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.