Pacifica: we want to be effective, not to bust our union
This letter to the editors of Current appeared in its edition of July 8, 1996.
To the editors:
In response to your article, "Workers charge Pacifica with union-busting'' (June 17), first, let me be quite clear on one thing--Pacifica is not out to bust any union, especially not our own. American Consulting Group was never hired to negotiate contracts at any Pacifica stations. For the record: we are currently engaged in contract negotiations with UE [United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America] at two of our member stations, KPFK in Los Angeles and WBAI in New York. It is an inevitable fact of any such process that there will be differences of opinion across the bargaining table, and frequently we see these differences aired in public. That is what is happening here.
In the course of doing our best to come up with a reasonable contract that is fair and equitable to all our workers, our critics have hunted for any opportunity to brand us as "union-busters.'' Lately they have been using a six-year-old brochure put out by a firm that was advising us on labor law and other matters to impugn our motives. We have not asked for advice on how to "bust'' our unions (nor have they provided such advice). But for a number of reasons, including that brochure, we will not be renewing our $1,000 contract (not $30,000 as alleged by [Lyn] Gerry).
But we have no doubts that our detractors will be back in their search for opportunities to discredit the current positive changes going on at Pacifica Radio and our member stations.
It is important to understand that there is a very small group of former employees and volunteers who believe that Pacifica Radio can continue as a viable operation under its once well-known and well-beloved dictum--"as long as there is one intelligent listener and one intelligent speaker, there should be a place on the air for such a program.''
Unfortunately, not only is this an elitist view, but it is not a practical way to utilize radio, especially with large signals in large metropolitan areas. This approach is also antithetical to Pacifica's other long-stated commitment--to act as a leader for progressive social change, to empower and bring together all segments of our diverse community, and to provide a voice for the disempowered and the disenfranchised. As long as we speak only to ourselves, we cannot fulfill this commitment.
So Pacifica Radio is now embarked on a course to strengthen its foundations for the future, to build a modern, relevant, effective radio network, which will challenge and impact the status quo. Our recent efforts have generally been well received by our listeners, supporters and donors--audience share has increased since we began making program change over the past year.
But our opposition has chosen to couch this in terms of a moral struggle--as though choosing to expand our support base through providing strong progressive programming, and providing all our stations access to analytical national programs and a national news service is somehow selling out.
In truth, the history of Pacifica Radio is one of struggle, debate, criticism and self-criticism. And not always polite, either. We have been harsh on ourselves, simply because we are different from mainstream radio, and want to stay that way. And we will continue to struggle to find solutions which will benefit our audiences--all of them. We are committed to providing outstanding, thoughtful and accessible programming which will bring in listeners who can use the information Pacifica and our member stations provide to educate themselves and organize around the critical issues of the day.
Pat Scott
Executive Director, Pacifica Foundation,
Berkeley, Calif.
Earlier news: Some Pacifica volunteers charge Scott with trying to bust their union, 1996.
Web page created July 12, 1996
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