Author: Jon Schleuss

Newsletter: A real Dr. Evil moment

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Last week I joined members and leaders in a rally in front of the New York Times. We came to deliver a message: Stop union busting and respect our union.

It was a brisk day, but I was thrilled to see so many NewsGuild of New York members from several different newsrooms show up in support! There were three groups of workers from the New York Times there fighting for respect: Wirecutter, the NYT Tech Guild and the NYT Guild.

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Newsletter: 1,000+ workers are in public campaigns to unionize with the Guild

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Staffers at Wirecutter are planning a walkout during Black Friday week if the company continues to slow-walk bargaining. The New York Times Co., which owns the product review site, has failed to provide necessary information to negotiate wages. At the same time, the Times is rolling in money: Wirecutter has added 10,000 paid subscribers and the company is sitting on about $1 billion in cash. The company sends union-busting attorneys to the table and has offered guaranteed annual raises of just 0.5%.

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Newsletter: A watchful eye

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Did you notice the new logo at the top of this email? I unveiled the new design at our Sector Conference last week to rave reviews.

The design, which was selected by our Executive Council, is forward-looking while paying tribute to our proud history. Several features — the unblinking eye, protective shield, radiating lines — are adapted from logos we used decades ago. They symbolize the watchdog role and illuminating effect of journalists and media workers.

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2021 Sector Conference adopted sweeping constitutional changes, looks to future

Most folks are not usually interested in a six-hour zoom call, but the 2021 NewsGuild-CWA Sector Conference was a lively affair, having been moved to a digital conference along with the CWA Convention, which began today.  

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New logo keeps a watchful eye on our democracies

During Saturday’s Sector Conference, I revealed the new logo design selected by the Executive Council to be our official logo going forward. 

The new logo is forward-looking while paying tribute to our proud history. Several features of the new image are adapted from logos the Guild used decades ago.

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Newsletter: Constitutional improvements in front of Saturday’s Sector Conference

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This Saturday we’ve got the 2021 NewsGuild Sector Conference. It’s our biennial conference where elected delegates set policies for our union, pass resolutions, amend our constitution and nominate officers.

Because of the pandemic it made sense to move this year’s conference to a virtual one and it will get started at 10 a.m. ET Saturday. I expect about 100 folks from all over the NewsGuild to attend. This year’s primary agenda will focus on some major changes to our constitution governing our elections. These proposed improvements will make sure that every member gets notified of their ability to be eligible to vote and that members get ballots delivered by mail until the U.S. Dept. of Labor allows electronic voting.

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Newsletter: Journalists have receipts

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That’s the message to Gannett CEO Mike Reed on the subject of unpaid overtime at the nation’s biggest news chain.

We launched an investigation after members first tweeted about the practice inside Gannett and a top editor tweeted, “Every business exploits the young – it’s called gaining experience, and I don’t regret it one bit.” He later added, “Prove yourself and they’ll pay you.”

In my email to Reed, I let him know about the investigation and urged him to launch his own investigation, end the culture of exploitation and agree to the common-sense contract proposals advanced by journalists at Gannett.

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Newsletter: This Gannett boss thinks working for free builds character

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There is some big U.S. legislative news this week: the jobs tax credit in the Local Journalism Sustainability Act made it into the House Ways and Means Committee recommendations for reconciliation. This means it has a very good chance of becoming law.

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