We, the undersigned, petition The Old Town School of Folk Music (OTS) to negotiate a fair contract with The Old Town Teachers Organization (OTTO) no later than May 1st, 2022. OTTO is ready and willing to meet weekly to achieve a fair contract in a reasonable amount of time - is OTS?

OTTO has been fighting for a contract for over two and a half years—already more than twice as long as the average first contract. While the school’s negotiators comprise salaried administrators, our faculty team volunteers their time—now in the hundreds of unpaid hours.

On top of this, the school has engaged a law firm specializing in “union avoidance.” Their strategy, apparently, is to manipulate negotiations until OTTO simply gives up—a common union-busting tactic made all the easier when their team is paid to sit at the table and stall.

Meanwhile, some faculty are losing their health insurance and nearly all of us are losing wages because the school refuses to acknowledge the entirety and breadth of the work we do. This problem has worsened drastically over the pandemic, as teachers have had to shoulder more and more responsibility for marketing, populating, and maintaining their classes, spending untold hours each week ensuring that the Old Town School stays open.

Old Town School, if you’re going to claim Woody Guthrie’s legacy, you need to step up. Do what’s right and give OTTO a fair contract. We are ready for action.