LTC Board, Get Back to the Table
The Board of LTC
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Over two years ago, the staff of LTC voted to unionize. On February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board recognized our union and our rights to collectively bargain.
Since then, LTC Management has:
- Held a captive audience meeting which is now unlawful
- Hired famous anti-union law firm Littler Mendelson
- Targeted union members with disciplinary action
- Mandated that workers provide weekly reports
- Spread rumors and misinformation through the community
- Cancelled Folk Fest coverage instead of bargaining with the union
- Frozen wages for over two years
The LTC Union has
- At every instance tried to extend an olive branch
- Gained overwhelming community support
- Filed three Unfair Labor Practices against LTC
- Worked with community members and volunteers to independently cover the Folk Festival for free
- Continued to work every day to provide media services to the city
Now LTC Management is continuing to stall, while workers’ rights continue to be deteriorated at a national level. It has been over six months since our last bargaining session. We have two main points we need to reach.
WAGES
All we are asking for is a living wage.
UNION SECURITY
We want union security so that LTC management does not work to dissolve and undermine the union.
We are asking that the community show up again to demand that the board come back to the table. LTC is a community organization that should be accountable to the community.
In solidarity,
LTC Bargaining Unit
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Catch Up on the Union Timeline
Lowell Sun | LTC Workers vote to Unionize (December 2022)
Inside Lowell |A Win for LTC Workers and Local Unions (February 2023)
Lowell Sun | Lowell TeleMedia to Begin Contract Negotiations (February 2023)
Inside Lowell | Televised Strike? (July 2024)
@Local18.Lowell | Breaking News: LTC Staff to Cover Folk Fest Despite Mgmt Cancellation (July 2024)
Petition by
Sponsored by
To:
The Board of LTC
From:
[Your Name]
This letter is addressed to the members of the LTC board as follows:
Erick Sack
Sidney Liang
Karen Senott
Vesna Nuon
Pavel Romaniko
Fabiola Rivera White
Stacey Thompson
Francois Des Costerd
Connie Martin
Jen Myers
Susie Chhoun
Kevin Wetmore
Fru Nkimbeng
Maritza Grooms
Lee Viliesis
Tony Duarte
Dear Board Members
It has come to our attention that the management body of Lowell TeleMedia Center (LTC) is refusing to meet with the unionized workers of LTC to finish negotiating a first contract. The bargaining unit at LTC was recognized by the NLRB two years ago, contract negotiations began in July of 2023, and the last bargaining session was in September of 2024. It’s clear that, despite the urging of the city council that both parties come back to the table, management is deliberately stalling negotiations.
The two large items in contest are articles concerning union security and wages.
The point was made by a member of the public during a City Council meeting that every private sector union in the city has a union security clause that protects union workers. Indeed the unionized public access workers of Brockton have agreed to union security language with their management, and it’s time for LTC to grant its workers’ union security.
Regarding wages, it’s difficult to believe you have two staff members that have been working there for over a decade and who make less than $60k/year. It is frustrating to learn that management has frozen wages for the entire staff to create economic pressure on union members who need to support themselves and their families. While we acknowledge that there is a decline of franchise fees which has historically been LTC’s primary source of funding, it’s worth noting that most nonprofits do not benefit from such earmarked monies, so it may be time to consider new forms of generating revenue or reducing operational costs that don’t include paying your workers less than a living wage.
We support the workers at LTC who provide a benefit to the community by providing gavel to gavel coverage of city meetings, media tools for members and non-profits and education for students and constant-learners. It is important to us that this organization remains a strong institution here in Lowell.
We do not, however, want our community tv station to be operated by union busters and bullies. We want a community tv station that is managed by a team that can create a future for this organization with its workers. Continuing to stall the resolution of this contract does nothing to strengthen the organization, maintain good relationships or set a path forward.
To the board members, Eric, Karen, Sidney, Pavel, Vesna, Fabiola, Stacey, Francois, Connie, Jen, Kevin, Susie, Maritza, Fru and Tony, we demand that you get back to the table and finish this contract.
In Solidarity with the Workers at LTC,
The Undersigned