KPFA

Impartial oversight of vote still in question

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After an outpouring of listener pressure, management finally certified the recall election to proceed, but has been vague about how it will conduct the vote, or if it will follow Pacifica’s own rules and mail the ballots before year’s end. Hundreds of KPFA listeners signed the recall petition, which lays out the charges of election fraud, email theft, and the destruction of programming by Rosenberg. Hundreds more have signed a second petition demanding that a neutral third party oversee the vote.

Many who signed expressed their frustration with Pacifica’s actions against KPFA, led by treasurer Rosenberg and executive director Arlene Engelhardt. For instance, listener Fred Hosea writes: “The dysfunction, drama, loss of listener support, and mismanagement of the past year amount to an intolerable failure, with Tracy Rosenberg and Arlene Engelhardt at the corrupting center. Rosenberg must go with all due haste, with Engelhardt to follow.” | SEE PETITION OR PETITION SIGNATURES

Help SaveKPFA spread the word
To raise funds to cover possible legal costs and the expense of contacting all of KPFA’s 20,000 listeners, SaveKPFA has set up an online account for those who would like to support our work. (Of course, we encourage you to support KPFA as well.) If you’d like to be added to SaveKPFA’s endorsers’ list, please email us with your name and how you’d like to identified.

Pacifica admits it failed to deposit pension money
Pacifica has finally admitted that it was not depositing employees’ pension contributions into their accounts in a timely fashion “for the past few years.” The network has sent a memo to staff claiming it was a “misunderstanding,” and acknowledging that it must repay the missing deposits with interest. Since early October, KPFA’s union has been investigating the apparent diversion of funds, calling it a form of wage theft.

Morning Show pledge total nearly $50K; new 8 am show alienates listeners

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Your responses to our PLEDGE TO BRING BACK THE MORNING SHOW with Aimee Allison, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, David Bacon and all the other wonderful original Morning Show staff have been amazing!

Our goal was $80,000 in pledges, and in the short time since our call went out, we have received nearly $50,000 in pledges. THANK YOU LISTENERS! Our plan is to present what we have to Pacifica management and see what can be worked out. Stay tuned.

If you haven’t pledged yet, please consider doing so. Or, if you are able, we hope you’ll consider an additional year-end amount. And remember: we are only asking for pledges at this time — no checks please. PLEDGE ONLINE | PLEDGE BY MAIL

We also thank those of you who donated directly to KPFA during its on-air emergency fund drive last week, or attended the recent KPFA benefit at La Pena. The outpouring of support has been very encouraging.

New 8AM show alienates listeners

On Monday, December 20, KPFA launched a new “all volunteer hosted” show in the 8 am slot that had been occupied by the Morning Show. The time slot’s audience has plummeted, amid allegations of patronage, political reward and violations of worker solidarity.

Many of KPFA’s unpaid staff have refused to participate, such as labor journalist David Bacon and PM Press publisher Ramsey Kanaan, who are among those who have issued statements of solidarity.

As one listener wrote to Pacifica, “This idea of yours to cut the Morning Show and replace it with volunteers is a big failure. We understand you got rid of Edwards-Tiekert & Allison for political reasons. You’ve also done a horrible thing by cutting David Bacon’s show. This was probably the only labor show anywhere on the dial. Oakland Scene is sorely missed as well. Frankly, none of the changes you have made are going over well with KPFA listeners. We want our Morning Show back!”

SaveKPFA has published a Fact Sheet on Boycotting the 8AM Show directed at those who might be invited to appear on it. Please read it and pass it on by email or xerox. Please also check out our new Facts About KPFA’s Crisis for answers to several key questions.

KPFA labor programmer David Bacon speaks out

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Morning Show labor programmer David Bacon issued this letter about the terminations of hosts Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert, and KPFA’s union’s request for other staff to support them. Bacon says he believes “that the union contract and the labor rights of those two people have been violated. Their request is like a picketline…and in solidarity, I won’t cross it.” Bacon asks listeners to write Pacifica on the matter.

The South Bay Central Labor Council, the umbrella organization for over 100 unions and 110,000 workers in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, has unanimously passed a resolution supporting KPFA’s workers and calling for the Morning Show’s return. Similar resolutions had previously been passed by the Alameda County and San Francisco labor councils.

SF Board of Supes resolution pending, judge orders injunction against Pacifica

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors discussed a resolution to support KPFA workers on Tuesday, but delayed a vote until the next meeting. Supervisors Avalos, Mar, Mirkarimi and Campos have co-sponsored the measure.

At Berkeley’s Tuesday city council meeting, Mayor Tom Bates tried to get Pacifica’s executive director Arlene Engelhardt to agree to mediation over the staff issues, but Engelhardt declined. She admitted that she “skipped over” KPFA workers with less seniority than Allison and Edwards-Tiekert in the layoff process because she felt they had vague “special skills.” City council members Darryl Moore and Linda Maio both put forth resolutions supporting KPFA’s staff, but neither won enough votes to pass.

Meanwhile, Pacifica management’s attempts to throw out the votes of several staff members who voted in the recent local board election have met with a preliminary injunction from an Alameda County Superior Court judge. The judge ordered Lewis Sawyer, a staff candidate, seated on the local board.

Ways to help KPFA today: pledge, dance!

KPFA is conducting an on-air fund drive this week, and the community is responding generously. Reports from KPFA phone volunteers indicate that many listeners are also mentioning their desire for all the Morning Show’s staff to return, and for programming to be locally-controlled. We hope you’ll contribute in whatever way you feel comfortable.

Another way to is participate in SaveKPFA’s PLEDGE TO RESTORE THE MORNING SHOW (online version | mail in version), which has a goal of $80,000. So far, listeners have pledged over $42,000 — enough to return the Morning Show to the air for 6 months. Please help put us over the top!

We also encourage you to attend Bay Area Artists Unite for KPFA, a benefit this Sunday, December 19 from 7 to 10pm at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave in Berkeley. Admission is $15-50 sliding scale, $10 for students, and proceeds go to KPFA.