The Buzz
The Buzz
THE AMERICAN Federation of Television and Radio Artists has withdrawn its administrative presence from Hawaii, leaving members to call a toll-free number in Los Angeles for services. Broadcasters union
leaves HawaiiTerry Walker, the Washington D.C.-based national administrative executive for the federation, said the union for years had an arrangement with the Hawaii Screen Actors Guild to administer union benefits. However, he said, "The (federation national) finance committee decided it was no longer economically feasible to handle representation from the administrative side in that way." The agreement ended April 1.
"AFTRA work has dropped off a lot in Hawaii," he said, "since the television stations are no longer signed to the union's collective bargaining agreements."
"We have a little less than 100 active members in Hawaii now," Walker said, which he estimated was down from a peak of somewhere from 150 to 175 in the past 10 to 12 years. He said members are involved in radio commercial production, and with some Japanese production companies.
One popular local production house sees virtually no union-related work.
"Advertising agencies are used to working with non-union budgets, and the market is small," said Ross Okamura, president of Audio Bytes Corp.
Hawaii's largest advertising agency in terms of billing, Starr Seigle Communications Inc., does not have a contract with the artists' federation.
"We are not a member because it would cost the clients more money, and the talent -- based on what they're paid in this small market, they can't afford the dues," Chairman and CEO Jack Bates said.
Guild officials in Hawaii and California were not available for comment.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4757, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com