Air Staff Strike Is Imminent, Says KSDO Management Source

Most of the 16 air personalities on news-talk radio station KSDO-AM (1130) are expected to walk off their jobs Friday, following nearly two months of contract negotiations with station owner Gannett Co., a management source said Tuesday.

Talks have been under way since mid-January between the local chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which represents the KSDO air staff, and Gannett. The previous three-year contract expired Feb. 1.

Union and management negotiators are scheduled to meet again today and Thursday in a final attempt to avert a strike, the source said, but a compromise seems unlikely.

“The air staff’s bargaining position is 100% firm, with no room for budging,” said the source, who requested anonymity. “And if they don’t get what they want . . . they’re going to strike.”

KSDO news reporter George Riley, the station’s union shop steward, said the key issues are the air staff’s demand for an average wage hike of 4.5% to 5%, and Gannett’s insistence on a certain amount of mandatory overtime.

Riley denied the report that a strike is imminent.

“To my knowledge, there has been absolutely no talk of even taking a strike vote,” he said. “Negotiations are typical, with both sides making proposals and counterproposals.”

The management source insisted that strike ballots were mailed to air staffers--and returned--”weeks ago.”

He said station management is prepared to replace strikers with other KSDO employees and out-of-work San Diego broadcasters.

In the event of a strike, it is expected that everyone will go out except morning talk show host Roger Hedgecock, afternoon talk show host Stacy Taylor and morning news anchor Ernie Meyers. Hedgecock, Taylor and Meyers reportedly have individual contracts with the station.

The source mentioned the names of former KCST-TV Channel 39 news anchors Dennis Morgino and Laura Buxton as potential replacements. Morgino and Buxton both said Tuesday that they had not been contacted.

“Nobody said a word to either of us,” Morgino said. “And if it’s a union dispute, I rather doubt I’d step in, since I’m a member of AFTRA myself.”

KSDO president and general manager Chris Conway acknowledged the existence of a “contingency plan,” but said he doubts it will need to be implemented.

“We’ve got a community responsibility to stay on the air, so we would be doing a disservice to the community if we weren’t prepared,” Conway said. “Still, we’re trying to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, and I’m confident that we will.”

The other management source disagreed:

“I honestly don’t think Gannett’s going to give in. As successful as KSDO is, with annual billings in excess of $6 million, Gannett nevertheless lost about $325,000 on us last year. Had we created a profit for them, things might have been different.”