WESA, WYEP radio staffers seek union
The folks behind some of Pittsburgh’s most prominent radio offerings have announced their plan to unionize.
On Tuesday, the content staff at Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp. — the nonprofit organization that owns both 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR affiliate, and 91.3 WYEP, an independent music station — delivered a petition to management that a supermajority of eligible staff had signed declaring their intention to form a union, according to a Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists news release.
“We will approach this process in the spirit of collaboration and professionalism and urge PCBC leadership to do the same by voluntarily recognizing the union and begin bargaining in good faith with us,” the content staff’s organizing committee said via that news release.
“As a union town, Pittsburgh’s public radio stations should be union shops.”
Michele Klingensmith, PCBC’s director of marketing and brand strategy, told the Post-Gazette Tuesday morning that PCBC has no comment on the petition.
The bargaining unit would include reporters, editors, producers, DJs and more. The union itself would comprise approximately 26 members across WESA and WYEP, according to SAG-AFTRA Ohio-Pittsburgh Local executive director Brian Lysell.
Their goal is to ultimately create “a more supportive, transparent workplace” by “securing livable, equitable wages for staff and improving the company’s approach
to diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to the news release.
SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 actors, broadcasters and other media professionals nationwide. Its local chapter recently helped producers working at KDKA-TV and WPXI-TV in their efforts to unionize.
“SAG-AFTRA welcomes the talented content staff at
Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp.,” SAGAFTRA national executive director Duncan CrabtreeIreland said in a statement. “This tireless and dedicated team brings thought-provoking and entertaining programming to their communities daily, and it is only right that that their collective voice be heard in decision-making affecting their work lives.”
This push from PCBC content staff to unionize has the support of well-known employees like Kevin Gavin, host of “The Confluence” on WESA who has been working in public radio for 45 years.
“I am so proud of my colleagues, past and present, and the contributions they’ve made to inform and make our region a more engaged and better connected community,” he said in a statement. “I believe we as a group of journalists have so much more to offer to our listeners, as well as PCBC, and a union will provide us with the professional security to help accomplish our mission.
“I invite PCBC management to invest in the content creators, the journalists, whom our listeners and members rely on so we can continue to make a difference.”
WESA senior reporter Margaret J. Krauss said in a statement that she has “watched numerous talented staff members leave because they didn’t see a sustainable future for themselves” during her 10 years working at a PCBC-owned station.
“My hope is that a union will help employees avoid burnout and serve to strengthen our good journalism,” she said.
Longtime WYEP “Morning Mix” host Joey Spehar said in a statement that all he has ever wanted is to “share music with the people of my hometown until I retire.”
“I still feel that way,” he said. “But as a single parent, especially, I feel that organizing our labor force is the only way to ensure income equity, equality and transparency and to ensure that we cannot just survive, but thrive along with the organization we care so much about.”