http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=88574

August 20, 2006

Farm workers union will start low power radio station

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WOODBURN, Ore. - When union-run KPCN-FM formally hits the air in November it won't reach far. But it will hit thousands of Mexican farm workers who speak various languages, worry about labor and immigration issues, and seek information hard to get elsewhere.

The 100-watt station, being built largely with volunteer labor and advice, will be run by Oregon's farmworker's union PCUN in Woodburn. Construction is guided by the Philadelphia-based Prometheus Radio Project, which builds low-power radio stations to counter the consolidation of larger stations among fewer and fewer owners.

PCUN President Ramon Ramirez says the station will present news on immigration and labor issues and other topics of interest to workers who can't get the information elsewhere.

It will broadcast in Spanish and indigenous languages as well as some English.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)