KUOW Journalists Picket for a New Contract

by Ronnie Estoque

On Monday afternoon, Oct. 24, KUOW's unionized staff held an informational picket outside the KUOW studios, emphasizing the importance of livable wages for all KUOW positions in a new contract. The action received a large response via social media from KUOW listeners vocally expressing their own support. The KUOW union is represented by SAG-AFTRA, which represents approximately 160,000 media and entertainment professionals.

"Public radio in Seattle cannot be a profession reserved for people with a trust fund or wealthy spouse," said KUOW host and SAG-AFTRA member Libby Denkmann in a press release that was made on Oct. 19. "We believe in the vital role of local public radio. We also believe in fair wages for the skilled professionals who make it possible."

Increasing wages has been a top priority of the union negotiations, which were cut off earlier in June of this year, three months after the contract had expired. On Oct. 12, management approached the mediation table with no new wage proposals, which galvanized the KUOW unionized staff to hold the picket.

"This is a disgrace at a beloved station in a wealthy city," said KUOW senior reporter and union steward John Ryan in the press release.

It is estimated that half of the KUOW journalists would still qualify for low-income housing as a one-person household, and three-quarters would qualify as a two-person household based on the last offer that was provided by management. Clare McGrane has worked at KUOW for nearly three years and is the producer of KUOW's news podcast called Seattle Now. She has been a member of KUOW'S bargaining team since February of this year.

"I'm glad to see more newsrooms are unionizing because this is a really challenging industry to be in. It's a really challenging job, and it's a job that everyone cares so much about and wants to do their best at," McGrane said. "It takes a lot of people to make a radio broadcast work. And we all care so much about our work."

McGrane described those relationships with direct supervisors and editors in the newsroom as "wonderful" and that higher levels of management have been "very distant." During her time at KUOW, McGrane has seen how her coworkers have poured their time and energy into reporting on various topics such as the Olympia protests, the pandemic, and protests across the country in response to police killings.

"It feels like the recognition from management has been extremely surface level. It's been all talk and all kinds of appreciation," McGrane said. "I think our GM, you know, called us superheroes who are doing this work. And yet, you know, they [management] haven't been willing to actually pay us more for that work."

According to McGrane, the decision to cut off negotiations in June came as a surprise to her coworkers and union reps as they had begun to have dialogue about the key points that needed to be addressed with a new contract. Now in the mediation process, the KUOW unionized staff hope that management can recognize their dedication to the publication by paying them a livable wage to address rising inflation.

"The main thing that we would like to see from KUOW management and from UW is really just acknowledgment, monetary reimbursement, an acknowledgment of the work that we have done over the past three years, you know, during a pandemic, covering some of the most impactful and, frankly, dangerous stories that our region has seen in decades, if not centuries; our staff has really gone above and beyond, " McGrane said.

Featured Image: Photo courtesy of KUOW/SAG-AFTRA newsroom union.