KPFA Community Statement on Violence

KPFA Community Statement on Violence

We, as KPFA community members expect and demand that Pacifica Foundation and station management, and representative national and local boards, act to ensure a safe, violence-free environment at KPFA and all Pacifica stations. We deplore continuing incidents of violence, intimidation, threats, physical and verbal abuse involving staff members, and recently, community representatives. Confirmed reports (with complaints filed) of incidents from June 2004 through this month at KPFA and New York station WBAI include (not a complete listing):
1. KPFA program coordinator physically intimidated and verbally abused a programmer;
2. Same KPFA program coordinator verbally intimidated a program host in the studio while the program was on air.
3. WBAI news reporter Robert Knight was physically intimidated, verbally abused and threatened with assault by an engineer (after his computer and desk had been searched and rummaged by a producer); he was then suspended and recently terminated.
4. KPFA program host (with a history of verbal abuse and turn over of staff) recently verbally abused a programmer, who left the job under duress when management failed to properly address the complaint or provide support.
5. KPFA engineer/staff representative threw metal chairs at a recent Program Council meeting, a chair hitting a listener representative, and slapped another listener representative (with the station GM present).

We join the KPFA Unpaid Staff Organization in its recent unanimously passed resolution: "The UPSO general meeting of 5/10/05 protests the use of violence at KPFA to solve differences or for any other reasons. We are opposed to any hostile workplace environment and we call on the station management to provide a work environment free of all forms of violence."

Although Pacifica has a written "zero tolerance for violence" policy, victims’ complaints and the causes, sources and perpetrators of violence and abuse have not been adequately investigated and remedied. Due to personnel confidentiality requirements we are not informed of management actions and corrective or disciplinary measures applied to staff engaged in these acts, although apparently they have remained in their positions at the stations after the incidents to the present, while at least two abuse victims have lost their program jobs.

Pacifica and local station management and boards are responsible and accountable for establishing and providing:
1. A safe workplace and meeting environment with prevention and eradication of violence and abuse, both as random individual incidents and as managerial or factional control tools to exploit or create divisions;
2. Effective investigation and resolution of incidents and complaints of violence and abuse;
3. Standard personnel policies, procedures, practices, structures and applications for incident investigation, hearings, appeals and progressive discipline, including counseling, for staff found to be involved in such incidents.

We are very concerned that violence - along with a range of related problems, inequities, distortions and damages to the KPFA/Pacifica mission, its governance, management, staffing, operations, programming and listener participation - have been carried over from the old Pacifica coup regime. We are determined that violence and abuse cannot be allowed to continue unchecked and unresolved at KPFA and WBAI without further deterioration and disastrous consequences. We deeply regret and resolve that the ruinous climate and culture at WBAI * (see note) must be reversed and not further replicated at KPFA.

We appeal to KPFA community members and organizations to speak out on this critical issue. We expect the LSB to address the violence issue as a public agenda item at this Saturday’s meeting, and we encourage community members to attend and speak out, beginning at 11 AM at the Freight & Salvage Coffee House, 1111 Addison St. at San Pablo Ave in Berkeley. To participate in the Informational Lobby and leaflet this statement, come to the Freight at 10:30 AM.
(see http://www.kpfa.org/lsb)

Middle East Radio Project
Joseph Anderson, KPFA Listener
Mehmet Bayram, MERP member
Jeff Blankfort, Co-Founder Take Back KPFA
Carl Bryant, KPFA Labor Collective Member
Bill Carpenter, KPFA Listener Member
Maxine Duggan, KPFA Labor Collective member
Bob English KPFA Listener Member
Linda Hewitt, KPFA Listener Member
Esin Olcay, MERP Member
Sureya Sayadi, MERP Member
Stan Woods, KPFA Program Council Listener Representative, Peoples Radio member
Steve Zeltzer, KPFA Labor Collective Member, Unpaid Staff Organization Member
Marilla Arguelles, KPFA Labor Collective


* Note: Like censorship as an old-Pacifica management tool, violence at WBAI was developed and maintained by the coup regime, and apparently preserved under Pacifica ED appointed station management (prior to the recent interim GM appointment), and is characterized by staff on staff violence and abuse, security guards at meetings, departure of a high portion of staff and volunteers in fear and disgust, while others are discouraged from volunteering or even listening to Pacifica.