NBC10 Strike: John Dougherty Says Two Union Members Hit By Cars on Picket Line

This photo provided to Philadelphia magazine shows the emergency response to an alleged incident today at NBC 10’s Bala Cynwyd studios.

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While most of the local news stations in Philadelphia are already stretched to their limit covering the pope, NBC10 is experiencing a completely different level of chaos thanks to a strike at the station that began on Thursday. And now IBEW Local 98 union head John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty says that the situation has turned violent.

On Friday afternoon, Dougherty alleged to Philadelphia magazine that two picketers were struck by cars being driven by NBC10 employees at the picket line outside the studio on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd. Dougherty claims that the first incident occurred on Thursday night and that another picketer was struck earlier on Friday.

“In the past two days at NBC’s City Line Avenue headquarters, two Local 98 members were struck by cars being driven by NBC staff members,” Local 98 spokesperson Frank Keel told us. “They were NBC vehicles. Both of our members are being medically evaluated right now to determine the extent of their injuries.”

Keel says he is unsure if the Lower Merion Township Police Department was involved in either incident and adds that the union intends to go to the United States Attorney and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office on Monday to demand charges.

An NBC10 spokesperson said that she was unaware of the allegations but that she would look into it. Lower Merion Township spokesperson Thomas Walsh said he would attempt to get some information from the police department but points out that the cops there are extremely busy, because Pope Francis is sleeping in that area during his stay here this weekend.

“Years ago, Local 98 actually had one of their members on a picket line run over and killed in Lower Merion,” emphasizes Keel. “So this is an extremely sensitive subject for John Dougherty and some of the other older members who remember that tragedy all too well.”

Keel says that in terms of the labor dispute itself, there has been no movement. “It’s just the status quo,” he says.

This certainly isn’t going to help.

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