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WBUR head leaves after newsroom unionizes
By adamg on Mon, 03/11/2019 - 12:30pm
WBUR self-reports the departure of Charlie Kravetz as general manager. The station reports the decision was one of those mutual time-to-go-separate-ways things and that while his formal resignation becomes effective June 30, he is no longer involved in day-to-day operations - and he did not attend the staff meeting at which the news was announced. Twitter feed from the meeting.
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Comments
Finally an end to the sweatshop atmosphere at BUR
They only have 18 producers for Here and Now! My God man, that's almost seven minutes of radio per person per day!
Yeah, because a unionized workforce is so horrible!
Regardless of the field, workers deserve labor protections, especially ones that give them recourse when workplace violations occur. Just because WBUR isn't a construction site, it doesn't mean that this is negative.
Had the actors and writers on the show "SMILF" not been unionized then the allegations of workplace misconduct by the showrunner may have continued on for who knows how long. And the Commonwealth would still be giving that show tax credits.
All power to all the people! Solidarity to the workers!
What did I say about unions in my post?
Nothing-- in the same way I said nothing about poisonous work environments, sexual harassment; you just chose to turn that into a teachable moment. My point was, and only was:
18 producers for a two-hour show is _insane_.
That's it. Now, do you have any experience in broadcast news-- listening/watching and having a tote bag doesn't count, sorry-- or how such shows are typically staffed? No? Nice try then!
BTW, in some cases unions-- like the one I joined a few years ago in, yes, broadcast news-- protect the wages and benefits of older people and fuck over younger workers who join. Look it up. We'll wait.
You replied to a post about WBUR unionized workers, lil' guy
And it's about to get really meta here: not only did I NOT say that you mentioned anything about sexual harassment in your comment but also...I never said anything about sexual harassment in my original comment. For somebody who claims to work in the field of broadcast news, you seem to lack basic reading comprehension skills.
Here's the Merriam-Webster definition of the word "sweatshop", which you used in your post:
"a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions"
So you didn't literally say the words "poisonous work environment" (that would be denotation) but your use of the word "sweatshop" has that connotation.
Do I have experience in broadcast news? First off, I want to thank you for enthusiastic interest in my life. It's always a pleasure to meet new fans. :) You seem a little unstable to me, though, so I'm not going to give you much information about me. You can wait for my book release though.
Also, why do you think that I would look up the union that you joined? I mean, you could post the name of it, as well as your full name and perhaps I'd fact check it. You haven't named that union though. Seems to me that you want to just anonymously complain about this. Which is valid, I guess!
You might be better off complaining to your union rep. I am very honored though that you have assigned me so much power that you believe I can do something about your grievances that you have with your union, and, I guess, unions in general.
It seems like you have a lot of misdirected anger towards me. Maybe some constructive yelling might help you get your feelings out. Take a deep breath and say it with me: ALL POWER TO ALL THE PEOPLE! SOLIDARITY TO THE WORKERS!
Anyway, it is really unfortunate that you are so upset about WBUR workers being unionized but I hope that you can find a path to healing and recovery. :)
Musicality of the voice of Joe Mathieu !
Compare musicality of the voice of Joe Mathieu on WGBH-FM 89.7 https://www.wgbh.org/news/people/joe-mathieu and harsher voice of Bob Oakes on WBUR-FM 90.9 https://www.wbur.org/inside/staff/bob-oakes