Cheryl Bacon, a KTTV staffer of 39 years, held up a sign about the station's antagonistic contract talks in view of the camera during a live shot on Channel 11 this month. She says she was fired a week later. The veteran video editor, microvan operator and satellite operations staffer is also the secretary of Local 53 of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA) and sits on the negotiating committee. Bacon says protesting at live shots is protected by the National Labor Relations Act. (Here's a separate incident I reported.) The union plans a rally outside the West Los Angeles studios of Fox 11 on Thursday.
From the county Federation of Labor:
Local 53 needs our help! After failed negotiations with FOX 11, the company took away half an hour of the employee’s workday, reducing their workweek to 35 hours and causing a 6 ¼ percent pay cut. The company also cut their vacation time and reduced the pay in lieu of benefits that the daily hires receive by 15 percent.Last week, Cheryl Bacon (NABET-CWA Local 53 member) was unfairly fired for protesting FOX 11’s treatment of its employees. Join us next Thursday, August 27, for a rally to demand a fair contract with fair pay and benefits for these members.
This kind of union retribution cannot be tolerated, and we need you there to help us say enough is enough. Let’s demand a fair contract for NABET-CWA Local 53, now!
DETAILS:
What: Thursday, NABET-CWW FOX 11 Rally
When: Thursday, August 27, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: 1999 S. Bundy Drive (corner of Olympic & Bundy, next to Martin Cadillac)
Los Angeles, CA 90025