The idea of unionizing the professional staff of Chicago Public Media, which operates NPR affiliate WBEZ, was an old one that for years never went anywhere. But last July CEO Torey Malatia resigned under fire, and the idea was reborn with urgency. In December CPM’s staff voted 40 to seven to join the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
“I wouldn’t want to speak for everybody,” Linn went on, “but I think we’re looking for someone who is a visionary, and who is inspirational. It’s nice to have daily reminders of why you’re doing the hard work that you’re doing.” Malatia was that kind of leader, she said. “I think everyone would agree he was a visionary. Whether it was a good vision was another story. But overall, he was a really good communicator and very inspirational.”
I’ve never observed a contract negotiation that wasn’t contentious. The staff’s sparring with CPM management has already taken a nasty turn: as I previously reported, CPM submitted a brief to the National Labor Relations Board that accused four senior staffers of mendaciously misrepresenting their responsibilities to the NLRB. Furthermore, the brief laid out in detail the “performance issues” of one of WBEZ’s reporters.
Probably not—in the context of the broad labor landscape Ohr knows so well. But it put CPM on terra incognita.
