World Cafe Live workers fired after walking off the job in protest of new leadership

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On Wednesday evening, the show did not go on: right before a Jazz Jam performance at World Cafe Live, several workers of the two-decade-old music venue walked out to protest management, who later fired the workers in response.

The next day, about a dozen people sustained a picket line in front of the music venue’s doors on Walnut Street.

The workers come from a range of departments, including administration, front of house and production, had a list of grievances, including executive incompetence and hostile treatment by leadership brought in by new CEO Joseph Callahan, who took over from WCL founder Hal Real earlier this year.

Workers allege wage disruption

Front-of-house manager Arely Pena said that payments to employees and artists have been disrupted, several longtime senior staff have left and a planned expansion of WCL’s live performances as digital streaming content has not been transparently explained.

“We want to get paid on time. We want to get paid accurately,” she said. “We have no idea what’s going on. We were told that there was a plan. Now, we’re getting told that the future is uncertain.”

“We want to be respected for the work that we have been doing for the last 20 years,” she said. “We want to keep our commitment to the local Philadelphia community, the artists, the guests that we serve.”

Pena said she and the workers are prepared to picket until the organization’s leadership agrees to a meeting.

Workers fired for walkout, venue says it’s considering filing criminal charges

In a statement from the public relations firm OtterPR, WCL said all of the workers who participated in the walkout have been “terminated with cause,” and the organization is considering taking legal action.

“As part of our responsibility to protect this institution, WCL has retained counsel to file a formal complaint to federal authorities and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office,” read the statement, citing “Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce under the Hobbs Act, Theft and Destruction of Proprietary and Contractual Records, Intentional Infliction of Financial Harm on a 501(c)(3) Entity” and “Trespassing and Unlawful Disruption of Business Operations.”

“Our doors remain open because of the strength of the community and our shared vision for a better future. To the thousands who have stood by us: thank you,” read the statement with emphasis. “To those who have sought to undermine this vital cultural institution: you will be held accountable.”

The WCL staff is not unionized and is acting as an informal collective.

Chris Dreyer is an audio engineer who was working the Jazz Jam on Wednesday night and joined the walkout because he says well-respected senior staff have been forcibly pushed out of their jobs.

“It just got to a boiling point yesterday,” he said Thursday. “What led to degree 212 versus 211? I don’t know that I know for sure.”

Dreyer was notified of his termination by email while picketing on the sidewalk.

“At some point, you got to choose the people that you’re fighting with,” he said. “I’d rather fight with the people out here than for the few people inside.”

Among senior staff who have recently left is Chief Operating Officer Kerry Park, who was recognized last year by industry magazine Pollstar as “Woman of Live” honoree. She left WCL on Tuesday and immediately boarded a plane to London, according to her parents. Park declined to comment.

Opened in 2004, WCL shares a building with the UPenn radio station WXPN and its signature program “World Cafe” syndicated by NPR. The two entities are separate organizations.

WCL became a nonprofit organization in 2019, merging its live music venue with its education initiative LiveConnections. Real, its former CEO, was instrumental in forming the National Independence Venue Association, which lobbied to pass a landmark COVID-era legislation that released $16 billion in federal funds to struggling live performance venues.

According to WCL’s statement, the organization was $6 million in debt when Callahan became CEO. With no prior connection to WCL but a deep background in technology, Callahan came in with a plan to add a streaming virtual reality platform to the concert venue.

Some of the striking workers do not see virtual reality as the future of live music. WCL disagrees. In its statement, leadership said WCL has, over the years, developed a “culture of complacency and entitlement.”

“We see this moment not as a setback, but as a turning point,” read the WCL statement. “Our future is being built by those who show up with open hearts, shared values, and a desire to be part of something greater.”