About 20 IATSE Local 600 members, government officials, and supporters joined in arms to picket against KEYT parent company News-Press & Gazette (NPG) ahead of contract mediation on Thursday morning. According to IATSE Local 600 representative Raquel Ruiz, Thursday’s negotiations left with more of the status quo, and another mediation session has been set for June 5.
IATSE Local 600 members — which includes KEYT videographers, producers, multimedia journalists, editors, and directors — are asking for higher wages, an increase of three dollars an hour, which would allow employees to live in the communities they cover. They are also asking for better benefits, and protections on overtime and scheduling.
Over a year of contract negotiations dating back to March 2025, and about a dozen meetings between IATSE Local 600 and NPG, has caused many employees to leave the company, leaving looming vacancies.
“It’s not just a content issue for us. It’s a public safety thing,” said KEYT producer Owen Pratt, referring to the fires currently burning in the Cuyama Valley and on Santa Rosa Island. “There’s evacuation orders, there’s a direction the wind is blowing and the flames, and there’s a lot of information that people need.”
Pratt said that there were about 40 union members when negotiations started, but now there are about 30. He says that for their 200-mile, northernmost coverage area, from Santa Maria to about San Miguel, there are only two staffers available to cover breaking news.
“These guys are literally hanging on by a thread,” said Joyce Roberson, former KEYT assistant chief videographer. She left the company on May 1 because of low pay and exhaustion from having to work two jobs to support herself.
Roberson now works as an associate communications specialist at UFCW Local 770 and was on the picket line in support of her former colleagues. “They’re not asking to get rich; they’re asking to be able to live. It’s a simple ask.”
Union members were joined on the picket line by City Councilmembers Oscar Gutierrez and Wendy Santamaria, the Central Labor Council, and members of IATSE Local 442 and UFCW Local 770.
A former KEYT employee himself, District 3 Councilmember Gutierrez recalled his time working in the control room about 20 years ago. “It was pretty bare bones back then too, and the pay was not good for the amount of work that was required,” Gutierrez said. “I hope that the KEYT leadership listens to them, and really takes them seriously, because they’re very important to democracy.”
Although negotiations still are ongoing, union rep Ruiz said she is “feeling very positive after seeing this large group” on the picket line and is hopeful for progress in June.
