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The Atlantic’s business and tech workers win union recognition

The Atlantic’s business and tech teams won formal recognition of their union on Friday, after a card count confirmed supermajority support. The workers announced their intent to unionize back in July with the New York NewsGuild, joining their editorial colleagues at The Atlantic, who unionized nearly a year earlier in June of 2021.

IndyStar journalists take their fight downtown

This is a lightly edited version of a post that appeared on the website of the Indianapolis NewsGuild on Sept. 1, 2022.

More than 30 red-T-shirt-clad IndyStar journalists and a dozen allies took a coordinated lunch break to demand a fair contract on Sept. 1, exactly two years after the expiration date of their collective bargaining agreement. (The agreement remains in effect until a new contract is negotiated.)

The journalists marched around Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, chanting, “Chop from the top, not the newsroom.”

Journalists at Kentucky’s highest-circulation publication join organizing wave

Journalists of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Courier Journal announced on Tuesday that they have formed a union — The Courier Journal Guild. The new unit will include approximately 35 newsroom employees, from early career reporters to veteran journalists with decades of experience. They will be part of the Indianapolis NewsGuild Local 34070.

Bill McLeman, staffer who helped forge Guild merger with CWA, dies

Bill McLeman passed away on Aug. 18, 2022, after a brief, intense bout of pneumonia.

A gentle soul with a heart of gold, Bill was never known to raise his voice, according to his widow, Bridget. He started life with few assets and created a strong family that will treasure his memory. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and a friend, Bridget wrote on Facebook.

Bargaining bill for news companies still needs improvements

A revised version of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act still needs significant improvement, NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss says.

The revised bill, introduced yesterday by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and a bipartisan group of senators, would give news companies the right to bargain collectively with Google and Facebook to recoup revenue the social media giants have diverted from news organizations.

Pride at Work recognizes NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss with Solidarity Award

Pride at Work, a national organization that supports LGQBTIA+ workers in the labor movement, recognized NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss on Friday with a Solidarity Award “for creating a new spirit of organizing in your union and your inspirational leadership as an out labor leader.”

Study Reveals Racial Disparities in Performance Evaluations at The New York Times

The New York Times’s performance review system has for years given significantly lower ratings to employees of color, an analysis by Times journalists in the NewsGuild shows.

The analysis, which relied on data provided by the company on performance ratings for all Guild-represented employees, found that in 2021, being Hispanic reduced the odds of receiving a high score by about 60 percent, and being Black cut the chances of high scores by nearly 50 percent. Asians were also less likely than white employees to get high scores.

TIME Union members ratify contract that ends the digital, print divide

Members of TIME Union voted unanimously last week to ratify a new contract after three years of bargaining.

This is the first contract that covers all TIME editorial employees — ending the divide between the print side of the magazine and the digital side and TIME for Kids. TIME digital and TIME for Kids workers organized in 2019; their print colleagues have been unionized for about 80 years.

Journalists of Florida ‘Heralds’ vote unanimously to ratify first contracts

Journalists at the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and Bradenton Herald voted unanimously to ratify their first contracts with McClatchy in balloting that was tallied on Wednesday. Members of One Herald Guild, which represents workers at the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald, voted 71-0; the Bradenton Herald Guild vote was 5-0. Turnout in Miami was 93% of Guild members and in Bradenton it was 100%.

What is ‘status quo’ and how can it protect you from layoffs?

Last week Gannett, the largest local news publishers, provided us with a prime example of an important legal protection that union members have – maintenance of status quo regarding terms and conditions of employment.