Content staffers at the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp., which includes public radio stations WESA and WYEP, said Tuesday that they are seeking to form a union with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
“We believe this union would best represent us in the process of collectively negotiating our pay, benefits, and working conditions,” the employees said in a petition sent to management Tuesday and posted on Twitter.
The proposed bargaining unit would include approximately 26 employees in positions such as hosts, reporters, DJs, editors and producers, according to a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson.
In the petition, the employees said they are seeking “transparency and equity in compensation” and hope to “foster a culture in which workers feel safe, trusted and appreciated, where ideas are recognized, and our concerns are respected, including those regarding racial equity, community representation in our work, and retention of staff.”
“We believe we should have meaningful input into our role in the station’s future, and this is best accomplished through a formal collective-bargaining process,” according to the petition.
In the petition, the staffers asked management to voluntarily recognize the union. A spokesperson for the organization declined to comment when asked about that request by Current.