Axed TV staff launch protest programme

WORKERS at a debt-laden Spanish TV station on Friday defied an order to close the broadcaster by airing their own live protest programme.

Staff at RTVV, the unprofitable government-owned broadcaster in the eastern Valencia region, refused to accept their fate quietly. When the conservative Popular Party-run Valencia government published “the law for the elimination, dissolution and liquidation” on Thursday, the workers launched a live protest broadcast through the night.

In one programme, the backdrop was a cross above the words: “Here lies RTVV, abused, exploited, manipulated and killed by the Popular Party.”

The workers, who have been running protest programmes since the closure plan was first announced early in November, said they had managed to hold off several attempts during the night to take them off the air.

“The radio is off, but television is carrying on,” said Salut Alcover, deputy head of the staff representative’s committee for RTVV.

“We still have antenna despite several attempts to cut the signal, but they have not succeeded because of our colleagues’ resistance.”

Spanish media showed police being deployed during the night outside the TV station’s HQ.

Valencia radio reportedly went off air just before midnight. Minutes later, TV staff began live coverage of their struggle.

Valencia’s regional government had tried to fire 1 000 of the 1 700 workers at Radio Television Valenciana, but staff successfully challenged the procedure in court.

Valencia’s government said it could not afford to comply with the court order to bring back the laidoff workers. Instead, it announced on November 5 that it would shut the operation entirely.

This is the first shutdown of a regional TV station in Spain, which, alongside national broadcaster Television Espana, has 13 regional public TV stations. — Sapa-AFP