ABC, Union Move Closer to Labor Agreement

Officials of ABC and the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, or NABET, said the network was to submit a proposed return-to-work agreement to the union Tuesday evening and that union negotiators would review it today.

About 2,400 NABET members, including 600 in Los Angeles, have been locked out of their jobs at ABC since Nov. 2, when they staged a one-day walkout over health insurance issues.

Last week, the union said it would agree to give the network at least 72 hours’ advance notice of any further job actions, a condition ABC set for ending the lockout.

Although NABET members could be back at work within days they would still be working without a contract.

The union’s last contract expired March 31, 1997. The network last month delivered its “final” four-year proposal, offering annual wage increases of 3.5% or less, but union leaders have not decided whether to submit it to their members.