New York Times
January 17, 1958. p. 47
TV Union Demands
$300,000 Policies on Trips There—2 N.B.C. Officials Quit
By Val Adams
Television performers who go to Havana to appear on American programs originating there must be covered by a $300,000 life insurance policy to be purchased by their employers.
A new ruling to this effect was disclosed yesterday by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, covering its members working in broadcasting. The federation said it regarded Cuba as a hazardous area because of current political unrest and occasional violence.
Television employers have been notified that in sending a performer to Havana, the actor must be covered by the policy from the time he leaves the continental limits of the United States until he returns. The $300,000 policy must not only cover loss of life, the federation said, but also compensate the performer for loss of sight, limbs and other injuries.
In addition, the new ruling calls for a disability policy that would pay the actor $200 a week for incapacitation incurred by injury in Havana.
Employers were notified formally of the new ruling in a letter from Donald F. Conaway, national executive secretary of the federation. The letter said television actors would not be permitted to work in Havana unless they were covered by the specified insurance policies.
The federation declined to say yesterday whether it had insisted on insurance coverage for the Steve Allen troupe, which is in Havana for a National Broadcasting Company program on Sunday night. Mr. Allen, accompanied by eleven other performers who conceivably would come under jurisdiction of the federation, left here last week.
It is understood, however, that the artists’ union has been in touch with N.B.C. about special insurance for the Allen trip. The network said it always provided travel insurance for its employes, but declared that “no extra coverage” had been purchased for Mr. Allen’s troupe. It did not say how much travel insurance it normally provided.
The federation said that under the new ruling employers could purchase insurance from any company qualified to do business in New York State.
Mr. Allen’s program will be the second to originate in Havana since a permanent television communications link between Cuba and Florida was opened last September. There is a possibility that N.B.C. will send the Jack Paar troupe to Havana later this year for a one-week visit.