The California Senate advanced two pieces of legislation that would help shore up journalism jobs in the state. Yesterday the California Senate passed a bill that would fund $500 million in local journalism jobs a year. Senate Bill 1327 was introduced by Senator Steve Glazer and would impose a data-mining fee on Big Tech to fund the jobs, clearing a two-thirds majority needed to advance in the California legislature.

The California Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would fund $500 million in local journalism jobs a year. SB 1327 was introduced by Senator Steve Glazer and would impose a data-mining fee on Big Tech to fund the jobs, clearing a two-thirds majority needed to advance in the California legislature. This vote came one day after the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the California Journalism Preservation Act with a 9-2 vote.

The California Senate Judiciary Committee passed the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB 886) on Tuesday with a vote of 9-2 during a scheduled hearing. The bill, introduced by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, now advances to the Appropriations committee before a final vote on the California Senate floor. 

The NewsGuild-CWA, Media Guild of the West (TNG-CWA Local 39213) and Pacific Media Workers Guild (TNG-CWA Local 39521) are supporters of the California Journalism Preservation Act, having worked alongside Assembly Member Buffy Wick’s team to make several improvement to the bill that would benefit union journalism jobs across the state. The legislation also has the support of NABET-CWA, SAG-AFTRA, the California News Publishers Association and many individual publishers.

On Tuesday NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss joined Rep. Greg Casar on Instagram Live to talk about the labor movement and unionizing in Texas. The Guild represents more than 260 journalists across six newsrooms in Texas at the Media Guild of the West. Interested in unionizing your newsroom? Contact Media Guild of the West here!

And you can follow unionized journalists below or supporting them when they’re on strike!

Following the layoff of 10 union workers and two editors, Herald reporters, photographers, editors and designers and community members plan to picket to save jobs

Everett NewsGuild Layoff Picket
9am – 3pm PT Monday, June 24
LOCATION: Starting at the intersection of Colby and Hewitt in downtown
Everett, ending at the intersection of Colby and 41st near the Herald office.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2022

Kaitlin Gillespie
Executive officer, Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild
(206) 669-3562 │Guild37082@gmail.com

Sydney Jackson
Health reporter, NewsGuild member on the bargaining committee
(714) 791-8432 │ EverettNewsGuild@gmail.com

On Monday, June 24, at 9:00 a.m., instead of clocking into work at The Everett Herald, Everett NewsGuild members, represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, will participate in a one-day strike and picket in downtown Everett.

After a wave of layoffs Wednesday that cut newsroom staff in half, including 10 of 18 union workers, the Everett NewsGuild is asking new owner Carpenter Media Group to come to the bargaining table and reinstate these jobs.

Contact:
WBEZ SAG-AFTRA Union: yourcpmunion@gmail.com
Chicago Sun-Times Guild: suntimesguild@gmail.com

CHICAGO – The Sun-Times Guild and the SAG-AFTRA units at WBEZ and Vocalo have held votes of no confidence in Matt Moog as Chicago Public Media CEO, Chicago Sun-Times president and a Chicago Sun-Times Media board member. The combined units overwhelmingly voted no confidence in Mr. Moog over the weekend: 86% of members took part in the vote, and 96% of those members – or 114 – voted no confidence.

Several unions including The NewsGuild-CWA, SAG-AFTRA, NABET-CWA, the National Writers Union and local unions signed onto a letter enthusiastically supporting the California Journalism Preservation Act, Assembly Bill 886.

The legislation would unlock millions of dollars a year to support journalism jobs in the largest state in the U.S. and follows other journalism jobs bills that The NewsGuild-CWA helped pass in New York and Illinois.

New contract addresses decades of wage stagnation and improves job security

Media Contact: Asya Pikovsky, asya.pikovsky@gmail.com, 207-522-2442

ROCHESTER – Unionized journalists at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and Canandaigua Daily Messenger unanimously ratified a tentative agreement on a two-year collective bargaining contract today, after two and a half years of bargaining and a 19-day strike that forced Gannett to scramble to find coverage for a series of major news events, including the total solar eclipse in the Rochester area. The strike ended on April 24th, but the parties continued discussions over the past several weeks after journalists filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over allegations of bad-faith bargaining and retaliation for union activity. 

MEDIA CONTACTS:
OUP USA Guild / oupusaguildnyc@gmail.com
Luis Espinosa / News Media Guild / 720-261-4578 / lespinosao@icloud.com

WHAT: Members of the Oxford University Press USA Guild (a unit of the News Guild-CWA Local
31222) will stage a one-day strike after filing several Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the
employer. This strike follows nearly three years of contract negotiations with Oxford University Press.
Speakers will include members of the Guild, News Media Guild President Vin Cherwoo, IAPE 1096
representative Marissa Dadiw, OUP author and labor historian Shannan Clark, and others.

Bruce Jett, Washington-Baltimore News Guild Local Representative – (703) 627-4547 – b.corneljett@gmail.com 

Washington, DC — Today, 1199SEIU-UHWE In House Staff – from New York to Massachusetts to Florida voted overwhelmingly by 82.3% to join the Washington-Baltimore News Guild (TNG-CWA Local 32035), securing collective bargaining rights for roughly 260 employees at America’s largest healthcare union representing over 450,000 members across the East Coast.