February 28, 2006
Trouble Brews at WJLA/NewsChannel 8
All is not well at WJLA/NewsChannel 8.
In an ad placed today in the Express, NABET-CWA Local 31 announced the start of a boycott of local ABC affiliates WJLA and NewsChannel 8, which they accuse of stripping away worker rights. The ad reads:
Imagine a show where company bosses refuse to grant workers equal pay for equal work. Or the company disrespects family values and cancels vacation time which was requested a year in advance. Sound desperate? The reality is that these are just a few of the basic working rights that ABC7-WJLA/Newschannel 8 are trying to take away from workers in contract negotiations. And that's not all. We've been working without a contract for over a year. But this stalling tactic is nothing new to ABC7-WJLA/Newschannel 8. Our last contract took seven years to settle, forcing workers to lose thousands of dollars in cost of living and 401(k) increases.Their website, Turn7Off.com, details some of their grievances with the company, which include wage increases and parity, the right to arbitration of contract disputes, and vacation time. Interestingly enough, WJLA seems to be looking to take traffic away from the union site -- TurnOff7.com, which DCist mistakenly typed in, directs you right back to WJLA's main news site. Tricky!
And much like a labor dispute that roiled the Post last year, we're curious if the journalists at WJLA and NewsChannel 8 will cover trouble in their own ranks. We're similarly curious if any of the other mainstream media will step up to the plate and do so.
Too bad things have gone sour at WJLA, which we appreciate for breaking news and Leon Harris. Things at DCist, on the contrary, are peachy. If anyone says otherwise, their ass is out on the street, and I'm using their health insurance for beer money.
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You guys get Health Insurance!?!?!?! Every blogger in the country will be beating down your door now.
No, we don't. We don't even get paid! That was a joke. And now, much too late, I realize what it might cause...
There's health insurance for every DCist writer that qualifies for medicare.
Martin, you aren't getting health insurance from Gothamist? I did when I was editing DCist. Plus the $25,000 12-post-a-day bonus. Goodspeed got a pony.
Well, they have lent me the company jet to fly over to Barbados for a vacay, but they're being stingy with health insurance.
Strike!
Rob got a pony? Why would anyone go from a pony blog to a non-pony blog?
Stay gold, Ponyblog.
I saw the add this morning on the metro and was surprised by it. Alison Starling and Brian Van de Graff said nothing about it when I tuned in at 6:30am this morning. are they really denying vacation from leon?
if i can't watch ABC, how will i catch up on lost!? this boycott would be easier if it were some other channel. maybe CBS....they don't have much i have to see. yeah, i can'boycott CBS as a sign of solidarity right?
Without Alison Starling, I have no reason to get up in the morning!
Wait -- did someone just make a reference to The Outsiders?
Sodapop would be proud.