About 65 NBC10 workers walk off the job

ABOUT 65 videographers and technicians at NBC10 walked off their jobs late yesterday afternoon, using the timing of tomorrow's visit to the city by Pope Francis to try to get the station back to the table to pound out an agreement.

Some members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, which represents the striking workers, were inside the Convention Center covering the World Meeting of Families conference when they walked off the job shortly after 4 p.m., union sources told the Daily News.

The walkout caps more than a year of negotiations between union members and representatives from NBC10 and New York City-based NBC after the Local 98 contract expired in July 2014. Key issues include job security and union jurisdiction over certain functions.

Union member Ken Agatone, who is part of the volunteer negotiating team, said the station pulled its offer off the table Tuesday night. Local 98 members gathered Wednesday night in the parking lot of the Bala Cynwyd station and voted unanimously to authorize a strike, Agatone said.

"We gave them everything they say they wanted, but that proposal was not accepted," said Agatone, a technical director at the station.

NBC10 called the action "unfortunate."

"While it is unfortunate that IBEW Local 98 has decided to engage in a job action, we remain committed to ensuring this has no impact on our broadcast," according to a statement released by an NBC10 spokeswoman who asked not to be identified.

"Our viewers will continue to have full access to all of our local news and information without interruption. We remain steadfast in our commitment to achieve a mutual resolution of our outstanding issues," the statement said.

Union sources said: Not really.

A live Pope Francis special that was supposed to have aired at 7 p.m. yesterday was not shown.

The spokeswoman did not reply to an email asking about the papal program.

By last night, separate groups of striking workers protested in front of the station's offices and at the Comcast Center, headquarters of Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns the station.

Two inflatable rats, a common symbol used by members of Local 98, were parked outside the Comcast Center last night, Agatone said.

"It isn't about money, it's about job security so we can provide for our families," Agatone said.

Fliers were handed out reading, "Comcast REJECTS Pope Francis' Message!!"

James Foy, an assistant business manager for Local 98, also issued a statement, saying that negotiations had continued after the contract expired.

"Then, a new NBC management team from New York City came in, after the completion of the NBCUniversal deal. They let one final piece of the new contract that would have provided employment for only one or two union members - at no cost to them - destroy the other 95% of the already agreed-upon terms and a year's worth of negotiations," the statement read.

"And, incredibly, they did this on the eve of the pope's visit, an event that Local 98, Comcast and so many others have worked so hard to make a success."

On Twitter: @ReginaMedina