Pacifica budget cutters threaten to choke KPFA
BERKELEY, Oct.21—Rejecting a budget proposal that would protect the jobs of most of the paid staff at KPFA, the parent company Pacifica Foundation’s finance committee is demanding extensive cuts that will remove some of the station’s most widely listened-to broadcasters, and its most effective fundraisers.
In a hard-fought battle on Saturday by members of the SaveKPFA slate, which will assume majority status on the Local Station Board (LSB) in December, a budget was hammered out that would meet the current financial crises with minimum disruption to the staff and station programming.
But rather than accept any of the proposals put forth by the LSB, which also had the support of KPFA management, Pacifica’s finance committee is demanding adoption of an alternative budget that eliminates the equivalent of 4.5 paid on-air positions—which will actually terminate many more part-time employees. Furthermore, the committee made these demands without engaging in meaningful negotiations with the union representing the paid station staff, a violation of the collective bargaining agreement that requires good-faith bargaining on such workplace issues.
The demand for cuts comes along with demands that will effectively stymie KPFA’s efforts to survive its financial crisis. Despite owing KPFA over $1.5 million for 10 years, the Foundation finance committee demanded that the station repay a recent loan to the station of $150,000 in one lump sum, rather than in manageable payments over several years.
“I am appalled that the national finance committee did not even consider our cost-saving measures,” said Pamela Drake, a member of the LSB who supported its alternative budget. “The plan we offered would have saved jobs and preserved important station resources, not least of which being the listenership. If we cut our best fundraisers and best-liked personalities, we’re going to lose listeners, and that’s a vicious circle that ends up killing the station. The Pacifica folks have thrown us to the wolves while asking us to pay for it.”
KPFA is the flagship station of the Pacifica radio network, an independent, not-for-profit broadcasting company with stations in major metropolitan areas around the U.S. Based in Berkeley, KPFA’s programming is heard throughout northern and central California.