LAWMAKERS SAY FCC LAGS IN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Lawmakers and union representatives charged this week that the Federal Communications Commission has failed to enforce its affirmative action guidelines and said new legislation is needed to insure that women and minorities are more fairly represented in the broadcast industry.

“I am deeply disturbed that minorities and woman are grossly underemployed in the broadcasting industry,” said Rep. Cardiss Collins (D-Ill.).

Speaking at a Tuesday press conference Collins noted that a recent report by the commission showed that women have made “very small gains” in the broadcasting industry. As for minorities, she added, “the numbers are shocking.”

Statistics released by the commission showed that in 1986, women held 37.4% of all broadcast jobs, up from 35% in 1982, while employment for minorities increased in all radio and TV jobs from 15.1% to 16% over the same period of time.

By contrast, Collins said, the cable-television industry has showed “marked improvement” in the employment of women and minorities as a result of affirmative action provisions that were included in 1984 cable legislation approved by Congress.

In addition, Collins and other lawmakers expressed concern that corporate reshuffling at the major television networks will further decrease these employment opportunities because people already working will lose their jobs and will not be replaced. Moreover, they said, those who were hired last--in many instances women and minorities--are likely to be among those who are fired first.

Collins and other legislators were joined at the press conference by representatives of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and other union officials.

Collins has introduced legislation that would require broadcasters to hire more women and minorities in order to comply with the commission’s affirmative action guidelines. Collins also wants to prevent the commission from changing its policy of awarding preferences to women and minorities who seek certain broadcast licenses.

These guidelines say broadcasters should hire women and minorities in numbers that reflect 50% of their respective numbers in the total labor force. Collins’ bill would increase the target to 80%.

“It is clear that the major networks have done a poor job of hiring and promoting women and minorities,” added Rep. Charles A. Hayes (D-Ill.) “But when you compare the record of the major networks to those of cable television, it is even more pitiful.

“The broadcasting industry does not begin to reflect the diversity of our society,” Hayes said. “We have not had the support of the FCC or the Reagan Administraion, so we are proposing a legislative remedy to address this lack of leadership.”

Hayes also said that deregulation has contributed to the employment situation because it has increased concentration in the television industry and added financial pressures that result in more job losses for the entire broadcast work force.

“The tradition of last-hired, first-fired means that minorities and women will have an even more difficult time catching up,” he said.

Collins also blamed FCC Chairman Mark S. Fowler for not enforcing existing affirmative action regulations. “He’s the culprit,” she said.

Asked about FCC Commissioner Dennis Patrick, who has been named to succeed Fowler, she added, “I don’t think he’ll be any different.”

In response to the charges, FCC spokesman John Kamp said the commissioners “are committed” to broadcast and cable equal employment-opportunity rules. He added that the agency will “continue to do whatever is necessary to insure that our rules our followed.”

In a letter to Fowler on Tuesday, Collins asked the commission to provide by May 15 a list of radio, TV stations and networks that have not met the agency’s affirmative action guidelines, and also asked for information about enforcement actions that the commission has taken, plus comparative hiring data for radio and television networks, including satellite networks.

“Broadcasters seem to think they have sole ownership of the airwaves,” said Jack Golodner, director of the AFL-CIO’s department for professional employees, in urging broadcasters to remember that the airwaves “belong to the public.”

Pat Aufderheide of the United Church of Christ charged that since 1980 the commission has weakened its affirmative action guidelines.

“The FCC has not applied its EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) egulation to the broadcast networks, whose rates for both minority and female hiring do not match those of local stations,” she said. “It also has ignored satellite networks.

“If the FCC enforced its EEO requirements more frequently and adapted its clear mandate to meet the need, we wouldn’t need such legislative intervention,” she said.