Despidos en Radio y TV Martí

Comenzó el despelote en Radio y TV Martí. Ayer despidieron a 18 personas y hoy, a otras 10. La situación no constituye propiamente una novedad para los que siguen de cerca lo que sucede allí. Hace tiempo que miembros de la administración venían advirtiendo que los cortes iban a suceder para cumplir con las necesidades de disminuir la vertiente de entretenimiento en las emisoras y reforzar la parte de noticias. A continuación, el memo que el director de la entidad, Pedro Roig, envió hoy a los empleados. Sobre su futuro, no dice nada.

As I informed you in May, the President’s FY 2010 Budget Request includes a proposed program reduction of $4.2 million and a reduction of 35 authorized positions in FY 2010. These reductions reflect a proposal to change the news format for TV Marti by replacing the two evening news programs with news updates on the half hour and converting Radio Marti to an all news format.
These budget and staff reductions are not - and should not be taken as - a negative reflection on the contributions all of you have made to the OCB mission. These reductions simply reflect Agency and OCB budget realities and new priorities for reaching the Cuban audience.
 OCB has already met part of this staff reduction mandate by abolishing all 10 of its vacant positions. Two additional positions were abolished after colleagues took Buyouts. Unfortunately, OCB is still considerably over its anticipated FY 2010 authorized staff level. At present, we anticipate the need to abolish 23 occupied positions. We began this process on Monday by notifying four managers of the abolishment of their positions.
 Today, the Agency will notify AFGE Local 1812, the Union that represents many Office of Cuba Broadcasting employees, that the Agency anticipates that it will need to conduct a reduction in force (RIF) affecting OCB employees represented by the Union. The Agency and OCB will carry out any reductions in accordance with government-wide and Agency RIF regulations and procedures, including provisions of the Negotiated Labor-Management Agreement, where applicable. All employees facing RIF separation will be provided with a specific written notice at least 60 days in advance. I want you to know that I, along with other Agency and OCB management officials, have and will continue to work to find ways to minimize the adverse affects of these reductions on current staff. In that effort, all vacant positions have been abolished, and as we go forward in this process, no OCB position that becomes vacant will be filled from the outside unless no employee potentially adversely affected by RIF can meet the position requirements. We also plan to announce another Buyout window within the next week to invite applications from those employees whose voluntary separation will reduce the number of RIF-affected staff. We will be announcing other actions in the coming weeks to reduce the impact of these reductions and to support and assist affected staff.
 I realize that potential job loss is a life-changing experience. I can only ask each of you over the upcoming few months to remain focused on accomplishing the OCB mission, as you have always done. I assure you that I will do what I can to support you and the mission by taking steps to minimize the adverse affects of these reductions.