elections and governance – Page 20

Time to renew your KPFA membership?

January 29, 2024April 26, 2012 by Save KPFA

SaveKPFA will be asking for your vote in the next general election for KPFA’s Local Station Board this fall, but you have to be a KPFA member in order to vote. Here’s how it works:

It takes just $25 to become a voting member of KPFA. Donate at www.kpfa.org/support.
You have to give in the year ending June 30, 2012 in order to vote in the next Local Station Board election — so if your last donation was before July 1, 2011, you have to give again to maintain your eligibility.
There’s a bonus for giving now: gifts that KPFA receives outside of regular fund drives don’t get levied 20% by Pacifica National. KPFA’s Spring Fund drive starts next week, but if you give now at www.kpfa.org/support, more of your money will stay with KPFA.

KPFA’s board calls on Pacifica to drop union busters, picket scheduled Apr. 18

January 29, 2024April 17, 2012 by Save KPFA

COME TO A PICKET: KPFA’s workers have called a picket to protest Pacifica’s hire of union-busters Jackson Lewis and invite listeners to attend. It’s on Wednesday, April 18, noon-1pm, in front of KPFA. Be there, bring friends!

Since news broke that Pacifica has hired notorious anti-union legal firm Jackson Lewis, a petition against union-busting at the network has gotten nearly 1600 signatures.

Bill Berkowitz of Buzzflash at Truthout calls the development “a dramatic and disturbing departure from Pacifica’s progressive origins.” In his Politics in the Zeros blog, Bob Morris said the news showed that “the national board now directly opposes everything Pacifica used to stand for.” Labor journalist Dick Meister, who does a weekly show at sister station KPFT told the California Federation of Labor that he was “appalled at what seems to be happening.” The news has been covered in the labor press, as well as Matthew Lasar‘s Radio Survivor blog, San Francisco’s Fog City Journal, and Current, a magazine on public broadcasting.

Contrary to Pacifica’s portrayal of Jackson Lewis as being brought in under an “insurance deductible” in which Pacifica had “no choice,” it has been confirmed that Pacifica’s executive director Arlene Engelhardt, strongly recommended the firm to the Pacifica National Board (PNB), which then voted to put it on a general retainer. Engelhardt admitted in an online blog that Jackson Lewis is on retainer and doing “non-litigation” work such as arbitrations. In the same blog, Engelhardt attacked KPFA’s staff, saying she was “deeply disappointed” in their “integrity and professionalism,” while praising the anti-union lawyers, saying they had “saved [Pacifica] money” and done “an exemplary job.”

Members of KPFA’s Local Station Board brought a strong resolution against law firm Jackson Lewis at their April 7 meeting. You’d think severing ties with the nation’s top union-busting firm would be a no-brainer, but in the discussion, KPFA board member Tracy Rosenberg (who is also Pacifica’s national board treasurer) defended their hiring. Rosenberg said she voted to hire Jackson Lewis because it was “aggressive” and Pacifica “needed” an aggressive law firm. It is clear that Pacifica National Board members discussed Jackson Lewis’ anti-union reputation before voting to hire it.

KPFA boardmember Conn Hallinan said the signed retainer agreement with Jackson Lewis “refers very specifically to the fact that the firm was hired to deal with ‘general labor issues,’ but I don’t care…what they were hired to do,” he said. “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,” said Hallinan. | LISTEN to audio of Conn Hallinan (2:30 min)| LISTEN to entire LSB meeting: part 1, part 2, part 3 (Jackson Lewis discussion), part 4

You made the difference! Thanks to pressure from the hundreds of listeners who signed petitions and wrote in, even Tracy Rosenberg ultimately voted for the resolution calling on Pacifica to end its relationship with the controversial firm. An amended version of the resolution passed KPFA’s board by a vote of 15-0 with 2 abstentions. The unanimous, cross-factional resolution from KPFA’s Local Station Board will increase pressure on Pacifica.

LET’S KEEP UP THE PRESSURE: click here to send an email demanding the Pacifica National Board terminate all contracts with Jackson Lewis!

Apparently, KPFA listener emails are making an impact

January 29, 2024April 17, 2012 by Save KPFA

At its recorded phone meeting April 12, the Pacifica National Board (PNB) devoted a full 45 minutes to discussing emails it is receiving from KPFA members opposed to Pacifica’s hire of Jackson Lewis. Sadly, this conversation did not involve any re-thinking of the decision to hire the union-busting lawyers.

Instead, PNB members debated whether or not to block the hundreds of protest emails its getting from listeners supporting SaveKPFA. PNB member Ken Aaron (KPFK/Los Angeles) said he thinks the people writing to the board “are not human” and their communications were “spam” that should be prevented from reaching the board. From SaveKPFA‘s website, people have a choice of sending their email directly to the PNB’s address, or sending it via a web form, which is then forwarded by SaveKPFA‘s web volunteers. | LISTEN to 30 second audio clip of Aaron

Several PNB members said they were appalled at the proposed limitations on listener comments. SaveKPFA member Andrea Turner, who is 1 of 4 KPFA delegates on the PNB, thanked listeners for writing and said she hoped they would continue doing so. Turner pointed out that a member-driven non-profit founded to advance free expression shouldn’t be scared of hearing from its own constituents. | LISTEN to 1 minute audio clip of Turner

Efforts to block or divert emails sent through SaveKPFA‘s webpage failed by a one-vote margin, with these 9 members VOTING NO on the motion: Nia Bediako (WBAI/NYC), Wesley Bethune (KPFT/Houston), Lydia Brazon (KPFK/LA), Revalyn Golde (WPFW/Washington), Campbell Johnson (WPFW, Washington), Laura Prives (KPFA/Berkeley), Marcel Reid (WPFW, Washington), Dan Siegel (KPFA/Berkeley), and Andrea Turner (KPFA/Berkeley).

PNB treasurer Tracy Rosenberg, who is facing a recall from her constituents at KPFA, VOTED YES to blocking incoming listener messages. She was joined by 7 other PNB members: Ivon Alcime (WPFW/Washington), Teresa Allen (KPFT/Houston), Ken Aaron (KPFK/LA), Carolyn Birden (WBAI/NYC), Bill Crosier (KPFT/Houston), Ali Lexa (KPFK/LA), and George Reiter (KPFT/Houston).