PORTLAND, MAINE: The general manager of WGME-TV is fired up at a group of Democratic gubernatorial candidates for not buying the station’s air time. The Kennebec Journal reports that Tom Humpage, general manager of the Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate, criticized the four Democrats on air for boycotting WGME over a union dispute. Humpage said the candidates failed to ask station management for input about the situation.
Around 40 union engineers and technicians have been working at the station since February without a negotiated contract, a representative from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers said. The IBEW members working at WGME are not on strike and continue to be paid union scale, Humpage said.
One of the candidates, Elizabeth Mitchell, said she would not buy advertising time from the station until the dispute was worked out. The three other Democrats decided likewise.
