R.I. unions get their own voice on the radio; Tassoni leads WPRV broadcast

Spin the dial on the radio and hear talk show hosts champing on a cornucopia of viewpoints. But John Tassoni Jr. insists one viewpoint is missing. The state senator and business owner says traditional media overlook good deeds performed by the state’s labor unions. Since Jan. 3, Tassoni has been spreading the word himself.
The former labor union agent can be heard on WPRV-AM 790, joining a stable of politicians with shows across the radio spectrum. But Tassoni says that he will deliver something different each Monday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“The unions are painted with the broad brush that they’re all bad and I’m hoping to change that,” said the Democrat, who represents Smithfield and North Smithfield.
He may just fill a niche, said Bryant University professor of communication Stanley Baran, who has studied union messaging. Unions counted 80,000 Rhode Island workers among their ranks in 2009, the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Labor. They offer Tassoni plenty to speak about, especially since media rarely cover labor except during contract talks, Baran said.
“Unions and labor are absolutely, completely and totally absent from modern, contemporary media in America,” Baran said. “Every newspaper in America has a business section. No paper has a labor section.”
Tassoni rattles off a host of possible conversation topics. He wants to talk about the hundreds of hours that union members donate to build wheelchair ramps, playgrounds and the like for needy Rhode Islanders. He wants to talk about how the unions laid the groundwork for better working conditions and saved jobs when management tried to cut.
For his first show, Tassoni hosted George Nee, president of the Rhode Island chapter of the AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor union. Scott Molloy, a university of Rhode Island professor and historian, also appeared. Guests scheduled for future shows include officials from the United Food and Commercial Workers and experts on adoption and addressing bullying of children, both subjects Tassoni has championed as a citizen and state senator.
Tassoni, who owns the marketing firm The Sentinel Group, said he hoped to alternate weekly between highlighting nonprofits and union issues. And he should have little issue finding union subjects to discuss. Tassoni publishes Common Ground, a year-old, monthly newspaper about unions distributed free to more than 200 locations around the state. He recently started a sister paper in Massachusetts and is in talks about starting them in other states.
He also sits on the executive board of AFL-CIO Rhode Island, after serving for almost a decade as a business agent for Council 94, which represents public employees. Tassoni said he sees news releases circulated by the AFL-CIO ignored by the local media, which instead hone in on less flattering news.
“People need to hear that [unions are] not always the big bogeyman that people paint them out to be,” Tassoni said.
Rhode Island has a long – and often contentious – history of labor unions. As the most unionized state in New England – measured by a percentage of the overall work force – Rhode Island unions have often become a target of local politicians. And on a national scale, the general media does little to help the union cause, Baran said.
He pointed to common language used in news coverage about labor unions negotiating new contracts. They are often “disputes,” with management providing positive-sounding “offers” while labor has negative-sounding “demands.” Even in popular entertainment, union members are typically presented as obese, uneducated people holding menial jobs, the professor said. Tassoni will need to battle those perceptions with his show. He may also face charged emotions when unions find themselves in the middle of contentious debates. Some fired-up critics may even call into the show to express their displeasure.
Will Tassoni let them on?
“I will give everyone the opportunity to advance their agenda,” Tassoni said, adding, however, that he will not tolerate ranting.
One union critic interested in tuning in is Jeffrey Deckman. An organizer of the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition Business Network, Deckman has been sharply critical of unions in the state. Deckman said it is just a matter of time before a union opponent calls in to the show with an issue far less cheery than a union-built playground.
Treat that caller well and the perception of unions may increase a notch. But handle it poorly and “it will be an exercise that blows up on them,” Deckman warned.
The radio exercise came about by accident, Tassoni said. A saleswoman for 790-AM was visiting a business in the same building as his office. She stopped in Tassoni’s office, noticed Common Ground and mentioned that management was searching for a show about labor.
Three weeks later Tassoni lined up the two-hour chunk of time, paying $500 a week for the privilege. Tassoni said he plans to cover those costs by selling sponsorships for the show.
Baran, the Bryant professor, predicted Tassoni would cover his costs – especially if people want to tap a union-heavy listenership. And, if he had to bet, Baran said Tassoni’s radio show will endure even among the noisy radio spectrum.
“If there is no other outlet and he puts on a reasonable product he probably will succeed,” Baran said. •