Employees at KBPS radio station vote for IBEW Local 48

When Portland Public Schools sold the broadcast license for classical music station KBPS-FM to a private foundation last December, the new owners took the view that the purchase didn’t come with an obligation to recognize the previously existing union. Radio station workers had been members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 48, but their union contract contained no successor clause.

On April 23, the station’s workers made their position clearer, voting 10 to 2 to reaffirm membership in Local 48, in an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.

Clif Davis, Local 48 business representative, says he looks forward to meeting with management to negotiate a new agreement.

Meanwhile, at two other local radio stations represented by Local 48, management may be backing off attempts at union avoidance.

Charles Knopf, the employee who filed a decertification petition for 21 employees at KOTK-AM and KWJJ-FM, withdrew the request April 6. The two stations, formerly owned by Fisher Communications, were bought last May by Entercom. Davis said the new owners delayed acknowledging their responsibility to bargain, but now the two sides are meeting periodically to negotiate.

Home | About