WRFG 89.3 FM “Your Station For Progressive Information”…and Hand-Picked Music wrfg.org |
Are you really, really tired of the nonstop, long, mind-numbing commercials of mainstream radio and the same pre-ordained playlists picked by corporate interests, not the DJ’s.
Well, most people are, but… then there’s WRFG 89.3FM in Atlanta.
WRFG 89.3 FM is an independent, non-profit, community radio station in Georgia that is dedicated to providing unique programming that reflects progressive perspectives and the diversity of people, ideas, and cultural expressions that embody that spirit, WRFG is a like breath of fresh air on the radio dial.
Since 1973, WRFG has been broadcasting an invigorating mix of programming that has made us a favorite among discerning listeners:
· Hand-Picked Music that spans a multitude of cultures: Zydeco, Blues, Jazz, Celtic, Folk, Caribbean, Indian, R&B, Doo-Wop, Latin, Bluegrass, Hip Hop…. and many more!
· Public Affairs that address topics of concern to us all – health and nutrition, the environment, peace and justice, animal rights, race/gender issues, the economy, workers’ rights, poverty issues.
· News from around the world and around the neighborhood that tends to get ignored or shortchanged in other media outlets – locally-produced shows along with national programs like Democracy Now!
We stream worldwide at wrfg.org bringing WRFG to the world … and the world to WRFG.
The goal of WRFG’s programming is to uplift human dignity by providing truthful, useful information, and music that touches our collective soul.
Our greatest accomplishment, though, is the support of thousands of listeners who understand the importance of independent media. Media consolidation means fewer and fewer companies own more and more media outlets that control what you hear, read and see, and what you don’t.
Now that’s scary!
In order to remain independent, financially stable, and relevant to the needs of the community, WRFG 89.3 FM relies on the continuing support of people who understand the urgent need for noncommercial, diverse, community radio. We hope you will become a donor to WRFG. The end of the year is coming fast and you can make your 2019 tax-deductible donation at wrfg.org, or mail it to WRFG 1083 Austin Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA. 30307.
Labor Forum–Monday, Oct 7
Justice for Anthony Hill
WRFG Labor Forum program on Monday, Sep 2
The Labor Forum team on WRFG 89.3FM sends our strong solidarity with all workers on the Labor Day holiday.
Labor Headlines, Aug; 12, 2019
The workers, many of them members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), were employed by a company called Koch Foods Inc, which employs 13,000 workers throughout the US. (Koch Foods INC has no connection or relation to the billionaire political donor Koch Brothers).
The UFCW, which represents workers at the plant, has been meeting with community groups and immigrants rights activists to mobilize community and legal support on behalf of the workers.
As buses full of poultry workers arrived pulled up to the Mississippi National Guard base at Flowood, Mississippi 70 family members and supporters families gathered shouting at the armed guards, “Let Them Go! Let Them Go!” as workers were taken into the makeshift detention facility.
The detention suffered by immigrants is yet another abuse suffered by immigrant poultry workers employed by Koch Foods Inc in Morton, Mississippi.
In 2018, following a nearly eight-year-long legal battle, Koch Foods Inc. settled a $3.5 million brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Koch Food Inc at the plant. The lawsuit alleged that Koch Foods Inc supervisors engaged in both racial and sexual harassment of Latina workers at its Morton, Mississippi plant.
The lawsuit brought by the EEOC against Koch Food Inc’s alleged “that supervisors touched and/or made sexually suggestive comments to female Hispanic employees, hit Hispanic employees and charged many of them money for normal everyday work activities.”
As part of its settlement, Koch Foods Inc. agreed to a three-year federal consent decree to change its discriminatory practices. As part of the consent decree, Koch Foods Inc. was forced to create a 24-hour-a-day bilingual hotline for workers to use to file complaints.
Many immigrants rights advocates have speculated that workers are targeted for raids after their facilities get investigated for worker abuse.
In June of 2018, ICE raided a unionized Fresh Mark meatpacking plant in Salem, Ohio; arresting 140 workers.
A week before the raid on a Fresh Mark’s Salem facility, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Fresh Mark $211,194 for three separate incidents in which proper guards for dangerous machinery were not in place. OSHA found that the lack of safety guards resulted in the death of an undocumented worker.
In December of 2017, Domingo Ramos, a 49-year-old undocumented worker from Guatemala, was killed in the plant when his foot was sucked into a rotating auger, ripping off his lower leg and leading to him bleeding to death.
Suspicious was also raised that workers complaining about working conditions in plants at the Southeastern Provision in Morristown, Tennesse led to a raid. The raid came after federal authorities were tipped off by a local bank that the owner of the plant may have been paying undocumented workers under the table.
While it’s unclear if the raids are being triggered by federal authorities responding to the mistreatment of workers, the overall effect of these raids has had a chilling effect on workers speaking out.
“These raids send a real signal to immigrant workers not to speak up, and we feel like these raids enable employers in the most dangerous industry to cut corners and violate labor standards,” said Debbie Berkowitz, who served as chief of staff of OSHA under Obama from 2009 to 2013 and now serves as the director of the worker health and safety program at the National Employment Law Project (NELP).