engraved and retouched and edgewiped and pudden-padded
If ever you go to Dublin town, a hundred years from now…
So that line’s from Patrick Kavanagh, but it came to mind on hearing of the passing of Ronnie Drew today. The music of Ronnie and the Dubliners has been a constant in my music-focused radio shows, so it’s poignant to hear of the passing of another artist. For those in the Chambana area, I expect to include a tribute in my next appearance on Celtic Music Go Braugh Go Braugh, on 31st August.
Many readers will know that my current research is focused on the ways that community radio stations are grappling with podcasting and similar technologies. I was excited, then, to see this story, about students from Utah Valley College, who travelled to Namibia to help the Katutura community radio station launch a podcast - bringing equipment and manuals with them. The project grew out of the Digital Namibian Archive Project.
As another follow-up - this time to my post on commercial DTV in Ireland - the plans for the publicly-operated multiplex have been announced. With transmissions expected from Autumn 2009 (and the analogue signals to be switched off by 2012), the roll-out will be phased in over time - 80% of the population will be covered at launch, with the final 20% taking close to 3 years to be covered.
Interesting to see the services to be available: the 4 current free-to-air services (RTÉ1 and 2, TV3, and TG4), Dáil TV, a new Irish film channel, RTÉ3 (a new service playing archival RTÉ material), and RTÉ1+1, which will play RTÉ1 on a one hour time delay.
Some comments:
I’m battling yet another software melt-down - just after fixing the wifi (by reinstalling everything), my MacBook has copied my Mini in refusing to open applications like Word, and showing a blank desktop (though the files are actually still on the system, the icons just aren’t showing on screen). Time for yet another reinstall on both machines, I suppose.
Anyhow, while simultaneously cursing my luck, trying to think of solutions, eating my lunch, and feeding my news junkie habit, I came across a BBC article on lunch-breaks. Specifically, the declining number of English workers who take them, and the proven benefits associated with taking them. Noteworthy:
In the 1970s the British were the laziest men of Europe. Now they are considered the workaholics of Europe, thanks to an adoption of the American work ethic in the mid-80s, says Professor Cooper. But tellingly, productivity per capita in the UK remains lower than many of its European neighbours.
Now, I’m already familiar with the fact that the US performs well on productivity per capita, but less well on productivity per hour worked, as does Ireland (which is something like 2nd on productivity per worker, but 5th on productivity per hour worked). Essentially, the US and Ireland do particularly well in productivity because of the large number of hours worked per person - linked to fewer holidays and longer work weeks - but not so well, relatively, on productivity per hour. There’s obviously a trade off made between extra hours worked per person (which leads to higher per capita productivity, allowing higher wages/pensions) and increased time away from work (which is, so to speak, good for the soul) - though the decision is often not made at an individual level, but by a mixture of employer dictates, public policy (mandatory paid leave, public holidays, etc.), and social mores.
What’s interesting to see here is the claim that despite erring towards more hours of work per person, the UK hasn’t necessarily reaped the reward of greater productivity. I’m having difficulty locating easily digestible statistics online today - the OECD and Eurostat sites, while comprehensive, aren’t always the easiest to navigate, and I don’t want to spend that much time right now - but I’d love to see some historical trends for several countries, including the UK. Maybe there’s something in the Baker book, which I’ve been relying on as a wonderful compendium and tool ever since we used it in teaching Media, Money, and Power…
A follow-up to my recent posting on the break-down of national pay talks in Ireland. The unions have now developed guidelines for local bargaining platforms:
Under the guidelines, unions are to seek flat-rate increases of €30 per week for low-paid workers and rises that match inflation - about 5 per cent - for those above this threshold. Unions will look for further rises in profitable companies.
The guidelines cover private sector negotiations - it’s unclear, as of yet, what the strategy will be for public sector employees. The urgency and importance of the issue was underlined by union leaders:
According to the chair of the Private Sector Committee, Jerry Shanahan (Unite) unions would lodge claims where pay deals have expired and consult with members as to conditions in each sector.
“Some pay deals expired as far back as April and, in the absence of a national deal, it is incumbent on us negotiate new deals. Prices have not stopped rising and inflation has not slowed down. We need to protect people’s standard of living.”
He also confirmed that unions will be guided in their claims for improved pay and conditions by the needs of members - “they will set the agenda,” he said.
Interesting to see the stress on a flat-rate increase for the lower-paid. The government had, incidentally, proposed a purely flat-rate increase close to the end of talks, without evident support from unions or employers. Given the intransigence of employers (”pay freezes all around”) it may not have been in ICTU’s interests to respond positively to the government proposal at that stage - more useful, probably, to be able to craft a platform (or “guidelines”) on their own terms, rather than making a concession in the dying hours of the talks without a productive response from employers.
One item to close: in my last post I noted that wages, as a share of GDP, have decreased from 50% in 1988 to 35% now. This is undoubtedly a major source of discontent among employees - who may feel that they have not benefited proportionately from the boom. Other critical issues, however, include the following:
Talks on a new national social partnership agreement - which includes agreement on pay in public and private workplaces - have broken down in Ireland. Ireland has had centralized agreements covering pay and other issues since the late 1980s. These have ensured a voice for unions (and employers) in setting broad economic policy, but in a period of unprecedented growth have also muzzled workers’ ability to demand a larger slice of the expanding pie. Increases have generally been set as percentages of current wages, and sometimes tied to ‘productivity’ increases, rather than having links to revenue or profitability.
Employers, on the other hand, have been able to plead ‘inability to pay’ on the basis of competitiveness to default on promised increases (admittedly with a review process through the LRC), and the agreement is actually voluntary for individual employers (who have not previously paid raises in line with previous agreements). The agreement basically provides a framework within which industrial conflict is contained. The agreement (in section V, part 1.4):
Provides that no cost-increasing claims by trade unions or employees for improvements in pay or conditions of employment, other than those provided in Sections 1.6, 2.1 and 3.1 will be made or processed during the currency of the Agreement;
Commits employers, trade unions and employees to promoting industrial harmony; and
Precludes strikes or other forms of industrial action by trade unions, employees or employers in respect of any matters covered by this Agreement, where the employer or trade union concerned is acting in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
This binding of employees’ striking ability (the only real effect of the above section) has been good for employers, and to some extent for the economy, reducing risk for inbound investment, and has allowed unions to play on a broader field than might have been possible had they to chase agreement workplace-by-workplace. Now that things are getting more difficult in the economy, it has proven more difficult to reach agreement.
One area, other than pay, that was important to unions was improving the ability of workers to join unions - particularly ‘temporary agency workers’. At European level the Irish government had been one of a small minority blocking agreement on providing agency workers the same rights of representation as directly employed workers prior to an agreement last June that []. Employers have, unsurprisingly, opposed union calls for agency workers to have the same rights as other workers - claiming it would be bad for agency workers. Unions were unable to make much progress on the issue in talks:
The employers were refusing to budge on granting better representation rights for unions, arguing that the Supreme Court had made a clear decision on the issue. The unions were equally firm in insisting that the pay and conditions for temporary agency workers should be the same as those of other workers.
Given the opposition of employers, and the generally lousy performance of the government on this issue, unions had decided to set aside the representation issue in order to make some progress on pay. Here, however, they also faced serious hurdles. Unions were looking for a 5% raise for all workers - and admitted after talks broke down that they would have accepted less, had they been able to guarantee the situation of lower-paid workers - hardly excessive, given that the annual rate of inflation is at 5% in June, and has hovered between 4.6% and 5.2% since January of 2007. The previous pay agreement, finalized in June 2006,provided for increases of 10% over 27 months - approximating to 4.3% (cumulative) raises per annum - which has failed to keep up with inflation.
Employers, on the other hand, have sought a pay-freeze for 12 months, with a 5% raise over the next 9 months - with ‘vulnerable’ sectors exempt from any raise whatsoever. [It should clear that a pay freeze, when inflation is at 5% p.a. is, from the employees' perspective a pay cut of 4.8%.] Their argument is based on the worsening state of the economy, and claims that there will be increases in unemployment if they are forced to make pay raises in line with inflation.
The Irish economy is certainly in trouble - the ESRI predicts contraction in GDP of 0.4% in 2008, and growth of only 2% in 2009. However, it seems that there is never a ‘good’ time for workers to push for a greater slice of the pie. When things are going well, higher wages might cause ‘overheating’ and unrest could destabilize matters, reducing investor confidence and messing things up for ‘everybody.’ When things are going poorly, wage increases could cause difficulties for ‘vulnerable’ employers, fueling inflation, and making things even worse.
The national agreements, while ensuring a stability (i.e. lack of risk for investors) that encouraged investment that might not otherwise have occurred, have undoubtedly taken place at a cost for employees. The increases allowed for in the various agreements between 1988 and 2008 have provided just over 100% increases in wages over the 20 year period (when compounding is taken into effect), somewhat ahead of CPI compound growth of 82%. However, over just the period from 1988 to 2003, GDP (at 1995 market rates -that is, in volume terms rather than resulting from price inflation) almost tripled (2.8 times 1988 level). In ‘current prices’ (rather than volume) the increase is even more striking (as it also reflects price increases) -€30.084bn in 1988, to €190.6bn in 2007 (that’s a 6.3-fold increase over that period). Where did this extra wealth go?
A large portion of the extra GDP made its way to workers by way of increased employment (an increase of 92%, from 1.11m to 2.14m from April ‘88 to February ‘08). Coupling the increase in employment levels (and presuming ‘employed’ grew at the same rate as ‘in employment’ (which includes the self-employed)) with the wages gains from the pay agreements, we would expect wage payments in 2008 to be about 3.84 times the 1988 level. In fact, CSO figures show employee costs in 1990 as £13.2bn (€16.8bn - figures for 1988 are not available online) and in 2005 as €66bn, or 3.93 times the 1990 amount. This would indicate a move towards somewhat better-paying employment, which is in line with the moves away from agriculture.
However, a significant portion of growth did not make its way to workers. Note what I’m saying here: notwithstanding the doubling of the labour force, wages declined significantly as a proportion of the economy between 1988 and 2007 - from something around 50% to around 35% (estimating here, as I don’t have 1988 and 2007 figures for employment). Some of the gap is undoubtedly a result of increased investment in infrastructure and research, elements that increase the capacity of the economy and thus benefit current and future generations. However, workers can be forgiven for not readily accepting that they must be the ones to bear the brunt of a wobble in the economy, by way of across the board freezes in wages - which as I point out above are effectively wage cuts.
After the national pay talks broke down, the unions were ‘expected‘ to start briefing local unions on bargaining at a local level, with a strategy of targeting companies that could afford to pay increases, hoping that this would set a broader trend. IBEC (the employers’ body), in contrast, instructed its members not to engage in local bargaining. This, of course, illustrates the problem for unions of the bargaining process - when talks on a national agreement broke down, the status quo (no increases) was exactly what employers had been seeking. The task for unions is to persuade employers - and they have few weapons in their arsenal - that the status quo is not all it’s cracked up to be - that negotiating in good faith with unions, and providing at least cost-of-living increases, is a preferable path. SIPTU has rattled the sabre by noting that the reputed directive from IBEC would breach many local collective bargaining agreements, and prompt increased, and earlier, industrial unrest.
The Irish economy is projected to improve next year (just as many pay raises under any new agreement would start to become due). Unrest in the labour market, whatever the cause, could adversely affect that recovery. However, I can’t read that as meaning that unions should just roll over and accede to any and all employer demands. Some concession by employers on pay is necessary - and ICTU has indicated possibly fruitful directions for progress (including an emphasis on protecting lower-paid workers). One would imagine that, in lieu of pay, concessions on the rights of agency workers would be a ‘cheap’ option for employers, but of course, as always, that’s probably less acceptable to employers than just paying over extra cash.
I had planned to blog more from GRC, but my airport card stopped working on Friday, which was somewhat of an annoyance. I was pleased that my session on podcasting was reasonably successful - we didn’t get into discussing much of the more arcane aspects of adopting podcasting for community radio, such as the impact on localism, but we did have some useful discussion of concerns around copyright, and managed to swap some resources in that and other areas. More generally, the conversations about podcasting, community radio, and more - both in sessions and in between - were informative and thought-provoking. Sessions on AMARC, wikis in news-programming (by the wonderful Rustbelt radio folks) and other topics reminded me why I love this area, and gave me ideas both for my research and other projects.
The keynotes, by independent journalists from Oaxaca and Palestine, were humbling and inspiring. I look forward to downloading the promised audio soon and making it available through A Critical Ear.
The food… the food was abundant and delicious. Props to the various caterers and restaurants used. The scenery, in Portland and on the train journey from and to Seattle, was beautiful and refreshing. Powell’s was a rare treat (as was a return visit to Left Bank Books in Seattle this afternoon).
Finally, the KBOO studios were impressive and inspiring. Their audio archive - with 40 years of public affairs tapes, cassettes, and more, from independent and radical sources - is the sort of place I’d love to have an opportunity to ensconce myself in for a considerable period.
More detail when I return to Urbana and am able to compile some of my notes and recordings from the event. Until then, a fair summary is: inspiring and useful. Both Portland and GRC demand return visits.
I’m in Portland at GRC13 - the Grassroots Radio Conference. So far it’s been a great experience. We’re at lunch at the moment (2 hours, so plenty of time to meet people and chat, as well as enjoy the fantastic Middle Eastern food provided). The opportunity to meet with people from different stations, and exchange stories and information (from station policies to programming ideas) is wonderfully invigorating. Tomorrow I’ll be leading a workshop on podcasting, which should be fun, and which I hope will have the added benefit of providing some useful material for my current research.
This morning I took part in a session on social activism in community radio, where we pooled stories of how different stations have accomplished this, all while abiding by FCC and IRS regulations. This afternoon I plan to attend a session titled “Non-violence: Culture Change”, headed up by KBOO station manager Arthur Davis and Cherie Blackfeather, followed by one on AMARC.
It’s always interesting to pick up the ’swag’ brought along by different stations. WORT (in Madison, WI) have interesting fans, useful in this hot weather, with the cute slogan “I’m a WORT fan” emblazoned over an image of an old-fashioned radio - easily the most inventive and striking item here. KBOO’s August Listener’s Guide, in turn, shows what can be done with a single folded sheet of newsprint. Among the interesting items here is their decision to move Democracy Now! from 11am to 7am (part of a move to combat recent declines in listenership levels and revenues). The new 11am slot is still in flux, but one of the things they’re experimenting with through August will be “the work of well known activists and experts” including Bob McChesney - which I guess could mean another station picking up Media Matters, which many of you will know I currently produce.
Approximately 225,000 people left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina flooded most city neighborhoods in August 2005. A sizeable number came from the 9th ward. Some 1800 people died during the floods; later, hundreds more succumbed to stress-related ailments. [Saul Landau]
My parents visited the US recently, and we took the opportunity to take a road-trip south through Memphis to New Orleans. Landau’s ZNet commentary of 20 July summed up much of our experience - though NOLA is such a riot of sounds and sights, a veritable sensory overload, that it’s difficult for anything to do justice to the devastation of the Lower Ninth, the opulence of St Charles Avenue, the energy (and in places the timeless beauty) of the French Quarter.
Last week at the end of my regular A Critical Ear show on WRFU I interviewed my father about our visit. It’s available now on Radio4All. I hope some of you will find it interesting, as we talk about the balance between bearing witness and voyeurism, the shame of how Katrina (and its aftermath) was handled, and more.
Here’s some more excerpt’s from Landau’s powerful piece - it’s available to subscribers to ZNet. (Consider signing up here):
The French Quarter vibrates with sounds and smells of perpetual Spring Break. Was a film crew shooting the young men and women, drinks in hands, screaming “let’s party.” No. The celebrants were acting goofy on their own, as they routinely do in Ft. Lauderdale and Cancun.
Just inside the Hustler Club doorway, two women wearing forced smiles and a few strings, stood beside the barker, trying to lure “partying” crowd members inside. “Look at the rack on these babes,” he pointed at her uncovered milk producing organs.
…
Four college-age kids, reeking of booze, shared the hotel elevator. “Join us, you’re not too old,” a young man invited. “We’ve got more,” pointing to his paper cup containing a rum drink. “We also got you know what in the room,” making an inhaling sound and putting two fingers to his lips.
The next day, we drove through the once densely populated 9th Ward, now a semi rural looking expanse of empty streets and stray dogs. Amidst boarded up houses and empty lots, we heard sounds of wind and birds chirping. Downright bucolic!
…
Shirley Jackson, president of a neighborhood council in ward 9, pointed to the vast acreage of empty lots. “Every lot used to have a home on it,” she explained. Since the government has not helped, she continued, volunteers have to do the job. She runs a mini tractor helping high school volunteers from Concord Massachusetts with their land clearing project. She pointed to a pseudo sculpture she’d erected on the site where her house once stood — a few concrete blocks in a pile.
…
A woman from Needham Massachusetts explained that she and other volunteers had come down to help “because these people need it. That’s all. Just being good neighbors.”
…
General Services Administration records prove that for two years FEMA didn’t distribute needed goods to Hurricane victims and then gave 121 truckloads of material to other agencies. http://www.planetizen.com/node/33442
The American Federation of Teachers - with which my union, the GEO, is affiliated - has voted to endorse a bill to provide Universal Healthcare in the United States:
HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system in the U.S. by expanding a greatly improved Medicare system to every resident.
HR 676 would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care, chiropractic and long term care.
HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs.
Anyone who’s had any sight of the US healthcare system - in my case primarily as an advocate through the GEO - knows just how broken it is. Employers keep employees on a part-time basis in order to avoid paying health insurance benefits. Insurance plans have omissions and exclusions that are difficult to understand. The people determining what coverage people have are generally employer HR units - whose primary motivation is keeping employer costs as low as possible. Unions are able to negotiate with employers to eliminate loopholes and gaps in coverage, but it’s a difficult, slow process. [At the University of Illinois the administration consistently opposes improved health coverage for grad employees, claiming that grad employees are happier with bare-bones coverage, but refusing to engage in proper surveying of grad opinions.] Patient pressure is dispersed by being routed through individual employers. And that - as Michael Moore notes in Sicko - is just the situation for those who have health insurance.
Separate to the AFT endorsement of HR 676, Citizen Action/Illinois recently circulated a pointer to Health Care for America Now!, a coalition “organizing millions of Americans to win a guarantee of quality, affordable health care for all.” It’s a more general goal than a specific bill, but very much along the same lines. Go to their website to sign up.
