CNN has agreed to pay $76 million in backpay as part of a record settlement with the federal labor board after the cable television network terminated the contracts of unionized camera operators in 2003.

The settlement is the �largest monetary remedy� in the National Labor Relations Board�s 85-year history, the agency said in a statement Friday. The settlement will benefit more than 300 people, officials said.

�The settlement demonstrates the Board�s continued commitment to enforcing the law and ensuring employees who were treated unfairly obtain the monetary relief ordered by the Board,� General Counsel Peter B. Robb said in the statement.

The NLRB said CNN ended its contract with a unionized subcontractor, Team Video Services, and then replaced the workers with new employees �without recognizing or bargaining with the two unions that had represented the TVS employees.�

�After more than a decade of litigation, negotiation and appeals we are pleased to have resolved a longstanding legal matter,� a CNN spokesperson said.

(AP)