Author: Jon Schleuss

Contact
Jeanne d’Arc Umurungi
Communications Director, CMG
416-708-4628
jeannedarc@cmg.ca

The Canadian Media Guild announced that TVO workers walked off the job today on a legal strike. “We are deeply saddened to have not been able to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with our employer,” CMG said in a statement. Annick Forest, President of the Canadian Media Guild and Meredith Martin CMG-TVO branch President are available to comment.

Workers feel they are being forced to take job action that will interrupt services the public relies on, such as The Agenda with Steve Paikin, TVO Today’s Ontario-focused journalism, children’s programming, and online courses used by teachers in schools across the province.

Continue reading “TVO members begin strike today”

On Thursday, the employees of ProPublica won voluntary recognition of their union, the ProPublica Guild. The union — which secured support from 97% of eligible staff members — is wall-to-wall, covering editorial, business and operations departments at the largest nonprofit newsroom in the country.

“This is a momentous day for ProPublica. We look forward to writing a strong collective bargaining agreement that will help set the standard for newsrooms throughout the industry. We are immensely proud to join together in solidarity with our unionized colleagues to fight for a better future for newsroom employees everywhere,” graphics editor Lucas Waldron said. 

Continue reading “ProPublica Guild wins voluntary recognition”

Journalists and media workers have unionized in the United States at a record pace. At the same time news companies have cut jobs, putting the country’s democracy at risk.  

The NewsGuild-CWA, a sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), seeks a campaign lead to channel the energy of our members, community supporters and policy stakeholders into winning legislative initiatives that support the follow demands:

Common Good Demands

• Staff that is Adequate in Number – Hiring: In the last decade thousands of papers have shut their doors and half of all journalist jobs have disappeared. Existing newsroom staff have been cut to the bone and current workers are doing too much with too little – at Gannett outlets media workers are producing top-tier journalism in lowest-tier conditions. Gannett must immediately increase hiring into newsrooms across the country and make real a commitment to local journalism and local journalists.
• Diverse in Perspective – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: In-depth, committed local news coverage requires newsrooms that have a diversity of views, cultures, and perspectives. As Gannett hires across the chain it must seek to create newsrooms diverse in perspective and skilled in navigating the communities being covered.
• Developing Expertise in Craft – Sustainable Jobs: Gannett must commit to sufficient compensation to enable media workers to live and thrive in the communities they cover. The sustained deep and vital connections required to produce in-depth local news, the experience and training that feeds that growth, can exist only if media workers have secure jobs and fair compensation. Additionally, media workers must be afforded the benefits and paid-time off that support healthy work-life balance.

The position is initially slated to last a year but is subject to possible extension.

The ideal candidate will have experience running multiple organizing campaigns with professional workers. They will have the organizational and strategic skills necessary to inspire and activate workers to take action.

The position will report to The NewsGuild-CWA leadership and the CWA Organizing Director, coordinating regularly with senior campaign leads. The position can be based anywhere. It is currently remote but will involve regular travel once it is safe to do so.

Job Qualifications:

• Willing and able to take regular direction and learn from experienced campaign staff
• Willing to commit, energy, heart and long, irregular hours
• Ability to learn and implement the campaign basics
• Be able to take notes, listen and get information/report back to campaign leadership to evaluate campaigns
• Ability to assess workers’ support of the campaign, identify potential committee members, move workers to make concrete commitments and take action, recruit people to a committee, facilitate committee meetings, work with groups.
• Understand and discuss issues in a way that contribute to the momentum of an organizing campaign.
• Have a fundamental commitment to building a diverse and democratic labor movement and ability to organize workers from diverse backgrounds and demographics.
• Willing to attend an Organizing Institute
• Basic communications skills, able to do basic flyers and other written material
• Strong social, written and verbal communication skills
• Motivated self-starter able to learn and troubleshoot without heavy supervision
• Driver’s license and reliable car, must be able to travel to work locations away from home/office location.
• 1-2 years (2 years preferable) of prior labor, political or community organizing experience
• Patient in pressure situations and savvy with conflict management
• Bilingual, a plus

Responsibilities when employed in an Organizing campaign:

• Ability to assess
  support of the union or campaign, identify potential committee members, move workers to make concrete commitments and take action, recruit people to a committee, facilitate committee meetings, work with groups
• Understand and discuss issues in a way that contribute to the momentum of a campaign
• Utilize numerous organizing tactics including home-visiting, cold phone
  calling, hand billing, etc.
• Have a fundamental commitment to building a diverse and democratic movement and ability to organize workers and citizens from diverse backgrounds and demographics
• Along with campaign leadership, be able to work effectively with committee members
  • assist with moving campaigns to stage 3, i.e., an NLRB election or voluntary recognition campaign
  • keep the organizing committee on track
  • motivate them to move through roadblocks and be public when it is time
  • give them a realistic assessment of progress and inoculate them
• Work with the local to help identify and encourage others in local to participate in organizing campaigns and build support for organizing
• Along with the District Organizing Coordinator, be able to help develop and implement a local organizing plan
• Submit reports as required, but at least monthly
• Must be able to work on projects to build the local, but also be able to assist in national and district organizing projects.
• Be heavily involved in major National and District Organizing Priority campaigns
• Capable of running campaigns with minimal
  assistance, motivate and dig out committee members, work in a team with other organizers involved in the campaign
• Be able to communicate effectively in writing, in speaking, and via electronic media.  Be able to work with data bases, able to do basic flyers and other written material
• Able to function as a trainer at an Organizer Institute and train organizing committee members
• Work with locals on National and District priority campaigns and help local organizers
• Travel to work locations away from home and work location by car and plane to locations as needed
• Computer skills that allow at least intermediate-level data management and communication

Job Specifications

Compensation: $73,617.07-$93,413.08/year depending on experience with an excellent benefits package.

The NewsGuild-CWA is an equal-opportunity employer and encourages applications from candidates who would expand the diversity of the Guild staff.

Hundreds of Guild members from more than two dozen newsrooms went on strike across the U.S. in the past week, joining the strikers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who have been on strike for nine months.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Workers from the newsroom and production side have been striking against the Block family over the company’s cancellation of health insurance and its illegal imposition of terms. They’re running a strike publication and continuing to hold the line and make sure that the company follows federal law.

Insider

About 300 journalists went on an open-ended strike on Friday, June 2 over an unfair labor practice where the company illegally changed health insurance without bargaining (sound familiar?). The workers are pushing for decent health care coverage, a livable minimum wage and protections from artificial intelligence eroding their jobs.

Gannett

Hundreds of workers from about two dozen Gannett publications went on a one-, two- or five-day strike in Gannett over the company’s unfair labor practices. Workers pushed for a no-confidence vote and the Guild called on shareholders to withhold their votes for CEO Mike Reed this week. Under Reed’s stewardship of the company following the merger of GateHouse Media and Gannett Media in November 2019, newsrooms have been hollowed out, local news coverage has dwindled, and Gannett share prices have fallen nearly 70% – far more than peers in the industry like the New York Times and Lee Enterprises. Shares tumbled more than 10% after the walkout. Several newsrooms set up fundraisers to help cover the lost wages during the strike.

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.

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.

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.

So today, we told management that ACLU-D.C. workers have formed a union with @WBNG32035.

— ACLU-DC Staff United (@ACLUDCunion) April 11, 2023

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.