After nearly two years of negotiations, KEYT employees announced they will strike this week over complaints of unfair labor practices by the station’s parent company, News-Press & Gazette.

KEYT staff announced on Tuesday that they will be at two locations on Wednesday after they were unable to reach an agreement with the company for a new contract.

Raquel Ruiz, a representative of IATSE Local 600, said the decision to call a strike came after the last state-mandated mediation session with News-Press & Gazette.

Station staff chose to unionize in November 2024 and are now represented by the International Cinematographers Guild under IATSE Local 600.

Ruiz said that 95% of members voted to approve the strike in late July.

“After the last session, it was very clear to us that they were bargaining in bad faith,” Ruiz told Noozhawk, “and that’s why we called the strike after the last mediation session.”

Jim Lemon, general manager of station owner NPG of California, issued a statement to Noozhawk noting that management was aware of the strike: “KEYT confirms that unit members have notified management of their intent to strike tomorrow. In line with NPG policy, the company will not provide comment on employment matters.”

The guild represents about 30 KEYT employees, including videographers, producers and other staff. Some anchors are also included in the guild if they have more than one job title that requires duties outside of their anchor position.

Ruiz said the guild also has filed multiple complaints against News-Press & Gazette with the National Labor Relations Board.

The guild alleges that the company participated in unfair labor practices, including refusing to share necessary information, refusing to bargain in good faith and unlawfully interfering with workers exercising their rights.

“I have been with the guild for five years now, and this is the first strike that I’ve had to do for a television station,” Ruiz said. “I represent 13 other TV stations across the country, and this is the only one that we have reached this point.”

Even though the News-Press & Gazette owns multiple television stations, Santa Barbara is the only location where workers have unionized. The local branch of the company is the NPG of California.

The strike is set to last 24 hours, but guild members plan to hold a strike line and community event later in the day.

The strike line is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the KEYT station at 730 Miramonte Drive.

Organizers will also hold a rally at Old Mission Santa Barbara at 2201 Laguna St. beginning from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. A community support table will be set up at the event for the public to lend their support to the guild.

Ruiz said the guild may organize a longer strike in the future, but the goal of the 24-hour strike is to bring management back to the bargaining table with a fair contract offer.

KEYT staff have repeatedly called for higher wages and better benefits. They have said their pay is not enough to live on, and workers cannot afford to live in the community they cover. The low pay also has created a high level of turnover at KEYT, according to guild members.

KEYT covers the region that includes Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

Andrew Gillies, an assignment desk/digital content producer at KEYT and a member of the negotiation team, said the decision to organize in 2024 came in response to news that the station was eliminating a sick day. Gillis said the decision was made in response to a state law that added a day off.

Staff decided to send a letter to management to ask for the decision to be reversed, but they did not receive a response.

“We asked them in a letter, ‘Hey, please don’t do this cost-cutting measure.’ And that request was met with demeaning silence, and local station management was tasked with kind of fixing, or you know unruffling the feathers and trying to calm the situation,” Gillies said.

Gillies said the response was not only a slap in the face but a sign that management had no intention of communicating with them.

Despite forming almost two years ago, Gillies said the station has not made a real offer and seems to be waiting out the guild. He added that many people have left the station because they could no longer afford to stay, which he believes is the goal.

Gillies said the purpose of holding the strike line at two separate locations is to send a message to management and the public.

The strike at the station is to call for the right to collectively bargain. He added that it is also to protest the idea that the revenue staff generates is more important than the quality of the content they produce for the community.

Gillies added that the rally at the Mission is to raise awareness that the ownership is not willing to bargain.

“The intent is to let the public know that ownership here at the station has decided that they are too low a priority to actually collectively bargain with us,” Gillies said, “and that if they want the content to maintain the quality that it’s already been at and continue to improve, then they should support our attempts to collectively bargain. Without that, you can’t guarantee the content will remain high quality.”

Gillies added that as of now, there are no scheduled dates for the next round of negotiations.

KEYT announced early on Wednesday that it would not be airing its regular programming due to the strike.

“Due to operational disruptions caused by a labor dispute, the Station is running alternative programming to our regular newscast,” the station said in an update on its website.

“We regret any inconvenience resulting from the actions taken by the union representing our employees. The Station remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with the union, and it disavows any suggestion that it has engaged in conduct that violates the National Labor Relations Act.”

For the record: This story was updated to clarify that KEYT staffers are holding a rally at the Mission related to the labor strike. The spelling of Andrew Gillies was also corrected.