Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1157135
sagaftra.org | Summer 2019 | SAG-AFTRA 23 S taff and member leaders from the SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California Local, along with IATSE, NABET and IBEW, met with the management of local television stations and the Oakland Police Department on April 17 at the biannual safety summit to discuss ongoing safety concerns facing Bay Area news crews. Not long before the summit, SAG-AFTRA member leader Joe Vazquez, a steward from KPIX-TV, was present during an attack while reporting in the field. An armed man stole the news crew's camera, shooting and wounding a guard in the process. The criminal incident was a topic of discussion during the summit, where the group reflected upon ways to prevent such attacks in the future. With journalists increasingly becoming the targets of violence and harassment, SAG-AFTRA has made safety a top priority. The union has been working with journalists, management and police departments in Oakland, the Bay Area and at other affected areas nationwide to provide additional protections for news crews, includi ng adding enforceable contract provisions concerning safety. E mployees at KCRW in Santa Monica, California, voted in June to recognize SAG-AFTRA as their labor union. The online vote was conducted according to an election agreement reached between SAG-AFTRA and KCRW through a mutually respectful and collaborative process. The new bargaining unit covers more than 90 public media professionals, including DJs, hosts, producers, reporters, production engineers, board operators and others who create content for all areas of KCRW, including music and news radio programming, digital content, podcasts and live events. The employees made the request to unionize on May 30, when they delivered a petition to station management with more than 75% support. "We are excited to officially be recognized as a union at KCRW. Our staff has united around this organizing effort and we are looking forward to sitting down with management and negotiating a contract that will be fair for all. KCRW is a vital source of information, music and community, and we are thrilled to have an even better opportunity to create amazing content for our listeners," said KCRW Producer Avishay Artsy. "On behalf of SAG-AFTRA members, I am thrilled to welcome KCRW to our union family. KCRW is a one-of-a-kind radio station that produces some of Los Angeles' most dynamic and diverse programming, and we're excited to make sure everyone's voice is heard through the collective bargaining process," said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. KCRW represents the latest in a series of organizing victories in public media. In recent years, employees at KPCC in Pasadena, KPBS in San Diego, WBEZ in Chicago, KUOW in Seattle, Minnesota Public Radio, WBUR in Boston and digital and per diem employees at New York Public Radio have all unionized with SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA also represents public media professionals at National Public Radio and several other public radio and television stations. KCRW employees celebrate after voting to join SAG-AFTRA. KCRW EMPLOYEES VOTE TO JOIN SAG-AFTRA SUMMIT FOCUSES ON JOURNALIST SAFETY