The Local 802 Electronic Media Services Department recently won a grievance with NBC for back residual wages owed to musicians who performed on the first-run syndication talk show “Harry,” totaling over $760,000. The grievance, which covered unpaid domestic residuals from the summer of 2017 as well as the winter and spring of 2018, covered approximately 200 individual airings of the program. Payments were initiated by NBC’s residuals department within two weeks of receipt of the request for payment. “Harry” was produced by NBC Universal for first-run syndication and aired across the country, mostly on Fox affiliates. Over two seasons, the program produced 292 original episodes and several clip shows as well. The nature of first-run syndication’s broadcast patterns means that an episode that airs new in the afternoon usually airs its first re-run (called the “second run” under the AFM Live Television Videotape Agreement) later that same evening in a given broadcast market. This means that residual payments should be made within three weeks of the original air date, because the airing of the new episode and its first repeat are on the same day. For “Harry,” episodes were taped in advance and session payments were made within the correct timeframe, but chasing residual payments was a challenging endeavor for the union without access to a complete broadcast schedule. If you’re a musician who is unsure of your rights to residuals, please contact us at (212) 245-4802 and ask for the Electronic Media Services Department. We want to make sure that you’re paid the wages and benefits you deserve.