Re: Remember...the WBCN strike

["David W. Harris" <dwh@totalnetnh.net>]

A week or so back Bob Nelson asked..."anyone had other details or
memories of the WBCN strike?"

I remember the WZBC broadcast already mentioned (with Charles Laquidara,
Matt Siegel, and others doing their "regular" shows on the Boston
College station) and I remember hearing that the strikers had tried to
do something similar at WERS but were turned down and I remember
somebody in my dorm arguing that WBCN's scab announcers (especially a
guy whose airname was, I believe,  Cracker) were better than the regular
crew, but that's about it for memories.

For details, I turn to an article by Martin Kessel in the April 1979
issue of Waves magazine.  WBCN, which took a hit in the mid-1970s from
WCOZ, was on the rebound, having brought back Laquidara for the morning
shift, hired Mark Parenteau away from 'COZ, and added Oedipus from
WTBS.  A 1.7 metro share for July/August 1977 became a 4.7 for
January/February 1979, the first victory over 'COZ.
Hemisphere Broadcasting took control of WBCN on February 16, 1979,
a.k.a. "Black Friday."  Hemisphere president Michael Wiener fired 19 of
37 employees and refused to deal with the union.  He wanted to trim
"excess fat" while keeping the "core of the station."  News
director/dissector Danny Schechter was out the door, but folks like
Laquidara, Parenteau, Siegel, Tracy Roach, and Tony Berardini were kept.

The following day the union voted 18-1 to strike.  The weeks which
followed brought support from the local music community (a benefit
concert at the Orpheum; full-page ads backing the strikers in the
Phoenix paid for by Aerosmith, the Cars, the J. Geils Band, and Boston)
and the advertising community (WBCN's spot load dropped to about 25% of
normal; some advertisers even sponsored strike benefit ads on other
stations).  The union and the WBCN Listener Strike Alliance (formed by
volunteers who had staffed the listener line) petitioned the FCC to deny
Hemisphere's takeover on the grounds its labor problems caused
"substantial adverse effects upon the service being supplied to the
public."
On March 9, three weeks into the strike, Hemisphere agreed to the last
of the union's terms and the strikers voted to return on Monday, March
12.
>From Mr. Kessel's conclusion: "Primarily, it was the pressures brought
by the advertising boycott and by the threat of FCC action which forced
Hemisphere to capitulate.  But the FCC suit could only be as strong as
the public outcry, and the advertisers were only reacting to what they
knew was the mood of the community.  So, in the end, it was clearly the
listeners who won the victory--and the listeners who will benefit."
My conclusion, two decades later:  no way we're going to see a scenario
like this repeated.  New owners, format flips, big staff cuts:  that's
everyday news now.  Serving the public interest, convenience, and
necessity:  does the FCC know about this anymore?  Then there's the
matter of highly-paid radio stars showing solidarity with the many
underpaid talents who keep the radio business going:  could happen but I
wouldn't bet on it. And advertisers showing solidarity with strikers:
could happen but...

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