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Despite budget surplus, Pacifica lays off KPFA’s John Hamilton
KPFA news anchor and producer John Hamilton, who had just returned from reporting on the historic labor protests in Wisconsin, was given a layoff notice on Monday by KPFA’s interim program director Carrie Core. Hamilton was told his last work day would be March 30. When asked who made the decision, Core admitted that it was Pacifica executive director Arlene Engelhardt.
Hamilton has been a prominent union activist at KPFA, speaking out against the actions of Pacifica management at meetings of KPFA’s Local Station Board and the Berkeley City Council, and producing a video of a labor/community protest. He also filmed Engelhardt last autumn as she stormed off in a huff after listeners asked her to disclose her salary, and put the video up on the web -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UdEhkpIyeI — something Engelhardt later chastised Hamilton for. Engelhardt let her displeasure in his media activism be known. Hamilton was named on an infamous “purge list” of dissident staff whom members of the Pacifica National Board wanted dismissed. Also named were Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison, who were laid off in violation of KPFA’s union contract with CWA Local 9415.
Core claims that the layoff is financially necessary, but she could not answer how much the station would save by laying off Hamilton, or how KPFA would make up the shortfall that would come from letting go of one of the station’s most effective fundraisers. Hamilton is employed part-time and makes only about $25,000 a year. Facing an arbitration loss, Pacifica reinstated former Morning Show co-host Brian Edwards-Tiekert in a paid job last week.
Pacifica oversells financial problems to justify laying off workers
KPFA’s board treasurer recently revealed that in the first quarter of KPFA’s fiscal year, the station was outperforming its budget by $290,000. In addition, listeners have raised $63,000 in pledges for Pacifica to restore the KPFA Morning Show to the air — enough to restore both paid Morning Show co-hosts to the air for the rest of the year, along with the unpaid segment producers who are out in solidarity with them — but management has so far refused to do so. The replacement programming is raising far less in pledges than before.
In addition to these first quarter results, KPFA’s union put forward $250,000 worth of savings proposals, which were fully endorsed by KPFA’s local management and local board. Those proposals easily contain enough to prevent Hamilton’s layoff as well as reverse Aimee Allison’s. “At at station with a $3.5 million dollar budget,” said one staffer, “we ought to easily be able to find enough savings to preserve a few part-time staffer’s jobs, especially when those staff contribute immensely to the quality of KPFA’s programming and its ability to fundraise.”
When asked about how the news department would function without an anchor, Core said that she and Engelhardt planned to “restructure” the newscast. The Evening News is the most listened-to program of the afternoon and evening on KPFA and was the biggest fundraiser during KPFA’s last marathon. Pacifica previously yanked off the air the popular Morning Show, sending fundraising in the 8am hour into a tailspin. (See chart: http://www.savekpfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/KPFAPLEDGES_JAN-2010-JAN-2011.jpg ). Now it appears set to destroy the Evening News.
http://kpfaworker.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/despite-budget-surplus-pacifica-lays-off-kpfas-john-hamilton/
Core claims that the layoff is financially necessary, but she could not answer how much the station would save by laying off Hamilton, or how KPFA would make up the shortfall that would come from letting go of one of the station’s most effective fundraisers. Hamilton is employed part-time and makes only about $25,000 a year. Facing an arbitration loss, Pacifica reinstated former Morning Show co-host Brian Edwards-Tiekert in a paid job last week.
Pacifica oversells financial problems to justify laying off workers
KPFA’s board treasurer recently revealed that in the first quarter of KPFA’s fiscal year, the station was outperforming its budget by $290,000. In addition, listeners have raised $63,000 in pledges for Pacifica to restore the KPFA Morning Show to the air — enough to restore both paid Morning Show co-hosts to the air for the rest of the year, along with the unpaid segment producers who are out in solidarity with them — but management has so far refused to do so. The replacement programming is raising far less in pledges than before.
In addition to these first quarter results, KPFA’s union put forward $250,000 worth of savings proposals, which were fully endorsed by KPFA’s local management and local board. Those proposals easily contain enough to prevent Hamilton’s layoff as well as reverse Aimee Allison’s. “At at station with a $3.5 million dollar budget,” said one staffer, “we ought to easily be able to find enough savings to preserve a few part-time staffer’s jobs, especially when those staff contribute immensely to the quality of KPFA’s programming and its ability to fundraise.”
When asked about how the news department would function without an anchor, Core said that she and Engelhardt planned to “restructure” the newscast. The Evening News is the most listened-to program of the afternoon and evening on KPFA and was the biggest fundraiser during KPFA’s last marathon. Pacifica previously yanked off the air the popular Morning Show, sending fundraising in the 8am hour into a tailspin. (See chart: http://www.savekpfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/KPFAPLEDGES_JAN-2010-JAN-2011.jpg ). Now it appears set to destroy the Evening News.
http://kpfaworker.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/despite-budget-surplus-pacifica-lays-off-kpfas-john-hamilton/
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Brian Edwards-Tiekert bumped John Hamilton. This was probably done with the consent of the CL/SaveKPFA group. Hamilton was sacrificed for Brian.
No, there was no "bumping." You're making that up.
Pacifica offered to settle with Edwards-Tiekert because it knew it was going to lose an arbitration. Management laid off Hamilton, and didn't even have any financial justification. They hated the fact that he was a pro-union activist.
Arlene Engelhardt is about the worst "bad boss of the year" you can imagine.
Pacifica offered to settle with Edwards-Tiekert because it knew it was going to lose an arbitration. Management laid off Hamilton, and didn't even have any financial justification. They hated the fact that he was a pro-union activist.
Arlene Engelhardt is about the worst "bad boss of the year" you can imagine.
Engelhart is the worst boss ? How about the grossly incompendent Lem Lem Riggio ? Who else would have ''forgot '' a check for 375 K and left in a desk drawer ?
But what was really different about her was that she did was she was told , excuse me ''advised '' by her consligere Brian Edwards-Tiergert .
But what was really different about her was that she did was she was told , excuse me ''advised '' by her consligere Brian Edwards-Tiergert .
For the true story of KPFA's $375,000, which is safely being managed by a nonprofit so Pacifica can't swipe it from KPFA, see:
http://www.savekpfa.org/facts-about-the-kpfa-situation/
Pacifica already spent its check for the same amount, and is taxing all the Pacifica stations to pay for it.
http://www.savekpfa.org/facts-about-the-kpfa-situation/
Pacifica already spent its check for the same amount, and is taxing all the Pacifica stations to pay for it.
So John Hamilton wasn't "bumped" by Brian? Can we say Hamilton was "replaced" by Brian? Please help us ignorant folks get this right.
John Hamilton was laid off by Brian Edwards-Tiekert, who has more seniority than Hamilton as a part-time news reporter, although Edwards-Tiekert didn't have seniority over anyone but Aimee Allison in on-air host positions. Edwards-Tiekert received a letter from Pacifica telling him in November of his right to bump back to the news department. Instead he chose to launch a campaign to get his Morning Show hosting gig back, filed a bunch of grievances and then caved before arbitration. End of story.
Hamilton will get nowhere filing a grievance either, but KPFA will need money to pay for more garbage until he also drops his claim before arbitration.
Since Edwards-Tiekert says he wants his Morning Show hosting position back, why not pursue that claim via arbitration? If he knows he is going to win reinstatement as the Morning Show host, why not refuse the bump, let Hamilton keep his job, and carry on to arbitration for his sure victory?
KPFA's budget cuts $375,000 from salary and benefit expenses, from $2.1 million dollars a year to $1.75 million dollars a year. This is to address an operating deficit of more than $575,000 in the year ending 9-30-2010. The budgetary hope is the additional $200,000 will be covered by increased revenue. So far it has been, averting the need for more layoffs, but we are only 4 months through the year.
Despite the Save KPFA insanity, failing to lose money for the first time in two years does not mean that you immediately ramp up your expenses again so you can go back to red ink. I guess Save KPFA misses those hundreds of thousand of dollars in deficits and wants them back NOW.
KPFA's budget was predicted to be negative at the end of January, as the December fund drive proved considerably more lucrative than anyone predicted. So 1/3 of the $290,000 is not cash money, it is a projected loss that didn't happen. KPFA had a surplus of $190,000 for the period ending 1/31/2011. That is less than one month's operating expenses. The station's operating costs are $250,000 a month.
Hamilton will get nowhere filing a grievance either, but KPFA will need money to pay for more garbage until he also drops his claim before arbitration.
Since Edwards-Tiekert says he wants his Morning Show hosting position back, why not pursue that claim via arbitration? If he knows he is going to win reinstatement as the Morning Show host, why not refuse the bump, let Hamilton keep his job, and carry on to arbitration for his sure victory?
KPFA's budget cuts $375,000 from salary and benefit expenses, from $2.1 million dollars a year to $1.75 million dollars a year. This is to address an operating deficit of more than $575,000 in the year ending 9-30-2010. The budgetary hope is the additional $200,000 will be covered by increased revenue. So far it has been, averting the need for more layoffs, but we are only 4 months through the year.
Despite the Save KPFA insanity, failing to lose money for the first time in two years does not mean that you immediately ramp up your expenses again so you can go back to red ink. I guess Save KPFA misses those hundreds of thousand of dollars in deficits and wants them back NOW.
KPFA's budget was predicted to be negative at the end of January, as the December fund drive proved considerably more lucrative than anyone predicted. So 1/3 of the $290,000 is not cash money, it is a projected loss that didn't happen. KPFA had a surplus of $190,000 for the period ending 1/31/2011. That is less than one month's operating expenses. The station's operating costs are $250,000 a month.
See, this is the kind of confusion, mayhem and idiocy that results from hierarchical institutions. You can say the problem is this or that group, and it is to a large extent it is, and being specific is important, but lets not forget that the core problem here lies with bureaucracy and hierarchy. KPFA is an "alternative" radio station, in the sense that it does provide information, important to understanding current events: that is, it provides facts, something which mainstream media doesn't do. The reason I listen to KPFA is because of that critical perspective. But then again, those perspectives, such as they exist on air, come from particular, individual programs and not from the station itself.
Groups, organizations, movements, projects, or whatever they are, when they become too entrenched and concretised, are susceptible to authoritarian methods: which leads to the madness of cooptation. KPFA may provide good things, but as a whole, we would do well to recognize that it's a coopted project.
Groups, organizations, movements, projects, or whatever they are, when they become too entrenched and concretised, are susceptible to authoritarian methods: which leads to the madness of cooptation. KPFA may provide good things, but as a whole, we would do well to recognize that it's a coopted project.
Thank you for the much needed financial information in the "Stop Wasting Our Time" comment. KPFA really does run on a shoe string budget, common to all non-profit charities, cuasing 80% of the workers to be volunteers. The attempt to bankrupt KPFA and Pacifica by the Kill KPFA Gang certainly makes the US government and its lackeys, like CIA friend Larry Bensky and his buddies, the Kill KPFA Gang proud. The original article is clearly a smear piece. Some things worth noting:
There was no need for anyone from KPFA to go to Madison, Wisconsin. Hopefully, KPFA or Pacifica did not have to pay for this ego trip. The same is true for all other points around the world that are more than 80 miles away. There are always lots of people at these other events who can report on them, and that is certainly true for the labor struggle in Madison.
The short movie referred to is an example of criminal stalking. Hamilton is lucky that all Englehardt did was reprimand him. She could have filed a criminal complaint with the district attorney. She did not storm off in a huff either. When asked the inappropriate comment as to her measly salary, which I hear is about $90,000 a year, much less than profit-making company directors receive, she simply turned and walked away, followed with a camera. That stalking routine is always frightening, especially for women. And it was not listeners who asked the salary question; it was one snooty bourgeois man.
As to this little $25,000 a year part-time job announcing the news which Hamilton has been doing for less than 3 years, now that he was bumped by his friend, Tiekert, who clearly knew he would loose the arbitration and took this job, Hamilton, who appears to be a young fellow, can look elsewhere for work, the same as the rest of us always do. He can get 2 or more part-time jobs or a fulltime job. If he has office skills, he can work as a word processor or secretary or receptionist. If he can stand on his feet for 8 hours a day, he can do restaurant work, where he gets meals and uniforms as well as a wage and medical benefit. To make this amount of fuss about a minimal subsistence job for 1 person can only mean that this is all a propaganda routine.
We heard Hamilton's woeful routine over being laid off on the 6 p.m. March 1 news used as a fundraiser, which for the first time, pushed beyond the goal. For most of the past 2.5 weeks, the evening news barely made the goal and in some instances, failed to make the goal. The audience for KPFA is simply not rich enough to sustain a large budget, and that should not surprise anyone.
The Kill KPFA Gang pictured in the video are the same ones whose local station board member, Margy Wilkinson, proudly announced that she supported hiring a Republican Party law firm for Tiekert, and that she views Nazi USA as a "beleaguered democracy." See
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/02/24/18672968.php?show_comments=1#18672975
It always helps to remind everyone who the leading light of this Kill KPFA Gang is, Larry Bensky so we know for sure the real goal is to Kill KPFA and Pacifica. Here are the references on Larry Bensky:
1. His attacks to callers on air:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/25/18659813.php
2. Supporters of Pat Scott Gang and union busters American Consulting:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/21/18659436.php
3. More horrors of supporting Concerned Listeners gang:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/22/18626386.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/15/18472757.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/29/18324348.php
4. His opposition to Peace & Freedom and Green Parties:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/27/18495315.php
5. His use of name lists in violation of Pacifica election rules:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/21/18462672.php
6. His opposition to the 9/11 Truth Movement
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/10/18459899.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311830.php
7. His anti-labor outlook on labor programming:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/04/14/18154241.php
8. His contempt for free speech:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/11/13/17051361.php
9. His attack on William Blum's book exposing the CIA and a reminder that Bensky was editor of the CIA front, the Paris Review, at
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/27/17498851.php
10. His ridicule of the fact of history that Nazis influenced the anti-Communist witchhunts of the 1940s-1950s as of course they were first and foremost anti-communist:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/04/05/16762211.php
There was no need for anyone from KPFA to go to Madison, Wisconsin. Hopefully, KPFA or Pacifica did not have to pay for this ego trip. The same is true for all other points around the world that are more than 80 miles away. There are always lots of people at these other events who can report on them, and that is certainly true for the labor struggle in Madison.
The short movie referred to is an example of criminal stalking. Hamilton is lucky that all Englehardt did was reprimand him. She could have filed a criminal complaint with the district attorney. She did not storm off in a huff either. When asked the inappropriate comment as to her measly salary, which I hear is about $90,000 a year, much less than profit-making company directors receive, she simply turned and walked away, followed with a camera. That stalking routine is always frightening, especially for women. And it was not listeners who asked the salary question; it was one snooty bourgeois man.
As to this little $25,000 a year part-time job announcing the news which Hamilton has been doing for less than 3 years, now that he was bumped by his friend, Tiekert, who clearly knew he would loose the arbitration and took this job, Hamilton, who appears to be a young fellow, can look elsewhere for work, the same as the rest of us always do. He can get 2 or more part-time jobs or a fulltime job. If he has office skills, he can work as a word processor or secretary or receptionist. If he can stand on his feet for 8 hours a day, he can do restaurant work, where he gets meals and uniforms as well as a wage and medical benefit. To make this amount of fuss about a minimal subsistence job for 1 person can only mean that this is all a propaganda routine.
We heard Hamilton's woeful routine over being laid off on the 6 p.m. March 1 news used as a fundraiser, which for the first time, pushed beyond the goal. For most of the past 2.5 weeks, the evening news barely made the goal and in some instances, failed to make the goal. The audience for KPFA is simply not rich enough to sustain a large budget, and that should not surprise anyone.
The Kill KPFA Gang pictured in the video are the same ones whose local station board member, Margy Wilkinson, proudly announced that she supported hiring a Republican Party law firm for Tiekert, and that she views Nazi USA as a "beleaguered democracy." See
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/02/24/18672968.php?show_comments=1#18672975
It always helps to remind everyone who the leading light of this Kill KPFA Gang is, Larry Bensky so we know for sure the real goal is to Kill KPFA and Pacifica. Here are the references on Larry Bensky:
1. His attacks to callers on air:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/25/18659813.php
2. Supporters of Pat Scott Gang and union busters American Consulting:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/21/18659436.php
3. More horrors of supporting Concerned Listeners gang:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/22/18626386.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/15/18472757.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/29/18324348.php
4. His opposition to Peace & Freedom and Green Parties:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/27/18495315.php
5. His use of name lists in violation of Pacifica election rules:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/21/18462672.php
6. His opposition to the 9/11 Truth Movement
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/10/18459899.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311830.php
7. His anti-labor outlook on labor programming:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/04/14/18154241.php
8. His contempt for free speech:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/11/13/17051361.php
9. His attack on William Blum's book exposing the CIA and a reminder that Bensky was editor of the CIA front, the Paris Review, at
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/27/17498851.php
10. His ridicule of the fact of history that Nazis influenced the anti-Communist witchhunts of the 1940s-1950s as of course they were first and foremost anti-communist:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/04/05/16762211.php
For more information:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/2...
where can a person get 25 000 dollars a year, nit enuf poor outcasts get that needed amount! 25 000 for the poor!
The fabulous fabulist is back.
We love Arlene Engelhardt is actually "Stop the thug Hallinan"
That's all I want to say about this at the moment. I've left comments on various arguments about this many times now and I always identify myself.
Must we really be so afraid of what one angry faction might do to undermine anyone who disagrees with them that we hide behind pseudonyms?
This is a public issue; we should discuss it publicly and rationally, using our own names so as to stand by what we say, and attempt to carry on a civil discourse. Otherwise we just look like a bunch of paranoid crackpots.
Must we really be so afraid of what one angry faction might do to undermine anyone who disagrees with them that we hide behind pseudonyms?
This is a public issue; we should discuss it publicly and rationally, using our own names so as to stand by what we say, and attempt to carry on a civil discourse. Otherwise we just look like a bunch of paranoid crackpots.
For more information:
http://sfbayview.com/tag/ann-garrison/
Or is it more sad that several staff members just think it's fine to lie for their cause ("their union" -- not even their jobs -- I don't Vanessa Tait is paid. Her husband indicated earlier to me this is just part of the "game" or "role" "unions" play. As if the actual circumstances of the situation mean absolutely nothing now -- it's just some role...and I used to think my union bureaucracy was unresponsive to rank and file grievances years ago -- man, they were the paragons of morality compared with this. When some workers wanted 200 others of us to lose wages and go out on strike for something a tad bogus, at least our union took a legitimate vote with all sides heard from).
But what I just have to laugh at in a sick kind of way, and wonder that it isn't just so glaringly obvious that NO pledges are made to the "news" : the idea that if Pacifica management wanted "retribution" they'd choose "evil" activist John Hamilton over, say, Mark Mericle -- who has proved himself to be not only less ethical than pond scum but much less competent -- and a much more prominent "union activist" (sic) in this corrupt little corner of CWA, a large union that has surely won honorable righteous battles in its past. Doesn't that obvious fact scream out at everyone?
But what I just have to laugh at in a sick kind of way, and wonder that it isn't just so glaringly obvious that NO pledges are made to the "news" : the idea that if Pacifica management wanted "retribution" they'd choose "evil" activist John Hamilton over, say, Mark Mericle -- who has proved himself to be not only less ethical than pond scum but much less competent -- and a much more prominent "union activist" (sic) in this corrupt little corner of CWA, a large union that has surely won honorable righteous battles in its past. Doesn't that obvious fact scream out at everyone?
For more information:
http://www.supportkpfa.org
Very admirable goal Ann -- public discussion on a public issue. However, too many people are sick of having their names dragged through the mud, and even having threats against them. It's pretty clear to most rational people which side the "thuggish" behavior is coming from.
" It's pretty clear to most rational people which side the "thuggish" behavior is coming from."
Good point--so watch Con Hallinan in action--
Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBqU7F_m9s
and here's an article
http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2010/03/intimidation-between-minutes.html
For more information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBqU7F_m9s
Mericle dragged himself through the mud in using extreme privilege of our air waves to throw out lies and vindictive crap that has absolutely no value as "news" whatsoever. Once Alfendary disallowed a report on People's Park by some partisan to the homeless, not "objective enough. Yet she and Mericle now defend airing this manure -- not even pretending to enlighten listeners as to what is going on. KPFA in the black? Check the recent audit report of the PNB. The whole network is being dragged down in large part by Alfendary and Mericle's allies the past several years.
Roger and several others above seem to have a personal beef with various KPFA on-air staff. Especially in the news dept - it bugs them that there is actually a journalistic standard rather than just play anybody's crap (theirs) on the air (which appears to be what they want).
Mark, Aileen, John and the rest of the news staff carefully follow journalistic and ethical guidelines no matter what they are covering, internal or external. That's appreciated by listeners - the news raised more than any other show during the fund drive, most of it in the last few days after John Hamilton's layoff was announced. And that's with no "premiums" offered, just the news!
The Morning Mix sucked at fundraising and lost KPFA massive amounts of money, no matter what they offered as a premium, because listeners have tuned out and gone elsewhere for decent radio.
Mark, Aileen, John and the rest of the news staff carefully follow journalistic and ethical guidelines no matter what they are covering, internal or external. That's appreciated by listeners - the news raised more than any other show during the fund drive, most of it in the last few days after John Hamilton's layoff was announced. And that's with no "premiums" offered, just the news!
The Morning Mix sucked at fundraising and lost KPFA massive amounts of money, no matter what they offered as a premium, because listeners have tuned out and gone elsewhere for decent radio.
I can't help but imagine, since the "not following union rules" argument is not being thrown about,
if all parties all unanimously agreed that the staff payroll amount needed to be reduced by
one half-time salary. According to the contract and strictly following CWA rules who would
the half-time staffer be? I'm guessing it is John Hamilton.
Of course, an argument is that the staff payroll does NOT need to be reduced so the subject
should not even be raised here. As a thought experiment...wouldn't it be John?
P.S. Indybay's "captcha" discriminated against the dyslexic, the illiterate, and the non-English
speakers.
if all parties all unanimously agreed that the staff payroll amount needed to be reduced by
one half-time salary. According to the contract and strictly following CWA rules who would
the half-time staffer be? I'm guessing it is John Hamilton.
Of course, an argument is that the staff payroll does NOT need to be reduced so the subject
should not even be raised here. As a thought experiment...wouldn't it be John?
P.S. Indybay's "captcha" discriminated against the dyslexic, the illiterate, and the non-English
speakers.
"Mark, Aileen, John and the rest of the news staff carefully follow journalistic and ethical guidelines"
--WHAT guidelines do they so carefully follow? those of Fox News?
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