuss APH's lack of funds. Eventually management

offered three cents more a minute, but that seemed like an insult to the narrators,

who had been hoping for something like twenty cents more a minute. Serious

negotiations would occur, narrators concluded, only if they organized with

a union.

Apparently Tinsley next offered them a pay schedule that was

very close to what they had been hoping for, but the offer included no response

to the narrators' plan to form a union shop. They concluded the time had come

to organize with AFTRA. As soon as they did, the narrators say, management

rescinded its most recent offer.

Since that time narrators and management have been negotiating.

Negotiations, however, appear to be deadlocked. Herta Suarez, Chief Negotiator

and Executive Director of AFTRA in the Tri-State Region (which includes Louisville),

says, "It has been a very frustrating experience because it has been like

bargaining with ourselves. It appears to all of us who have been involved

that they [APH management] don't want to have a contract with AFTRA."

The narrators say they have orally refused the most recent offer

extended by management, which they say was actually a reduction in pay of

five cents a minute. The narrators say that management has told them this

is APH's final offer. The narrators say they expect that, when they submit

their written re fusal, management will most likely declare an impasse in

negotiations. "Two-and-a-half years is a long time to wait," says Avers. "This

wouldn't be a problem if management showed a willingness to work with us."

Suarez agrees: "There is no point in going to the table if they

are taking the same position [they have previously maintained]."

It is pretty clear that the deadlock cannot hold much longer,

but the narrators and management have different pictures of how it will be

resolved. Tuck Tinsley says that he believes by October there will be a contract.

"If not," he says, "[the narrators] will continue to work without contract.

They are good people, committed to what we are doing."

The narrators think differently. They say that the National

Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is their only protection, but if management refuses

to negotiate, the NLRB cannot protect them anymore. Narrators might consider

a strike authorization vote, which would give them power to call a strike.

Suarez says, "We are regrouping to determine which route to take in our long

fight to try to get justice and a fair contract for these people."

Where all this will end is uncertain at the moment. All we can

say is that the Braille Monitor will keep you informed.

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