TV & VIDEO - July 21, 1989

In a surprise move, negotiators for a major technicians’ union and ABC said Thursday that they had reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract, subject to a ratification vote by union members to be completed by Aug. 11. But officials of the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians said they won’t make recommendations for or against the pact, which covers 2,150 full-time ABC staffers, including those at KABC-TV in Los Angeles. A majority of NABET members last May rejected ABC’s previous offer. Talks were at an impasse until Wednesday, when the union made what an ABC official called “a very constructive” proposal on job seniority. ABC’s offer is not retroactive to March 31, the date NABET’s previous ABC contract expired. The union, which hadn’t called for a strike vote, last struck ABC in 1977. That walkout lasted 20 weeks.