Yesterday a majority of eligible MLex and FTCWatch workers voted 13-0 to form the MLex Guild, a unit of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild and part of the Communications Workers of America. MLex Guild is comprised of workers in Washington, San Francisco and New York.

After about six months of organizing, the MLex Guild in April formally announced its intention to form a union, with 100 percent support from eligible members.

Contact: Matt Pearce president@mediaguildwest.org

California’s journalists strongly condemned Meta’s threat to ban news on platforms like Facebook and Instagram if the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB 886) becomes law. The bill, which faces a likely Assembly vote on Thursday, would charge large platforms like Meta and Google parent Alphabet for scraping journalism for their platforms. The revenue would then be portioned out to publishers and broadcasters with a requirement that at least 70% of the revenue go directly to supporting newsroom jobs. 

“This is a corporate bullying tactic timed to intimidate California lawmakers the day before they take up this bill on the Assembly floor,” said Matt Pearce, a reporter at the Los Angeles Times and president of Media Guild of the West. “The California Journalism Preservation Act is a good bill, designed to strengthen local journalism in California, and it deserves civil debate, not threats of censorship.” 

Vote follows management illegally changing workers’ health care and a proposal in April to lay off 20% of bargaining unit

Insider Union announced today that a supermajority of union members voted in favor of authorizing their bargaining committee to call a strike. Members are calling for the company to bargain in good faith and are protesting management’s decision to illegally change workers’ health care. Members are also demanding a resolution to a proposed layoff that would reduce the newsroom by 20 percent, as they are bargaining for a fair first contract. The nearly 300 members of the Insider Union are represented by The NewsGuild of New York.

94 percent voted in favor of strike authorization on Tuesday afternoon after a bargaining session with Insider management. 80 percent of the bargaining unit participated in the vote.

Five-year contract includes immediate $65,000 salary floor, hybrid work options, a ban on NDAs, new investments in local news around the country

Agreement reached after a series of escalating collective actions by workers, including the first full work stoppage since the 1970s

NEW YORK — The New York Times Guild, a unit of The NewsGuild of New York, announced on Tuesday that it has reached a tentative agreement with The New York Times Company on a new collective bargaining contract after more than two years of negotiations. The tentative agreement, which must be ratified by members to go into effect, is a five-year deal that will be effective until March 2026.

The agreement will set new standards for working conditions, wages and benefits across the media industry. The deal addresses a majority of the provisions that Times workers have demanded since their previous contract expired in March 2021, at the height of the pandemic. 

In a major victory for journalists and media workers, funding for hedge fund Standard General’s takeover of local news broadcaster TEGNA expires while deal is under review due to concerns about its impact on jobs

Washington, D.C. — Thanks to the dedication of members and leaders at the Communications Workers of America (CWA), civil rights groups, and consumer advocates fighting against the financialization of local news, the effort of hedge fund Standard General and its private equity partner Apollo Global Management to take over local news broadcaster TEGNA appears to have failed. 

Late Monday TEGNA announced it was terminating its merger agreement with Standard General and stands to receive a $136 million breakup fee. 

NEW YORK – The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America today sent a letter to Gannett shareholders urging a vote of no-confidence against CEO Mike Reed at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on June 5. The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 50 Gannett bargaining units, covering more than 1,000 employees. 

The letter warns that Reed’s actions are jeopardizing the financial future of the company, underlining that the hollowing out of newsrooms was tainting the company’s reputation, turning off subscribers, forcing out talented staff, and creating legal risks by hampering proper vetting of stories. 

Job Title/Position: TNG-CWA Senior Campaign Lead
Salary Range: $96,097.59 — $124,430.96 Salary/year

A Senior Campaign Lead may be employed in support of an organizing, political or legislative campaign or another CWA-led movement building project. The Senior Campaign lead must be able to direct and lead a broad campaign. The position would report to the appropriate Administrative Staff.

Job Qualifications:

• At least a bachelor’s degree in relevant field or equivalent relevant experience.
• Have at least 5 years of demonstrated campaign experience in either worker organizing, political or legislative work, corporate campaigns and/or movement building.
• Have demonstrated commitment to economic and social justice and the labor movement.
• Have advanced communications skills, both verbal and written
• Willingness to work long, irregular hours and may involve travel away from home/office.

Job Responsibilities:

• Plan, develop and prioritize strategy and tactics, analyzing what is effective
• Leads and directs campaign work
• Develop and manage a campaign budget
• Identify and work with CWA Locals and community partners
• Write and fully communicate a campaign plan and develop campaign metrics
• Will be accountable for all aspects of the campaign and work to objectives/metrics, directing the work of others towards these goals and producing regular reports
• Develop training materials and train locals, staff and community partners
• Responsible for six (6) month campaign evaluation
• Other duties as assigned

Job Specifications:

• Wages: $96,097.59 – $124,430.96 Annually (Effective 10/1/2022)
• Benefits and other terms as per described in the Memorandum of Agreement.
• This position will not be used to replace regular full time CWA Staff Representatives or District Organizing Coordinators or in lieu of hiring regular full time staff for permanent positions/vacancies.

To Apply:
If you feel you have the background and experience to qualify for this position and wish to apply for it, outline your qualifications and submit a letter of interest online at Apply Here.

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.