STRIKE THREATENED !Cumulus has been in cost-cutting mode centering on some of its small-market stations with eye-popping staff reductions and salary slashes.
That behavior is nothing new--only now it's hit SF at KGO, still the only union shop left in its Hawthorne cluster. The local AFTRA shop has begun a war of sorts with the Cloud Company.
The reasons are that Cumulus has been demanding KGO news staffers take anywhere from a 30-40% pay cut. Needless to say staffers are outraged and nervous too. Beyond that, one major-name talk host at KSFO is about to see their salary slashed an astounding 50%! The union is more concerned with the news division but their leverage seems to be limited. What can they do? We'll have to wait and see.
Right now everyone is still living and working in the abyss. Just another serene period at 55 Hawthorne Cluster.
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Please let KSFO's Brian Sussman be the one to take a 50% pay cut. A few years ago, he was crowing how well he was treated by Cumulus in that he received a small pay raise. Cumulus giveth and taketh.
ReplyDelete-David K.
You mis-spelled it.."Sucksman"
DeleteAFTRA is notoriously lame in San Francisco. Another question: how are the ratings of the "major-name talk host" at KSFO? If they suck, then the salary move may not be all that outrageous.
ReplyDelete> AFTRA is notoriously lame in San Francisco.
DeleteSoooo true.
Television producers voted about 15 years ago to abandon the union. An AFTRA rep who worked alongside me at KRON constantly said they'd be sorry and they'd come back. Didn't happen, never will.
If Sussman gets a 50% pay cut I'm sure as a good conservative, he will keep his chin up and pull himself up by his own bootstraps to make up the 50% cut by perhaps hawking more gun safes and guns at the local shops?
ReplyDeleteI thought pulling oneself up by the bootstraps was a Obama / Democratic party favorite saying...at least in his speeches a few years back. At least get your facts straight when you attempt to criticize the other side. Typical liberal....lie lie lie.
Delete@3:58 must be 16 years old. The bootstrap saying goes back to a conservative you probably never heard of, so don't be ignorant and know your facts before you open your trap.
DeleteYes, 1:55 is right on, it is always the conservative that preach about pulling yourself up by their bootstraps, they think anyone can make it if the just work hard enough or take enough chances etc. As Gene Burns said once, you have to have straps on your booths to able to pull yourself up. Funny how now that we have a Democratic president how the conservative's like to complain and wine about the terrible job market, economy etc. however when Bush was president if you were not doing well it was all your own fault. Sometime shit happens, and sometime no matter who is president people get down and out, and sometime people need a helping hand. I hope Sussman will take a pay cut, if he makes just a little more than minimum salary he is paid too much.
Delete@6:24 really needs to learn how to insult people better. That was high school at best.
Delete@3:58 you better not open your trap! don't do it! don't open your trap! we don't want anything going completely over your head like it did with 6:24!
God please let Sussman's pay cut take effect ASAP! I'd vote for a 75% cut in pay so he can show us how a good CONservative overcomes tough odds with HARD WORK and PERSEVERENCE. I bet you did not know CONservatives are the only humans on earth who work hard. The rest of us are bums.
DeleteI'm in my late sixties, and in my life I have been poor, almost poor, middle class and upper middle class, at no time was I not working trying to make my life better. When I was upper middle class I had a husband who worked very hard granted, but I was home taking care of our daughter, entertaining his business associates, having dinner ready when he got home, make sure his business clothes was dry cleaned etc. on top of that we lived in a very nice 2600 square feet house, had 2 nice cars, and could afford ski week-ends, other week-end trips, and summer trips to Europe. I grew up almost poor in post WWll Europe, and although we always had enough to eat, and warm clothes, there were not much left for anything else, I have also been close too poor in this country, I worked harder for less money, and less time off than at any other time in my life. Yes, if you have money you work hard, but you can also afford luxuries that makes life easier, such as vacations, week ends away, cleaning lady etc. For a short time I was so poor I had to stay with a friend and when my car broke down I couldn't afford to get it fixed, instead I had to walk 20 minutes to catch Bart, I was working retail and often got off late at night, which meant I had to walk a couple of miles from Bart to my friends house, after being on my feet 6-7 hours a day, in all kinds of weather. If someone is poor in this country, it is most likely because they don't know how to get out of their situation. I have moved on, but with a lot of perseverance, I have my car back, I have a steady full time job, savings, 401K, but the idea that the poor don't work is for the most part not true. Also often to move on you have to spend money and/or time to get ahead, which is often hard to do when you live paycheck to paycheck. I went and got my insurance license in life and health, but it was a challenge, because it cost a good $500.00 or more plus at least one week of class time, after you get your license you have to find a company to take you on, and since it is commission only, you have to have enough savings so you can go 2-5 month without an income. It is not that easy to move your life ahead when you are living paycheck to paycheck. You also have to have a certain positive, can do attitude, which I fortunately had, but many do not. So if you are poor or almost a working poor you are not a bum, and Sussman is an idiot.
DeleteRonn Owens should take a pay cut and share it equally with the news staff.
ReplyDeleteAfter all Ronn is a good liberal Democrat.
I noticed he took down the picture of himself and Obama on his website he had up there for years and years. Apparently Obama promised him he would visit his show after being elected and never did. It only took Ronn 3 years to realize Obama lies about pretty much anything. I wonder how long until he comes to a realization about the other Bay Area geriatric Democrats in Congress....
DeleteI heard the interview live with then candidate Obama. Ronnnnnn was trying to pressure Obama to agreeing to the interview. It was very awkward. As I recall Ronnnnnnn tried to use some of his political buddies to pressure Obama to keep his promise to no avail. Ronnnnnnn's ego certainly got a bruising.
DeleteAs much as I loathe the eight year infliction on our nation of your "Obama" as President of the Democrat Voters (ONLY), I have to give him a pass on this one. The fact that he may have promised to visit a terrestrial radio station in a state which he already has an electoral lock on has to be put into context. Good candidates do what they can to be pleasant to their constituents. It's just one of those well known facts. Ron was fooling himself if he thought pressuring someone into a promised visit on the air was not smart or even very diplomatic. Well, back to marking the days off my eight year Calendar.
DeleteWouldn't it be ironic if Rich somehow was able to secure a slot on the weekends to do a radio show on KGO? Make it happen, Rich.
ReplyDeleteI'd take Rich's stream of consciousness any day over that moron chef Scott Ryan who sounds like an ass trying to be hip and cool.
DeleteAnonymous at 3:58 you are a typical right wing idiot!
ReplyDeleteWonder if Mattress Boy is going take a sympathy cut and disperse it amongst the talent that's getting fucked through the drive through? What am I saying? It's all for one and one for all. Fugget about it.
ReplyDeleteRaddy on KRON : "I only care what people who love me think of me"..he followed that with stories of how he calls emailers by the dozens over the years who rip him to change their minds. That's my Raddy,takes both sides of an argument and somehow still gets it wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of money do the news people make? What would a 40% pay cut mean in terms of their new salary? A living wage???
ReplyDeleteTaking a 50% cut will lower his taxes and probably miss out on Obamacare 3.8% surtaxes.
ReplyDeleteIs this the reason that Jenifer Jones Lee is on so called medical leave or on strike? If they screw with John B. he will bail and do better elsewhere. He really has a quick whit and a lot of talent.Ronn has really gone south on us listeners with his super soft treatment of all of the liberal office holders in the area. These people talk loud and say nothing. They are losers and the liberals seem to love it.
ReplyDeleteLiberal, liberal, liberal...I think it is one person here that keeps spoiling the comments with negative cracks about political affiliation. Really, please stop with those comments and make your points without sounding like an idiot. Probably a good third of the viewers here are liberal and the rest an assortment. I think we all need to feel welcome.
DeleteI've heard from a KGO employee that the ones who will get a salary cut are not full time employees, but part time employees. But who knows what Cumulus will do. They are the ugly face of what corporate radio has become in the 21st century. But they won't last because they have no plan. The Dickey brothers are like locusts. They move into an area, denude it, and move on. People like that are irresponsible and gtve capitalism a bad name. But they're certainly not alone!
ReplyDeletePerhaps if union-bashing Sussman gets a pay cut, he will do what union-bashing Lee Rodgers did - file a complaint against KSFO through their union.
ReplyDeleteWith Rodgers, it was personal between him and Farid Suleman.
DeleteIf those KGO folks think SAG-AFTRA (the merged union) is going to ride to their rescue, they're screwed. This union has never been of much use in SF and it's even worse since the merger.
ReplyDeleteMichael Savage is always saying what an amazing company Cumulus is!
ReplyDelete