Workers At Classical MPR And The Current Announce Intent To Unionize

From the Minnesota Reformer:

By Max Nesterak

September 24, 2020

Employees of Minnesota Public Radio’s classical music station and The Current, its contemporary music station, announced their intent to form a union on Thursday, citing a need for more equitable pay, greater staff diversity and more consistent and transparent discipline.

The announcement comes during a week that has already roiled one of the largest nonprofits in the state.

[Disclosure: I worked as a producer at MPR News from 2016-2019]

On Tuesday, employees at MPR and its parent company American Public Media released an open letter expressing a lack of trust in the company’s senior leadership along with a list of demands to improve diversity and inclusion. Later that day, American Public Media CEO Jon McTaggart announced he would step down, although he said he had been discussing his succession with the board for two years.

The employee-led campaign to “Transform MPR” comes on the heels of two public departures, which led to backlash from listeners and employees. Classical MPR fired its only Black host, Garrett McQueen, and MPR News’ longtime arts reporter Marianne Combs resigned, accusing editors of suppressing an investigation into sexual misconduct by a DJ at The Current.

The move by more than 40 content creators across the two stations also comes amid declining revenue at American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio caused by the coronavirus pandemic. American Public Media, which employs around 675 people across the country, laid off 28 people this year and 14 employees took voluntary buyouts.

More than 80% of the content-creating staff at The Current and Classical MPR signed the two union petitions to organize with the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), according to the organizing committees.

In a statement announcing the petitions, the MPR Music Unions’ organizing committee wrote: “We are united in seeking fair and equitable compensation; an actionable and measurable plan to diversify the staff of both of our stations; and consistency and transparency in employee discipline and termination. We know that we will be able to further those goals with a seat at the table as SAG-AFTRA members.”

The effort to form a union began last fall but was accelerated by the recent events at MPR, workers said.

MPR acknowledged it received the petitions from “some” employees at the two stations in an email to the Reformer and said the company’s management is “currently reviewing the details of these letters and are considering the requests included.”

The workers at Classical MPR and The Current are calling for management to voluntarily recognize their union. If the company chooses not to, employees must then vote to certify the union before contract negotiations can begin.

In 2016, MPR challenged a unionization effort from the journalists in its newsroom and national investigative unit APM Reports, and employees narrowly voted to form a union with SAG-AFTRA.

SAG-AFTRA also represents workers at public radio stations across the country including NPR, WHYY in Philadelphia, WBUR in Boston and KCRW in Los Angeles.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..