The KPFA Unpaid Staff Organization (UPSO)
Anyone who has worked at the station for at least 30 hours in the past 12 month period without financial compensation* are members of the KPFA Unpaid Staff Organization. *Members must not be part of management, members of KPFA’s unionized bargaining unit nor eligible for benefits.
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Unpaid Staff Organization Council Members
Shahram Aghamir: [email protected]
David Gans: [email protected]
Ann Garrison: [email protected]
Adrienne Lauby: [email protected]
Tim Lynch: [email protected]
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Unpaid Staff E-mail Group
There is an unpaid KPFA staff e-mail group: [email protected] If you are a member of the unpaid staff organization and want to be added to this group, contact a Council representatives.
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Meeting Notes and miscellaneous items: KPFAUPSO.blogspot.com
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2012 UPSO Council Election: www.kpfaupsoelection.org
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UPSO BYLAWS
(As amended in 2010)
PREAMBLE
The unpaid staff is crucial to the operation and success of KPFA.
We are like the listeners in that we are a diverse group and are not paid by KPFA or Pacifica. And like the listeners our perspective tends to be free of job related self interest. But like KPFA’s paid staff we are familiar with radio production and with KPFA. This intermediate perspective allows us to bring an informed and relatively disinterested judgment to station deliberations. We also have a particular interest in fairness in programming decisions.
We therefore form this unpaid staff organization to take part in the station’s decision-making process.
We believe that KPFA must be able to change in changing times.
In founding this organization it is not our intent to protect our own individual positions but to be better able to speak and act on behalf of those policies that will maximize the station’s potential to support the efforts of the community to bring greater beauty, peace and justice to their lives.
SECTION ONE: UNPAID STAFF ORGANIZATION PURPOSE
1.1 To represent the interests and the perspective of the unpaid staff in matters affecting ourselves and the station.
1.2 To select unpaid staff representatives for station committees.
1.3 To foster communication and cooperation between management, paid staff, and unpaid staff and between the station and the communities it serves.
1.4 To promote communication among members of the unpaid staff.
1.5 To facilitate the resolution of problems and grievances of the Unpaid Staff.
SECTION TWO: MEMBERSHIP
2.1 Membership shall be open to people who have worked at the station for at least 30 hours in the past 12 month period, provided they are not part of management, are not members of KPFA’s unionized bargaining unit and are not eligible for benefits.
2.2 The Unpaid Staff Organization Council shall determine who meets the requirements for membership.
2.3 Members may vote in the organization’s elections.
SECTION THREE: COUNCIL PURPOSE
3.1 Council representatives shall represent the perspectives and the interests of the unpaid staff in matters concerning the operation and direction of the station.
3.2 The Unpaid Staff Organization Council shall choose unpaid staff representatives to serve on hiring and other temporary station committees. Unpaid Staff representatives to the station Program Council shall be chosen by the Unpaid Staff Organization Membership in a general election. This election shall be conducted by he UPSO election Committee as described in Section Four.
3.3 Not more than two UPSO Council members may be representatives to the station Program Council at one time.
The other members must come from the UPSO membership.
3.4 One or more UPSO representatives to the station Program Council shall provide timely reports of the weekly Program Council meetings.
3.5 UPSO members who are also Local Station Board members shall provide timely reports of the monthly LSB meetings to the UPSO membership.
Section FOUR: ELECTION OF COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
4.1 The first quarterly Membership Meeting of the Unpaid Staff Organization must take place between January 1st and January 31st. At that meeting the membership may begin the process of reviewing the bylaws and recommending changes as necessary, and will establish an election committee which shall consist of not fewer than three people, none of whom may be candidates for UPSO Council Representative or Program Council Representative. This election committee will be selected by popular vote, and will organize the election of UPSO council representatives Program Council Representatives, and the vote upon any applicable bylaw changes.
4.2 Elections shall be held yearly, by secret ballot distributed by mail to all members of the Unpaid Staff Organization. The election committee shall be responsible for conducting the nomination and election procedure. Any change in the bylaws must be approved by
a majority of the unpaid staff members voting in the annual election. Bylaw changes will only be initiated at this quarterly Membership Meeting.
4.3 Candidates for the position of UPS Council or Program Council representative may submit a statement of 500 words or less to the election committee for disbursement to the membership.
4.4 The election committee has the responsibility to publish the complete results of the Council elections and Bylaws changes in a timely manner. This will allow the members to correct any errors that the election committee may have made.
SECTION FIVE: COUNCIL COMPOSITION
5.1 Unpaid Staff Council Representatives must have been members
of the Unpaid Staff Organization for at least six months.
5.2 The Council shall consist of 5 members.
5.3 The term of office shall be for one year, and all five terms shall end concurrently. Representatives may be re-elected to one consecutive term only, but may be elected again after sitting out one term.
SECTION SIX: COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE REPLACEMENT
6.1 If there is one vacancy it shall be filled by the next-highest vote-getter in the most recent election. If that person is unable or unwilling to serve, or if there are at any time 2 vacancies, there must be a special election to replace the vacancies.
SECTION SEVEN: MEETINGS
7.1 The council shall meet as necessary, but not less than monthly. Meetings shall be duly noticed on the website, throughout the station and via email and shall be open to all members; only representatives may vote.
7.2 A quorum shall consist of 3 council members.
7.3 The council shall call full unpaid staff meetings at least quarterly. This will provide a chance for members to air grievances and become informed about station issues. At least 3 of the five Unpaid Staff Council Members shall attend all such meetings.
SECTION EIGHT: AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
Proposed amendments must be approved by a majority of the voting members by written ballot. All proposed amendments must be distributed to the members and posted on the KPFA website and throughout the station for 30 days before mailing of the ballots.
The election will be conducted by the election committee as set forth in Section Four.
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UPSO Grievance Protocol
Complainants are encouraged to keep a written record of the step they take to resolve their grievances. The following is a proposed breakdown of the steps in chronological order:
A grievance is defined as a complaint, dispute or controversy, or difference, including disputes as to whether a matter is a proper subject for the grievance procedure. The grievance is between employees or between an employee and the employer, which may arise involving employee discipline or involving other conditions of work. For a more detailed explanation of behavior that may constitute grounds for filing a grievance see the attached sheet derived from a Pacifica Foundation list of causes for disciplinary action and/or removal from the air.
1. In the interest of bringing the issue to a timely resolution, the aggrieved party, an UPSO member, is recommended (but not required as she/he may feel unsafe) as soon as possible but no later than 21 days after the incident, communicate informally with the other person(s) who is/are involved about the specific grievance and how s/he was affected by it and what s/he requests as a resolution. If the aggrieved party would rather not communicate directly with the other person(s) involved about grievance, she/he may skip to step 2 below.
2. If the initial contact above was skipped or unsuccessful, the aggrieved UPSO member shall take her/his grievance (file a formal grievance with) to the Unpaid Staff Grievance Committee (GC) within 10 days. (See definitions of the GC on the attached sheet that I will provide later. It is composed of just members of UPSO.)
3. If the grievance is against a member of the paid union staff or paid nonunion staff, a GC representative shall discuss the charge with station management within 10 days. If not skip to step 7.
4. In an attempt to work out a settlement through mediation/discussion, within 10 days, the GC and management representatives shall convene a meeting of the following persons: Management representative, the aggrieved and other party(s). Unpaid staff or paid/nonunion staff can select another person to be present at the meeting. The union staff member can bring a shop steward or union representative to the meeting. (Note: The union contract states that a member of the bargaining unit has the right to have a shop steward at a meeting that may result in disciplinary action.)
5. All grievances not settled in the above step shall be submitted to a Grievance Review Committee (GRC), consisting of one rep chosen by management, one member chosen by UPSO, one member chosen by the paid/union member or paid/nonunion member, and a fourth party agreed upon by the first three participants.
6. Within 10 days, a GRC rep will recommend a final and binding decision on the conflict. The decision in no way abridges the right of the grievant/accused to pursue her/his own independent means of resolving the conflict. (Note: Currently the union would have right to challenge the results through its own grievance procedure by filing a grievance against management. That would transform the conflict into one between management and the union.)
7. Is the conflict between 2 unpaid staff members? If not skip to step 10. If yes, read on. In an attempt to work out a settlement through mediation/discussion, within 10 days, the GC shall convene a meeting of the following persons: GC representative, the aggrieved and other party(s). Unpaid staff can select another person to be present at the meeting.
8. All grievances not settled in the above step shall be submitted to a Grievance Review Committee, consisting of the UPSO GC.
9. Within 10 days, a GC rep will respond with recommendations for resolution of the conflict. The GRC will render a decision binding on both parties. The decision in no way abridges the right of the grievant/accused to pursue her/his own independent means of resolving the conflict.
10. In this case, the conflict is between an UPSO member and management. The grievance shall be submitted in writing by the GC to a management rep. Within 10 days, management shall submit a written answer to the grievance. The GC rep and management shall meet within ten days of the time said answer is submitted by management. Special meetings in this step on a matter deemed of great importance or urgency by UPSO reps shall be held within one day after a request by UPSO.
11. All grievances not settled in the above step shall be submitted to a Grievance Review Committee, consisting of an UPSO GC rep, a management rep, and a 3rd party agreed upon by the first two. The GRC will usually consist in this case of three people, but if either side requests an expansion, both Management and UPSO may select two reps each to serve on the GRC with the mutually agreed upon fifth party.
12. The GRC will render a decision binding on both parties within two weeks of its first meeting. The GRC will render a decision binding on both parties. The decision in no way abridges the right of the grievant/accused to pursue her/his own independent means of resolving the conflict. (Note: This will require UPSO entering into an interim contract with management.)