The Idaho NewsGuild won an important victory this week, when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a informal settlement agreement stipulating that McClatchy, which owns the Idaho Statesman, cannot unilaterally impose pageview quotas on the paper’s journalists.
Continue reading “NLRB rules for Idaho NewsGuild: Pageview quotas are not allowed.”
Journalists at Forbes won a stunning 90.5% vote in favor of unionizing on Tuesday, with 67 voting yes and just 7 voting no. The unit will encompass approximately 100 newsroom employees, including reporters, editors, designers, videographers and social media editors. They will join the NewsGuild of New York Local 31003.
Continue reading “Editorial workers at Forbes win union Vote, 90.5% vote yes”
The NewsGuild-CWA is enthusiastically supporting a bill that would provide a path to financial stability for struggling local newspapers, digital-only publications and local television and radio stations through a series of tax credits.
“The Local Journalism Sustainability Act would provide a much-needed boost to save local news jobs,” said NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss. “Half of America’s journalism jobs have been wiped out in the past decade and the losses have accelerated during the pandemic.
Continue reading “NewsGuild applauds Local Journalism Sustainability Act”
Members of the New York Times Guild Tech took a big step forward in their unionization campaign on Wednesday: They asked management to negotiate terms for an expedited online vote supervised by the American Arbitration Association by the end of August.
Continue reading “N.Y. Times tech workers: Let us vote!”
This week sort of exploded with two major press freedom issues around the world.
A major investigation by Washington Post journalists and many others exposed an operation by a private spyware company that has been hacking into the phones of journalists around the world. Activists, politicians and journalists were found on a list of more than 50,000 targeted phone numbers. It’s an expansion of a disturbing trend by authoritarian regimes that are suppressing dissent by targeting journalists. I was proud to bring our union back into the International Federation of Journalists last year. The group of large journalism unions quickly condemned the targeting of journalists. We stand with them and journalists around the world condemning the spying and suppression of free speech.
Continue reading “Newsletter: Not just a wave; it’s a movement”
The National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the NewsGuild of New York on Thursday, deciding that NBCUniversal acted improperly in June 2020 when it rolled back wage increases it had granted to NBC Digital employees.
Continue reading “Victory! NLRB rules: Raises must be restored, back wages paid to NBC News Digital employees”
Editorial employees to fight for local news and address pay, diversity, job security.
Editorial employees at three Gannett-owned publications in the Hudson Valley — The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Times and Herald-Record — announced Wednesday that they are unionizing with the NewsGuild of New York Local 31003. With more than 80% of eligible staffers signed on to the effort, the Hudson Valley News Guild has requested voluntary recognition from Gannett management.
Continue reading “Hudson Valley Gannett workers are forming a union”
Staff at the civic tech nonprofit Democracy Works have announced they are unionizing with the News Media Guild Local 31222. As key participants in protecting, expanding, and improving democracy in the United States, the Democracy Workers Collective seeks policies in their workplace that align with the organization’s external work.
Continue reading “Staff at Democracy Works Unionize with The NewsGuild”
Happy Wednesday! Members of The Appeal Union certainly didn’t take the announcement that management was closing their beloved publication due to financial concerns lying down.
They swung into action, secured a generous severance package for themselves and their coworkers, and negotiated with management to allow them to relaunch The Appeal as a worker-led news outlet.
Continue reading “Newsletter: They didn’t take bad news lying down”
Newsroom employees at the Record-Courier in Portage County, Ohio, announced Tuesday that they are forming a union. Staffers signed cards indicating their desire to be represented by Local 1 of the NewsGuild-CWA, which they submitted to the National Labor Relations Board. They also asked the newspaper’s owner, Gannett, to voluntarily recognize the Guild. Local 1 represents the workers’ unionized Gannett counterparts at the Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and Massillon Independent.
Continue reading “Record-Courier journalists are unionizing”