UPDATE: Lynch Campaign Refuses to Advertise on WCVB Over Labor Dispute

WCVB-TV released this letter from President and General Manager Bill Fine to his colleagues in response to Lynch's decision not to advertise with the company:

Dear Colleagues:

By now you have probably heard about Congressman Stephen F. Lynch’s decision to refrain from advertising on WCVB due to an alleged “contract dispute” with the IBEW. It is unfortunate that Congressman Lynch did not
contact me to verify the erroneous assumptions he relied upon in making this decision. As our employees, I believe that it is important for you to have the facts, as the Congressman’s decision will impact all of us.

To put it simply, there is no “contract dispute” with the IBEW. We have been engaged in good faith negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with the IBEW since August 2011. While the negotiation has gone through several phases, including the IBEW’s “no” vote on a new agreement over a year ago, our bargaining teams have been meeting regularly over the past few months with the mutually stated goal of reaching a new agreement as soon as possible.

With that goal in mind, and after we reached several tentative agreements on Monday, the WCVB negotiating team asked for the IBEW’s agreement to have a Federal Mediator attend the next bargaining session between the parties. The IBEW refused, stating that the parties had made progress toward a new agreement. We have asked the IBEW to reconsider their decision, and have also been in contact with the Federal Mediator assigned to our negotiation. With or without the Federal Mediator’s involvement, we are confident that we will reach a deal with the IBEW, as we always have in our decades-long relationship with the IBEW, and as we have with our AFTRA and DGA bargaining units.

Given the facts above, we hope that Congressman Lynch will reconsider his decision and allow the parties to continue their progress towards a new agreement free from outside influence. We also urge the Congressman to
buy advertising based on the merits of each station’s audience delivery rather than the current inconsistent litmus test which the Congressman appears to be applying regarding the status of collective bargaining units at each Boston television station. Going forward, we will continue, as we always have, to negotiate a new agreement at the bargaining table, not in the public forum.

Sincerely,

Bill

*****      *****     *****

The following is from the campaign of Congressman Lynch:

Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), a candidate for U.S. Senate, today informed WCVB-TV President & General Manager Bill Fine that his campaign will refrain from advertising on the station due to a contract dispute between WCVB and its workers.

Members of IBEW Local 1228, which represents more than 60 camera operators, editors, and technicians at WCVB, have been working under an extended contract for nearly two years.  The last contract between the union and WCVB ended in July 2011.

“This situation is disconcerting at a time when I am planning a major advertising buy,” Rep. Lynch wrote in a letter to Fine. “Despite my desire to air as much paid advertising as possible during this campaign cycle, I cannot in good conscience spend hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising on WCVB while IBEW members have gone nearly two years without a new contract. If a resolution to this matter is not on the horizon, then I may be forced to restrict my advertising to other stations.”

WCVB is owned by the Hearst Corporation, which just posted its “third consecutive year of record profit growth coming out of the great recession” according to a recent letter to employees from Chairman and CEO Frank Bennack Jr.

Congressman Lynch added, “A similar issue arose during my first campaign for Congress in 2001, when I was forced to skip a debate at Fox 25 because I refused to cross a picket line.”

He offered Fine his assistance in helping to mediate a solution between the station and IBEW workers.

The full letter can be viewed here: http://www.stephenflynch.com/__fs__/0e/8/522