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DESCRIPTION:Union workers at America’s first listener-sponsored radio station, KPFA 
 94.1 FM, have mobilized to oppose imminent dramatic cuts to KPFA staffing 
 by their parent organization, the Pacifica Foundation. The Morning Show, 
 Against the Grain, Hard Knock Radio, and the Evening News all appear slated 
 for severe program changes and/or decimating cuts, which may include other 
 vital positions at KPFA. The station has already cut nearly a fifth of its 
 workforce over the past year.\n\n\n(Berkeley, CA – November 4, 2010) 
 Union workers at America’s first listener-sponsored radio station, KPFA 
 94.1 FM, have mobilized to oppose imminent dramatic cuts to KPFA staffing 
 by their parent organization, the Pacifica Foundation. The Morning Show, 
 Against the Grain, Hard Knock Radio, and the Evening News all appear slated 
 for severe program changes and/or decimating cuts, which may include other 
 vital positions at KPFA. The station has already cut nearly a fifth of its 
 workforce over the past year.\n\nPacifica’s executive director, Arlene 
 Engelhardt, claims a budget shortfall requires the layoffs, but she has 
 rejected most of the\nproposed alternative cost-savings measures that have 
 won the backing of the staff, KPFA’s Local Station Board, and KPFA 
 management. Those proposals, known as the Sustainable Budget, would 
 preserve jobs while cutting unnecessary board expenses and reducing 
 bureaucratic overhead.\n\n"We're shocked that Pacifica is disregarding all 
 the recommendations made by the union," says Communications Workers of 
 America Local 9415 shop steward Antonio Ortiz. "I don't understand how 
 cutting a quarter of the staff will help the financial viability of the 
 station in the long term."\n\n“Even during these difficult times, KPFA 
 raises enough money to pay for itself. But it can’t afford to pay for 
 Pacifica and its\nbureaucracy as well,” says Sasha Lilley, co-host of the 
 public affairs program Against the Grain. “When listeners donate to KPFA, 
 they expect the money to go to programming, not to governance and national 
 bureaucracy. Since 2002, Pacifica has spent more than $2.4 million on its 
 boards and elections alone.”\n\nIn the coming fiscal year, Pacifica wants 
 KPFA to pay it more than $800,000, which is more than 21% of KPFA’s 
 revenue.\n\nKPFA’s union will be holding an informational picket at noon 
 on Thursday, November 4 at the offices of Pacifica, located at 1925 Martin 
 Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley. The picket has been sanctioned by the 
 Alameda Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which has condemned Pacifica for 
 its “anti-union actions.” The San Francisco Labor Council has passed a 
 similar resolution.\n\nThe Pacifica Radio network is an independent, 
 non-profit organization that operates five radio stations: KPFA in 
 Berkeley, KPFK in Los Angeles, WBAI in New York City, KPFT in Houston, and 
 WPFW in Washington, D.C. In 1999, a struggle between KPFA and Pacifica 
 became a national and international news story and 10,000 people marched 
 through the streets of Berkeley to save their station.\n\nFor more 
 information about the labor conflict at KPFA, go to KPFAworker.org. A fact 
 sheet about the cuts at KPFA can be found 
 at:\nhttp://kpfaworker.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/what-kpfas-workers-want/\n\n### 
 \n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/11/04/18663105.php
SUMMARY:KPFA Workers/ CWA Local 9415 To Picket Thursday to Oppose Cuts to a Quarter of Staff
LOCATION:offices of Pacifica, located at 1925 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/11/04/18663105.php
DTSTART:20101104T070000Z
DTEND:20101104T080000Z
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