Unpaid Staff Organization (UPSO)
Meeting Notes
Jan 8, 2013
TOPICS
1)
Unpaid Staff Survey
2)
Election of 2013 Election Committee
3)
By-Law Changes
4)
Report on Fund Raising Campaign for Computer Upgrades
5)
Skype
6)
Computers at KPFA
7)
KPFA Resources (shared?)
8)
Substitution Work
Attending: (22 unpaid staff
members) Eddie Pay (Friday am Music,
Herbal Hwy), David Gans* (Dead to the World), Bonnie Simmons (The Bonnie
Simmons Show - Music), David Landau (Weekend News), Anthony Fest (Morning Mix,
Weekend News), Adrienne Lauby* (Pushing Limits), Matt Groveman (First Voices
Grp 38), Prema (First Voice Grp 38), Carla West (Board Op, News Tech), Kate
Rafael, (Women's Mag), Lisa Dettmer (Women's Mag), Ann Garrison* (Weekend News,
Afro Beat Radio), Layla (First Voice Grp 38), Autumn (First Voice Grp 38),
Beatrize (First Voice Grp 38), Shaham Aghimar* (Vioices of the Middle East and
North Aftica, Tim Lynch* (Dead to the World), Joy Moore (Apprentice program,
Funddrive), Nina Serrano (La Raza Chronicles) Kirsten Jusewicz-Haidle (First
Voice Grp 38), Shora Zamami (First Voice Grp 38)
*Unpaid Staff Council Member
1) UNPAID STAFF SURVEY
A discussion about draft questions
for an unpaid staff survey. This is, in
part, the continuation of earlier conversations about the possibility of a
contract between unpaid staff and KPFA management.
The UPSO Council will continue
discussion on e-mail and Adrienne will put the survey on-line within 2-3 weeks.
Suggestions:
--Generally: Add: “Answer the questions you wish. Feel
free to ignore particular questions” If
comments at the end of each question are possible, allow for them.
--Question 6. Reimbursement of unpaid staff expenses. Reframe to show the question means “a pool”
rather than an amount for each individual. Would this be better as a percentage
rather than an amount? No, the budget is
line item amounts rather than percentages.
Check the number for the KPFA budget and correct if necessary. Add a yes or no question on this topic.
--Question 8. Is health insurance
possible for unpaid staff? Some suggest that we talk with manager, or make the
question more broad - not hook it onto KPFA's insurance, or use phrase “with
support by KPFA.”
--Question 13. Grant sponsorship.
Clarify whether this means provide resources for administering grants, allowing
use of KPFA’s 501c3, or something else.
David and Adrienne will revise this question.
2)
ELECTION COMMITTEE
According to our bylaws, we must
elect a 3-member standing Election Committee with alternates during the January
meeting.
Some discussion of what the election
is, how much work, etc.
Mailing List Issues:
Andrew Phillips, our manager, was
tasked to make a list of unpaid staff and keep it up by the Local Station
Board. Maria, our bookkeeper, got some
records with an effort to get us all signed up.
No one knows whether Andrew has made a list. Anthony put the most recent list together
with info from the old list, Maria’s & his own effort. It shouldn’t need a lot of updating next
year.
Volunteers: Shahram Aghamir,
Ruthanne Shpiner, Adrienne Lauby, David Landau (Alternate)
All volunteers accepted and thanked.
Ruthanne has withdrawn since the
meeting due to health and disability issues.
3)
BY-LAW CHANGES
According to our bylaws, we must
initiate any by-law changes during the January meeting. Adrienne passed around a list of four
possible changes.
There was discussion of the first
one, wording to limit UPSO membership to people working on production. Those in favor said that UPSO should keep
it’s focus on people who have similar needs and interests, ie production. Those opposed gave an example of some who
might be left out, the subscription room coordinators, and argued that UPSO
should be inclusive. The point was made
that there are staff who cannot join the union and they should have a place for
group representation.
Other suggestions were a process to
augment the election committee, 2 year staggered terms for Council Members and
allowing e-mail or internet voting.
Bonnie suggested a by-law amendment that brings us into parity with the
rest of Pacifica. The current requirement of 30 hrs in a year would become 30
hrs in the three months leading to the election. It was pointed out that we have volunteers
who have produced annual specials for decades who would be left out if this
change were made.
None of these ideas were discussed
thoroughly.
Instead, a By-law Committee was
formed to look at the by-laws as a whole and bring suggestions forward. The By-Law Committee may consider a complete
rewrite of the by-laws. Their work does
not preclude someone proposing other specific changes for the ballot between
now and the election.
By-Law Committee: David Gans, Bonnie
Simmons, Kate Rafael, Ann Garrison, Shahram Aghimar
4)
REPORT ON FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN FOR COMPUTER UPGRADES
Goal: $1800 Raised so far: $750. plus one complete computer system
Some discussion about this
effort. See:
http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/6217
for details on the computers this
would upgrade and what equipment it would buy.
Please repost on your facebook pages
and e-mail lists.
If someone has a computer system or
parts of a system to donate, contact antonio@kpfa.org.
If we could raise the entire amount
of $1800. it would make a big difference for many unpaid staff members.
Ann says that the discussion of
computer problems on the on-line unpaid staff list helped make changes that
benefited her.
5)
SKYPE
Several people want us to try to
convince the engineering department to reinstall Skype on the KPFA
computers. It's not there currently
because Michael Yoshida, Chief Engineer, believes that if a producer leaves it
open after using it, it would be a security risk for KPFA.
Arguments in favor of doing it: Skype is being used by some programmers and
by other community radio stations already.
It would cut down the international phone call bill greatly. The sound
quality is often better than long distance telephone for international calls.
Could the Skype software be password
protected?
It’s possible that “Google Hang Out”
will surpass Skype soon. A suggestion
that we not limit our request to Skype.
There was general approval of this
idea if it could be done without major security problems. Kate and Ann will write up a proposal.
6)
COMPUTERS AT KPFA
There are many problems in the
computers used by unpaid staff. They are
generally unreliable. The software is often different on different
computers. It’s not clear when printers
are not working. Trouble shooting often
adds hours to production work.
Some Suggestions:
--Thumb drives - try to use those
which are formatted to be IBM compatible.
--Use the USB port in the back of
the computer- they are more reliable than the ones at the front.
--There are 5-port USB connections
in the production studio and in the Operation Studio.
--Mail your script to yourself, so
you have a copy.
We really feel the need to have more
technical support for unpaid staff.
Maybe we need a designated computer that is well maintained with a
priority for programmers with a program beginning in the next hour.
How can we get technical support
outside 9-5 pm working hours? Large and small problems happen in the evenings
and weekend. Could there be a phone
number posted at least?
Joy Moore is a newly elected Local
Station Board (LSB) Staff Representative.
She says she’s going to the LSB and start a capital campaign to get the
computers to work.
UPSO formally supports this effort
and asks the LSB to begin a capital campaign.
7)
KPFA RESOURCES
Someone raises a question about
shared resources at KPFA. Her example is
that there is a group data base that has fallen out of use because no one knows
about it. We often spending hours
reinventing the wheel. Some people were
astonished and would like to use such a thing.
Others thought it would go out of date too quickly and a producer could
do the same things by using social resources.
What would help you do your work?
What kind of information would help everyone?
8) SUBSTITUTION WORK
Is there a policy when you replace a
paid position, do you get paid?
Several people say, “yes.”
