No raises for more than five years and skyrocketing increases in health care costs mean making "decisions I wish I didn't have to make," writes California court interpreter and single mom Katy Van Sant. Her story illustrates why the Pacific Media Guild-represented interpeters are fighting so...
Former journalist, Canadian Media Guild officer and sector vice president Percy Hatfield won his party's nomination Thursday to run for Parliament from Windsor-Tecumeh, saying he's convinced he can win the general election and turn his area back into a New Democratic Party stronghold. Photo:...
For the second year, the Guild is sponsoring a photography contest as part of the Labor Heritage Foundation’s Great Labor Arts Exchange in June. The aim is to encourage photography that shows union and community activism, in the spirit of the theme of the festival: “Gonna Take Us All: Labor and...
Workers' rights activists filled the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing Thursday to highlight the urgency of confirming a five-member, bipartisan National Labor Relations Board. "Working people know that a full-strength NLRB is the first step to justice...
The vast majority of newsroom employees in the Rockford (Illinois) Register Star newsroom have signed authorization cards seeking representation from the United Media Guild. The UMG has asked Register Star to recognize the union and begin collective bargaining, but expects that owner Gatehouse...
The Newspaper Guild-CWA and its local that represents AP journalists, The News Media Guild, demands that the U.S. Justice Department return all telephone records that it obtained from phones -- including some home and cell phones – of Associated Press reporters and editors.
News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch seemed docile and doddering when he appeared before a British parliamentary committee for several hours of questioning (and a shaving-cream pie to the face) on July 19. Parliament is investigating the phone-hacking scandal that has enveloped the U.K. arm of his company. But the 80-year-old mogul came out swinging on News Corp.'s closely monitored quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts and the press Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the odds, over the past few months unions have achieved significant victories around the nation. Workers continue to fight for better wages, job security, safe workplaces, and health care, regardless of the struggles unions face. Their long-term struggles have not changed. But their success rate may be improving. Herewith, a list of eight recent examples of forward momentum for organized labor -- including the CWA and IBEW strike against Verizon.
The Albany Newspaper Guild reached a settlement with the Times Union over the newspaper's cutting off of union dues in 2009. As part of the agreement, the company will resume dues collection from members' paychecks and also will pay $32,720, to be distributed equally among Guild-covered employees. The complaint had been scheduled to go to an arbitrator Aug. 30.
The increasing lack of racial diversity in the U.S. media landscape is becoming a hot topic and putting pressure on policy makers to (finally) pay attention. Black editors and other established professionals have recently been fading out of mainstream press outlets and into black-oriented media. The picture is also bleak for minorities who are in or have recently graduated from journalism and communications programs, adding another layer to the disparity.
Rachel Bernstein —
August 11, 2011— The Daily Record
Management at The Baltimore Sun gave a buyout proposal to the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Wednesday, looking to cut from 20 to 25 positions. The Newspaper Guild will be meeting with management this afternoon to discuss the proposal, said Andrea K. Walker, a business reporter and newsroom chair for The Sun’s guild unit. The buyouts would be voluntary, and 10 of the proposed positions are in the newsroom.
Isaiah J. Poole —
August 11, 2011— Campaign for America's Future
Ignore the chest-thumping from the right following the Wisconsin recall elections Tuesday night. The fact that Democratic challengers prevailed in two of the six races, and came within less than 1,100 votes of unseating a third in a race where almost 51,000 votes were cast, is, to paraphrase Vice President Joe Biden, a big effing deal.
Steven Greenhouse —
August 11, 2011— New York Times
In the nation’s largest strike in four years, Verizon Communications and its unions are deeply divided over the company’s assertions that its traditional landline business is performing so badly that it needs large-scale concessions. The unions’ refusal to believe Verizon is one reason that the 45,000 workers who went on strike Sunday are already dug in and braced for a lengthy walkout. Heightening the stakes, meanwhile, is Verizon's perception that the weak economy is a prime opportunity to chop union costs.
