Workers to Protest Pacifica Radio Over Union Busting According Fog City Journal, Wilkinson It just leaves me breathless that they would hire (Jackson Lewis), Workers to Protest Pacifica Radio Over Union Busting According To Rebecca Rosen Lum, Chair CWA Freelancers Unit Workers to Protest Pacifica Radio Over Union Busting File photo by Luke Thomas. By Rebecca Rosen Lum http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/3593/workers-to-protest-pacifica-radio-over-union-busting/#comments Editors Note: The demonstration calling on Pacifica to sever its ties with Jackson Lewis takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday April 18 outside KPFA (and adjacent Pacifica headquarters) at 1929 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley. April 16, 2012 KPFA workers and their supporters will take to the streets Wednesday to protest Pacific Radio Networks hiring of a law firm the AFL-CIO has dubbed the devil incarnate and the the number one union-buster in America. Pacifica Foundation hired Jackson Lewis in 2010, but that is the only point of agreement between the five-station, listener-supported broadcasting network and its KPFA workers group. Pacificas executive director argues that the organization simply plucked the law firm from a list of firms approved by its insurance carrier to handle litigation. We deplore union busting wherever it occursand it will not occur at Pacifica on my watch, writes Arlene Engelhardt in a March 30 guest commentary that appeared on RadioSurvivor.com. Jackson Lewis was first hired in 2010 to handle only litigation and is not involved in union relations at Pacifica at all. She said Pacifica hired the firm only after previous attorneys bungled employee lawsuits, and that Jackson Lewis saved money by working at reduced rates and pressing for early settlements. Terminating Jackson Lewis would be reckless and expensive, she writes in her missive, adding that station supporters have deliberately misrepresented the actions and the intents of the national board to whip up a frenzy. I dont care what they were hired to do, shot back KPFA board member Conn Hallinan. The idea that we would give our members money to fuel an anti-democratic, anti-worker, anti-progressive organization like this is just beyond belief. KPFA station chair Margy Wilkinson said the foundations retainer contract signed in January with Jackson Lewis includes labor issues. It just leaves me breathless that they would hire (Jackson Lewis), she said. Jackson Lewis, which employs 400 attorneys in 25 cities, is among the top five or so best know firms specializing in union avoidance, said John Logan, Director of Labor and Employment Studies at the San Francisco State University College of Business. Given the current labor dispute between Pacifica and its workforce, it is understandable that employees and others are concerned that the company has hired this particular firm, he said in an email message. Logans 2008 study of U.S. anti-union consultants quotes this bit of advice from Jackson Lewis attorneys: If you want to keep the union out of your place, youve got to work at it day and night weed em out. The company spends tens of thousands to several million dollars on anti-union campaigns. Its website its 2012 Union-Free Educational Program. The firm has been involved in several campaigns involving allegations of egregious unfair management practices and campaigns in which employers have spent significant amounts of public money on anti-union activities, the study says. Engaging a firm with Jackson Lew record could torpedo the stations already tenuous relationship with its unionized staff and alienate listeners who do not want their donations going to a firm that has positioned itself against organized labor, says a letter from KPFA workers to the Pacifica National Board. More than 1700 people around the country have signed an online petition demanding that Pacifica immediately sever its relationship with Jackson Lewis. The current labor troubles at KPFA, Pacificas founding station, stretch back more than a year, when station managers fired the staff of the popular KPFA Morning Show, violating seniority provisions of the union contract. Managers claim the move was a cost-saving measure, but afterward, morning listenership plummeted and donations to the station dropped off dramatically. In fact, troubles with its parent organization have wracked the station for years. In a tense standoff more than a decade ago, Pacifica management hired anti-union consultants, installed armed guards and locked out staffers. The station went dark, with taped music replacing programming. While its immediate goal is junking the Jackson Lewis contract, in the long term, what the station wants is autonomy, Wilkinson said. Pacificas insistence on making decisions hamstrings the stations ability to meet the needs of its listeners, she said. Its been a problem for a long time, she said. The executive director comes in and makes changes in the kinds of things local stations should have control over. It seems to me that all five (Pacifica) stations can work together on certain things, like the presidential election, but other than that, we have very different communities, and we each have to respond to the needs of our communities. For instance, the foundation rejected a proposed budget that averted layoffs without explanation, Wilkinson said. And it has dragged its feet on selecting a general manager out of a pool of candidates submitted by the local station, which the by-laws require, she said. a.. Spread the word: a.. a.. a.. a.. a.. a.. a.. a.. a.. Filed under: Labor, News Email This Article Print This Article 2 Responses to Workers to Protest Pacifica Radio Over Union Busting 1.. Eric Brooks , on April 16th, 2012at 12:17 pm Said: To once again chime in with a little reality This issue is completely deceptive nonsense being drummed up by a clique of union workers who usurped a previous union at KPFA so that they could disenfranchise non-paid staff at the station (80% of the workers) from labor protections that they were previously granted, and from making decisions about the station and its programming. This clique also managed to get rid of the community program council in order to entrench decision making on programming to only themselves the paid staff (no community or non paid volunteer decision makers). This faction, deceptively calling itself Save KPFA (stealing the name of a previous group that really -did- save KPFA from a hostile takeover by a truly bad Pacifica board in the 90s) is also trying to eject from the KPFA Local Station Board, long time media justice organizer and Media Alliance leader Tracy Rosenberg in order to gain majority voting power on the LSB so that it can dominate the station. To get a sense of the real story about whats going on at KPFA go to:http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?p=476 And to see a damning report about how that small clique of workers pointing fingers about law firms previously launched its own cynical lawsuit against Pacifica, hiring none other than Harmeet Dhillon, local Republican powerhouse, Bush/Cheney co-campaign chair, and Sarah Palin supporter, to attack Pacifica in the courts, go to: http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2011/05/kpfas-republican-activist.html 2.. KPFAWorker , on April 16th, 2012at 1:07 pm Said: Thank you, Fog City Journal, for continuing to cover this story. Listeners across the Bay Area, and the nation, are concerned about the sharp decline of our radio network under Pacificas current board and management. Take a look at http://www.KPFAWorker.org and http://www.SaveKPFA.org to learn more, and sign up for regular updates. While at either site, take a listen to what some Pacificas national board members said about communications from KPFA listeners this week apparently, our emails and calls are having an effect. Lets keep it up and we hope to see you at Wednesdays picket! 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