On April
28, 1,300 listeners and supporters of WBAI radio rallied to
protest the takeover of the station by “illegitimate” new
management, an action which they say threatens the station’s
grassroots, activist role.
“These
days, the public airways are dominated by private commercial
interests,” US Rep. Major Owens told the rally, “and so it is
especially important that this independent voice be maintained.”
Owens announced plans for Congressional hearings on the situation
at WBAI and the Pacifica radio network to which it belongs. In a
speech in Congress the month before, Owens declared, “The
survival of WBAI is vital for the entire movement seeking more
access to the airways.”
The PSC
has hosted meetings of a labor coalition organizing against the
takeover of the station, and PSC President Barbara Bowen spoke at
the demonstration. “WBAI has long been an important voice for
social justice,” she told Clarion. “We need to make sure that
continues to be the case.”
Pacifica
was founded in the 1940s by Lew Hill, a journalist and peace
activist, as a noncommercial and listener-supported network that
would provide alternative views and news coverage on issues
ignored by the corporate media. WBAI, located at 99.5 FM, has
featured programs on everything from natural foods to police
brutality, and has been one of the few stations where
pro-labor—or pro-CUNY—voices have been heard.
In the
last few years a growing conflict has developed between the
Pacifica National Board and station staff and listeners: The board
says it is only trying to make Pacifica’s five stations more
professional and increase their audience, but critics say its real
agenda is to move the stations to a more mainstream, politically
acceptable format. On January 31, Daily News columnist Juan
Gonzalez quit his job as co-host of the award-winning news show
“Democracy Now” in protest against Pacifica’s change in
direction, saying that the Pacifica board “has been hijacked by
a small clique that has more in common with modern-day corporate
vultures than with working-class Americans.” Many listeners have
been especially concerned by discussions within the board about
selling off one or more Pacifica stations.
Gonzalez’s
resignation came in the wake of what activists have dubbed the
“Christmas coup.” On December 23, 2000, the Pacifica Board
sent Executive Director Bessie Wash to New York to change the
locks at the station in the middle of the night. The station’s
manager, the program director and others were summarily fired,
while many other producers and staff were gradually dismissed,
often in direct violation of the station’s contract with United
Electrical Workers Local 404. One of the first to be discharged
was Local 404 shop steward Sharan Harper. One of the new board
members at Pacifica is a lawyer at Epstein, Becker & Green,
which states on its Web site that it is an expert at
“maintaining a union-free workplace.”
The law firm has also been retained by Pacifica’s board.
Unions
have spoken out in support of the fired workers and their efforts
to keep WBAI true to its original mission: among them are the PSC
(which passed a resolution at the February 22 Delegate Assembly),
the Rutgers chapter of the AAUP, CWA Local 3, the Newspaper Guild
of New York, Musicians’ Local 802, the National Writers’
Union, Transit Workers Union Local 100, UNITE Local 169 and many
others. On April 19, the NYC Central Labor Council voted
unanimously to endorse the April 28 protest, demanding that
Pacifica rehire the fired members of UE Local 404 and lift the
orders banning others from the station.
“WBAI’s
management is engaged in nothing less than union-busting,” DC 37
Administrator Lee Saunders said in March. Saunders was especially
critical of WBAI’s abrupt cancellation of the show “Building
Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report” on March 5. Co-hosted
by Ken Nash, DC 37’s librarian for over 20 years, the show was
the longest-running labor radio show in New York City. Interim
station manager Utrice Leid pulled the plug on the program when
Nash was in the middle of an interview with Rep. Owens, in which
Owens criticized the “Christmas coup,” and Nash was fired on
the spot.
Various
lawsuits by Pacifica listeners are working their way through the
courts. Owens and other progressive leaders have proposed the
creation of new leadership bodies for Pacifica which would be
elected by listener-supporters.