An Allan Block "Wanted" poster on a telephone pole across the street from the Toldeo Blade building Friday, May 5, 2023, in Toledo. (Andrew Goldstein/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Newsletter: We’re hiring two positions

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We’ve got two openings at The NewsGuild-CWA right now. We’d love to find Guild members for these roles. Please send folks our way!

Administrative secretary: we’re looking for someone who can assist our staff, run schedules, help keep projects on track, keep track of office finances and directly work with the Guild’s leadership. More info here.

Senior campaign lead: we’re looking for an organizer who’s excited to work with lots of members spread across the continent to help them build effective campaigns and coordinate with other members working for the same company. More info here.

Continue reading “Newsletter: We’re hiring two positions”

We’re looking for an administrative secretary

We’re looking for an administrative secretary who will report to The NewsGuild-CWA President and Executive Vice President. This position is based in Washington, DC.

  • Performs wide range of clerical and secretarial work of an administrative and confidential nature.  
  • Performs duties that require a thorough knowledge of the organization, its procedures and practices. 
  • Pace of work is erratic, with periods in which work is rapidly paced.
  • Duties are generally diverse, with many duties requiring analysis and reasoning.
  • Work involves the application of standard practices.  Frequent substantive decision making is required.  Few guidelines exist for performance of duties and tasks.  Exercises independent judgment on complicated or special matters.
  • Plans and schedules own work.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Composes correspondence frequently without instruction or review.  May be asked to read reports and summarize information to facilitate review by supervisor. Handles routine administrative details independently and may participate in the management of the office. 
  • Performs all secretarial functions as required by Supervisor.  Duties include typing, word processing and data entry from a variety of sources such as: handwritten rough drafts, form letters, forms, reports, printed materials, columns of numbers etc.  May handle or compose correspondence or take action without direction from supervisor. 
  • Answers telephone, takes messages or refers calls to appropriate department.  Has regular contact with local members, local officers and or external public including individuals in high levels of responsibility.
  • Arranges and maintains accurate records and files. Must be able to retrieve information from records and files upon request.  May be required to interpret data, perform auditing or large scale reconciliation or records.
  • Keeps calendar, schedules appointments and conferences, makes travel arrangements.
  • Performs liaison duties between supervisor and other employees and offices.
  • Receives and distributes mail.
  • Operates routine office equipment including computer, label maker, copier, FAX.
  • Performs other miscellaneous general office duties as required, some of which may require independent judgment.
  • May be required to travel.

Qualifications:

  • Thorough knowledge of modern office practices and procedures and the use of office machines and equipment.
  • Thorough knowledge of policies and procedures of the union; ability to understand and interpret pertinent policies and procedures clearly and accurately.
  • Must be a self-motivated and energetic individual who possesses good interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
  • Sufficient skill in typing and the ability to take sufficient notes at a meeting from which to prepare an accurate record of events.
  • Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Word and Excel.
  • Ability to learn new software and computer equipment as required by supervisor or as technology changes.
  • Ability to understand moderate technical instructions.
  • Must have ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
  • Four to six years related experience.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods of time, use hands to handle or feel objects, writing instruments or keyboard controls, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and stoop, kneel or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include both close and distance vision.

Salary range: $73,914.90 – $77,805.16 Salary/year

CWA is an equal opportunity employer, and, as such, does not discriminate an employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, age, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, disability, or any other classification protected from discrimination under applicable law.

Logo of ACLU of DC "staff united"

ACLU staff in Washington, DC unionizes

Tuesday morning staffers at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, DC announced their intent to unionize, joining a wave of workers unionizing at other ACLU affiliates in North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Minnesota and Kansas.

The workers published their mission on Twitter, writing:

ACLU-D.C. prioritizes justice, equity, and inclusion in its work and, as the workers of this organization, we believe it should maintain those priorities in its self-governance. To this end, staff has joined other affiliates and thousands of other non-profit workers across the country to form ACLU-D.C. Staff United, the newest collective to join the labor movement.

Our union will provide a democratic and accountable structure through which staff can support the greatest ideals of ACLU-D.C. We will build and share power, make collective decisions, and promote transparency and collaboration with management. Our greatest aim is to ensure that the workers who are most impacted by the organization’s policies can shape our working conditions.

Together, we will build on ACLU-D.C.’s strong foundation to develop anti-racist policies and create sustainable conditions that empower staff to thrive as we build a more just and free D.C.

Screenshot of letter from NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss to President Biden, calling for the U.S. to fight for the release of Evan Gershkovich, who is held by Russian authorities

NewsGuild-CWA calls on Biden to secure release of Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia

Update: U.S. officials designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained” on April 10.

Read the letter

The NewsGuild-CWA, the largest union of journalists and media workers in North America, called on President Biden and his administration to take all necessary steps to secure the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested by Russian authorities last week.

Evan Gershkovich has a distinguished record of reporting on the Kremlin’s war efforts, profiling Russian dissidents and covering the stories of wartime life in border towns in Russia and Ukraine. His recent work has exposed the Russian government’s attempts to squash dissent and discourage antiwar protests, as well as highlighting the inner workings of President Vladimir Putin’s advisory circle.

NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss expressed appreciation for President Biden’s call for Russia to release Mr. Gershkovich and for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the matter. However, Schleuss urged the U.S. administration to work swiftly with Roger D. Carstens, special envoy for hostage affairs, to designate Mr. Gershkovich as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.

President Schleuss implored President Biden to use the full force of his office and the diplomatic resources at his disposal to secure Mr. Gershkovich’s release, engage with international partners to amplify this message, and to provide support to Mr. Gershkovich’s family during this difficult time.

“Journalism is not a crime,” Schleuss said. “No journalist should be arrested for doing their job.”

Schleuss also urged restraint in any retaliation against Russian journalists in the United States, emphasizing that a reduction in the number of journalists working in the U.S. would not be beneficial.

Schleuss emphasized the importance of press freedom and the protection of journalists worldwide as cornerstones of democratic societies and called on the U.S. administration to stand up for the rights and safety of journalists.

The NewsGuild-CWA represents journalists and media workers at more than 240 news organizations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, including those at The Wall Street Journal. While Mr. Gershkovich is based overseas and not a member of the union, his colleagues are standing with him, denouncing his arrest and demanding his release. 

About The NewsGuild-CWA
The NewsGuild’s represents about 26,000 workers including journalists, interpreters, translators, workers at organizations dedicated to fighting for social justice and the staff of nonprofit organizations. The NewsGuild is a sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents workers in telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, health care, public service and education, manufacturing and other fields.

Media contact: (202) 434-1175 jschleuss@cwa-union.org

Newsletter: A scab broke a striker’s jaw in Pittsburgh

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It was 23 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday night when five Guild members joined 10 Teamsters on the picket line at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette distribution center.

We held the line in front of the center where a dwindling number of carriers collected a dwindling number of paper bundles of the scab paper to deliver them to the few remaining subscribers in Pittsburgh.

Just a week prior a strike-breaking scab truck driver broke the jaw of one of the strikers, sending him to the hospital. He’s due for surgery any day now.

Continue reading “Newsletter: A scab broke a striker’s jaw in Pittsburgh”
Reviewed Union - "We reviewed the options...and it's time for a union."

Lab and Operations Workers at Gannett’s Reviewed Win Union Vote

The Lab and Operations staff at Reviewed, part of the USA Today Network, voted unanimously yesterday to be represented by the Boston Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 31245. The Reviewed Lab and Operations Workers Union consists of the full-time laboratory testing team and the building operations and logistics workers at Reviewed’s Cambridge, MA offices.

The division of the Reviewed Workers’ Union into two separate units was the product of an anti-union campaign conducted by management aimed at protracting the unit certification process and undermining the unity of their workers. The unanimous victory today, and landslide victory of the Reviewed Editorial Workers Union last week, demonstrates that those efforts have failed, and that Reviewed’s staff will continue to stand united, even in the face of voter challenges, targeted restructuring, and a series of dubiously legal mid-election captive audience meetings which prompted the workers to file an unfair labor practice charge against Gannett.

“It has been a long road to get here,” said lab manager and eleven-year Reviewed employee Jon Chan, “but seeing the election results today made it all worth it. This unanimous outcome is proof that our interest in each other’s wellbeing at work is more powerful than any corporate interest in short-term profit.”

Reviewed’s lab and operations workers include lab managers, test technicians, operations and logistics coordinators, who contribute to product testing, shipping and receiving, and support the editorial staff across divisions. The Reviewed Union’s organizing effort went public with an NLRB election petition in December, 2022, and the separate Lab and Operations unit petition was filed a few weeks later. 

The announcement of their union effort was accompanied by a mission statement calling attention to a number of demands shared by members of Reviewed’s staff, from just-cause for terminations to the redress of current substandard wages and more, issues they blame for the high employee turnover Reviewed saw in 2021-22.  

Beckett Dubay, a product test technician, said, “I’m so excited to see, through the results of the election, that my coworkers and I are overwhelmingly committed to making Reviewed the best possible place to work. The costs of living continue to increase, and I’ve heard so many stories from colleagues who haven’t received fair raises or COLAs that could help account for that. I worry about being priced out of living in the Boston area, where our office is located. None of us can do our best work when we are struggling to get by, so I’m looking forward to working with my coworkers to bargain a fair contract with Gannett.”

The Reviewed Lab and Operations Workers Union joins 48 other unionized Gannett shops around the country ready to fight for a fair and equitable contract for Reviewed and for every Gannett shop.

Lee Enterprise workers call on company to invest in news

The Unions of Lee Enterprises call on the Iowa-based chain to stop taking resources from its newspapers, which is costing jobs, weakening communities and harming the company’s ability to become a sustainable digital operation.

So far this year, there have been more than 50 staff reductions at the 12 unionized newspapers of Lee. That includes 22 newsroom layoffs, buyouts or voluntary resignations of union members, 12 abolished open positions, and other layoffs or eliminations of non-union employees and managers. Those numbers grow considerably when factoring in Lee’s non-union newspapers.

Continue reading “Lee Enterprise workers call on company to invest in news”
NBC News Guild "We're walking out!" graphic

NBC Digital workers are walking out tomorrow

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Tomorrow morning more than 200 journalists at NBC News, MSNBC, and TODAY are walking out! They’re halting work for one day to protest the company’s unfair labor practices. In January the company illegally laid off seven bargaining unit members and informed others that they were no longer members of the union. This of course violates federal law.

We’ve written about how a company cannot lay off workers prior to a first contract being settled. And of course NBC is familiar with this precedent because they illegally cut salaries without bargaining in 2020 (and then had to pay back workers with interest)!

Continue reading “NBC Digital workers are walking out tomorrow”

Newsletter: Letter to Pittsburgh scabs, a ULP and a new Guild union!

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Happy Thursday!

If you’re a NewsGuild member, you’ve probably gotten a text from a striker (or maybe me!) in the last few days asking you to support our striking members here in Pittsburgh. We’ve been working out of Strike HQ (generously donated by the United Steelworkers) and have been using Hustle to text people en masse. They’re real texts coming from strikers and we’ve sent about 20,000 messages to Guild and CWA members. I encourage you to engage with folks! And please give if you can. We will win this strike together.

After 100 days, the company still refuses to do two things that would end the strike: 1) pay for health insurance premiums and 2) follow federal law and bargain in good faith. That’s it! The company could end the strike and return to normal by writing one small check. I don’t understand why the Blocks and their law firm think it’s wiser to break the law and deny single mothers health insurance, but I am not an evil millionaire disconnected from regular people.

Continue reading “Newsletter: Letter to Pittsburgh scabs, a ULP and a new Guild union!”

Newsletter: Mourning a Guild mentor, celebrating a successful strike

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Happy Thursday! 

First, last year’s NewsGuild-CWA numbers were incredible. Members held 21 work stoppages, including the two open-ended strikes in Pittsburgh and Fort Worth. We welcomed 1,999 new members from 35 newly unionized workplaces. And Guild members won 71 contracts last year, including 31 first contracts! Congratulations to all!

We had sad news last week. We lost a beloved retired NewsGuild staff rep, Bruce Nelson. Bruce died last Tuesday, January 10. He helped mentor and build up Guild members for three decades, until he retired in 2015. Born in St. Cloud, Minn., he spent his career involved in journalism, first as an award-winning reporter in Minnesota and then as a Guild staff rep. He worked alongside members at nearly every Guild paper, including the Washington Post, Albany Times Union, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Sun Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

Tomorrow, several Guild members will gather to celebrate Bruce’s life. Funeral services will be held on Friday, Jan. 20, at Donaldson Funeral Home in Laurel, Maryland. Services begin at 1pm.  

Members are now three months into their strike in Pittsburgh! I’ve been with members here and they’re doing amazing things. They’ve launched a petition calling for the removal of Allan Block, one of the Post-Gazette owners, from C-SPAN’s board. They’re telling the Pittsburgh Steelers to drop their relationship with the PG. 

Please take two minutes and add your name to those petitions!

Despite these wins, the PG has refused to bargain and settle the strike. 

To be clear, our demands are simple and reasonable: that the PG reinstate workers’ health coverage and agree to follow federal labor law. That’s it!  

Their stall tactics won’t work. We’ve raised more than $207k to support striking workers, and are continuing to grow that number! This week we’re aiming to raise $40k, which just so happens to be the amount of bonuses the PG recently handed to people crossing the picket line. 

Can you stand in solidarity and contribute right now? 

The amazing journalists at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram won their strike! After 24 days on the line, they won a very good first contract and ratified it unanimously. This contract raised the salary floor from McClatchy’s $45,000 up to $52,000 for current staffers. They won gender-inclusive language on family leave allowances when a worker has a child. They won more flexibility on bereavement leave. And so much more! Congrats to our awesome members in Texas! 

Side note, major props to the Tarrant County Labor Council, who showed up from day one to picket with folks — and brought Scabby the Rat! Also thanks to the Texas AFL-CIO and CWA District 6 for supporting our folks! Workers raised more than $50,000 to support their strike. 

We had our first ever virtual nominating conference in early January. If you missed it, you can watch the whole thing on Facebook. An amazing crop of new leaders is stepping up. Nine Executive Council positions were filled for terms that will begin in July. You can see the full list of members and read more about our new EC on our website

Need a map of all the regions? See that here. 

We also got to thank the current Executive Council leaders, which is filled with folks who have dedicated many years of their lives to our collective fight. Congrats to everyone and my huge appreciation for everyone who’s leaving us and made our union strong for many decades!

Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined our call to stop the hedge fund takeover of local news. Did you see her powerful letter to the Federal Communications Commission, asking them to intervene in the attempted takeover of TEGNA by hedge fund Standard General? Thank you, Sen. Warren for joining our call: protect media jobs and stop the hedge fund takeover of local news!

Steward training is continuing. Next Wednesday we’ll have Module 2: A Workplace Organizer, followed by four more modules every other week through March. See and register for events on our calendar.

I feel so inspired to work with all of y’all every day. We have a righteous fight on our hands and we are WINNING. Keep it up!

In solidarity,
Jon