Pacifica Hires Union-Busting Law Firm

Image from Flickr, by Rochelle, Just Rochelle)

The liberal Pacifica Foundation (parent of lefty radio stations like KPFA, in Berkeley, WBAI, in New York, and KPFK, in Los Angeles) has hired Jackson Lewis, a notorious anti-union law firm, according to Cal Labor Fed. The law firm, which the AFL-CIO has called “America’s number one union-buster,” advises bosses how to obstruct their employees from forming unions and how to undermine existing unions. They not only hold seminars to teach bosses how to maintain “union free environments,” they also advise employers on how to subvert the Americans with Disabilities Act.

KPFA’s employees, who are members of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9415, voted to demand that Pacifica’s National Board terminate its contract with Jackson Lewis. The board responded by symbolically flipping them the finger, choosing to leave their contract with Jackson Lewis intact.

Just a few years ago, Pacifica spent thousands of listeners’ donation dollars on a union-busting consultant to bust the KPFA union. They hired armed guards, fired many popular broadcasters, and eventually locked out the entire staff and temporarily shut down the station, enraging the station’s listeners.

The piece in Cal Labor Fed is asking for union members to seek a resolution by their unions “condemning Pacifica’s hire of one of the country’s top union-busters.” They are also asking individuals to sign this petition demanding that Pacifica drop Jackson Lewis immediately.