_Local Union No. 98. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS 1701 Spring Garden Street Phone: 216-563-5592 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130 Fax: 215-561-2168 October 1, 2015 The Honorable Jeh Johnson Secretary of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528 Dear Secretary Johnson: | am writing you regarding a serious breach of security that occurred on Saturday, September 26, 2015 during Pope Francis’ historic weekend visit to the City of Philadelphia during the World Meeting of Families. First, please allow me to provide you with some context. On Thursday, September 24, 2015, more than 60 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 98 who are employees of NBC 10 [the network's Philadelphia TV affiliate, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation) went on strike against the station after 15 months of negotiations on @ new contract. The reasons for our strike against NBC 10 are somewhat immaterial to the serious security breach | am about to detail, but you need to. know that the station hired replacement cameramen and technicians just one day prior to the Papal visit. itis our understanding that all members of the media assigned to cover the Papal visit and the World Meeting of Families events were required to be credentialed for the events well in advance of the weekend of September 26-27, 2015. On the evening of Saturday, September 26, 2015, two NBC 10 replacement cameramen attempted to gain entrance to the Pennsylvania Convention Center to cover a high-profile World Meeting of Families event. Both NBC cameramen were denied entrance for lack of proper credentials. The NBC 10 cameramen next apparently contacted the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and asked Archdiocesan officials, ‘to intervene on their behalf. The response was “No” and they were once again denied entry to the event. A full-time cameraman from ABC 6, @ competing news station, witnessed this chain of events and relayed the information to Michael Mascuill, an IBEW Local 98 member and a shop steward at the Convention Center who was on-site that evening, The NBC 10 replacement cameramen eventually and inexplicably gained entrance to the World Meeting ‘of Families’ event at the Convention Center the evening of September 26" and were able to film the Proceedings. IBEW Local $8 has significant reason to believe that the replacement NBC 10 cameramen were provided by station management with the genuine credentials of striking NBC 10 employees. Hf proven true, then NBC 10 officials and replacement personnel not only committed identity theft against our union members, but also are guilty of a serious security breach. This sort of reckless and irresponsible behavior is typical of the arrogance and disregard for the rules displayed by NBC 10 (2 subsidiary of Comcast).am asking the Office of Homeland Security to open an Immediate investigation into this incident to determine if NBC 10 and Comcast willfully committed a serious breach of security during the Pope's visit to Philadelphia. Thank you for your immediate attention to this important matter. Sincerely, Brian Bn President ec: John J. Dougherty, Business Manager, IBEW Local 98 James Foy, Assistant Business Manager, IBEW Local 98 US. Senator Robert Casey US. Senator Pat Toomey US. Representative Robert Brady US. Representative Brendan Boyle ‘Marcus L. Brown, Director, PA Office of Homeland Security