TV technical union strikes against Pac-12 Networks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The union representing freelance technical employees who work on live sporting events for Pac-12 Networks went on strike Saturday.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees wants to establish standard wages and benefits for the freelancers who work on the network’s telecasts.

About 100 union members picketed outside Galen Center, where Southern California hosted No. 12 Minnesota in a men’s basketball game. Picket lines also were set up at Arizona State, Oregon State, Oregon and Washington on Saturday where league games were being played. They carried signs reading, ‘Pac 12 Networks Unfair.’

According to Steve Aredas, international representative for the IATSE, only one camera was expected to be used on USC’s game instead of the usual six.

Since going on the air in September 2012, Pac-12 Networks has employed technicians represented by the IATSE at 10 of the league’s schools in the union’s jurisdiction. But the union says the network has used non-union labor on many events in those markets or a combination of union and non-union labor working side-by-side.