Newsletter: Are you going to Labor Notes?

Happy Friday!

We have a lot of news around the Guild, so let’s jump in.

Last week I attended the Washington Post RAT-ificiation party in Washington, DC and it broke my heart with joy. Outgoing co-unit chair Katie Mettler showed a video about leadership. Have you seen the shirtless dancing guy? A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But followers are the ones that build a movement and you have to embrace them as equals.

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The Texas Tribune Guild formally recognized as a union

AUSTIN — On Friday, the employees of The Texas Tribune were formally recognized by their employer as a union, the Texas Tribune Guild. 

The union — which secured support from 90% of eligible staff members — is wall-to-wall, representing more than 40 eligible staff members, including reporters, photographers, designers, engineers, accountants, editors, and members of the development, product and revenue teams. 

“Today is a great day for the employees of the Tribune. We now look forward to negotiating a contract with management that will make working at the Tribune even better,” said the Tribune’s senior data visuals developer Carla Astudillo.

“We are proud of the work that employees have put in to secure recognition of the Texas Tribune Guild,” said Joshua Fechter, urban affairs reporter for The Tribune. 

“We appreciate the support we have received from readers and journalists across the country,” said William Melhado, general assignment reporter for The Tribune. 

“We went from sí se puede to sí se pudo,” said El Paso-based reporter Uriel García. “Now we can negotiate a contract that can provide some worker protections so the employees of the Tribune can continue to provide quality journalism to Texans.” 

Background: 

The Texas Tribune Guild went public on Jan. 24 and is a unit of Media Guild of the West, TNG-CWA Local #39213, AFL-CIO 

The Texas Tribune was founded in 2009 as a nonpartisan nonprofit news organization, covering politics and public policy. Its mission is to inform — and engage with Texans — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Journalists win $1 million settlement after attacks from police at George Floyd protests

After a three-and-a-half-year legal battle, journalists represented by the American Civil Liberties Union
of Minnesota and pro bono attorneys won a nearly $1 million settlement from the city of Minneapolis over police attacks on reporters during the George Floyd protests. The Minneapolis City Council approved the settlement.

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Workers at IGN unionize, form IGN Creators Guild

UPDATE: On February 22 workers won voluntarily recognition from their employer.

Los Angeles, Calif. — Today a supermajority of editorial and creative workers at IGN have announced that they are unionizing with the NewsGuild-CWA.

The unit will consist of a little over 80 employees at inception, with 87% of the eligible members signing union authorization cards. The IGN Creators Guild expects that Ziff Davis will voluntarily recognize the guild in response to this impressive participation from their staff.

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Photos from Tribune Publishing walkout

More than 200 Tribune Publishing journalists, designers, and production workers at seven newsrooms across the country walked off the job as part of a historic 24-hour strike to protest the company’s refusal to pay journalists, designers and editors a fair wage and management’s threat to take away the 401k match benefit.

Workers from the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Virginian-Pilot, Morning Call, Suburban Chicago Tribune, Design and Production Studios, and Tribune Content Agency participated in the walkout — the single largest coordinated action journalists at the company have taken against Alden Global Capital since the hedge fund purchased Tribune Publishing in 2021.

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