Labor battle looming at KNBR, home of SF Giants baseball

Pioneering broadcaster Belva Davis (right) joined the picket line in S.F. to support KNBR radio staffers’ push for a wage increase. Pioneering broadcaster Belva Davis (right) joined the picket line in S.F. to support KNBR radio staffers’ push for a wage increase. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Labor battle looming at KNBR, home of SF Giants baseball 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Newly unionized employees of KNBR radio, the longtime broadcaster of San Francisco Giants baseball, staged a rally outside AT&T Park Wednesday as an opening salvo in what could be a long labor war.

The employees are seeking a minimum of $17 an hour for off-air staff, and $30 an hour for on-air talent. The station’s owner, Cumulus Media of Atlanta, has countered with the San Francisco minimum wage, which just rose to $13 an hour, plus 1 percent, according to union negotiators.

The 35 staffers voted in 2014 to join the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) but have not been able to secure a contract. There has been no movement in negotiations on the wage gap since February.

“This could definitely lead to a work stoppage,” said Len Egert, executive director of the SAG-AFTRA San Francisco local, “and I don’t know if we could continue programming.”

Employees insist that KNBR, which advertises itself as “the Sports Leader,” is a money-making station. According to an independent research report commissioned by SAG-AFTRA, KNBR ranks fifth among 453 stations nationwide owned by Cumulus.

“KNBR is a proven revenue generator,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, who flew up from the union’s national headquarters in Los Angeles. “It is time for Cumulus to pay its employees a living wage.”

In addition to carrying all 162 Giants games, plus possible playoff and World Series games, KNBR broadcasts both Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers games, though they are switched over to sister station KGO in instances where Warriors and 49ers games conflict with Giants games.

Representatives of Cumulus, which is second only to iHeart Media in the number of stations owned nationwide, did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and neither did management of KNBR.

That left all the talking to the union side, and there was plenty of it. Pioneering broadcaster Belva Davis came out to tell the crowd that not much has changed in the 50 years since she began her on-air career.

“Last year Cumulus had profits of half a billion dollars. We need Cumulus to step up to the plate,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, employing an obvious baseball metaphor.

Noticeably absent was talk-show host Gary Radnich, who is often teased on the air about driving his Bentley. Hosts Radnich, Tom Tolbert, and Murph & Mac are members of the KNBR bargaining unit but are not worried about minimum wage. Under the proposal, these hosts will make a minimum of $100 an hour.

Also absent were Giants broadcasters Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow and Dave Flemming. They are not employees of KNBR but work under a freelance agreement between the Giants and SAG-AFTRA.

If recent history is an indicator, it could be a long slog. It took the SAG-AFTRA unit at radio station KGO four years to reach an agreement with Cumulus, at a minimum of $17 an hour. One month later, Cumulus laid off 23 out of 30 union members.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art