March 26, 2019 – On Monday, protesters condemned the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s treatment of employees, who have been working without a contract for two years. The company is refusing to abide by the expired collective bargaining agreement, which is a violation of labor law. Continue reading “Shame on the Blocks!”
March 19, 2019 – Staff of the Allentown Morning Call voted 31 to 12 in favor of unionizing with The NewsGuild-CWA on March 19, garnering 72 percent of the vote. Continue reading “Morning Call editorial staff votes overwhelmingly to unionize with The NewsGuild-CWA”
By Julie Reynolds
This is a reprint of an article that appeared on www.dfmworkers.org on March 19, 2019.
March 19, 2019 – One year ago, a handful of Denver Post current and former staff shocked the paper’s readers, their news chain’s owners and the nation. After yet another round of devastating layoffs — this one leaving its newsroom slashed by a third — they quietly wrote, edited and designed a six-page section that appeared in the Sunday paper on April 8. Continue reading “The Denver Rebellion: A year after reporters at the Denver Post cried out for help, what’s changed?”
March 19, 2019 – The NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia reports the local has made significant progress in closing a gender-based pay gap at the city’s three major publications over the last three years and says union members are determined to eliminate the gap entirely. The local is also committed to closing a race-based pay gap and increasing diversity in the newsroom. Continue reading “Philadelphia NewsGuild touts ‘significant progress’ in reducing gender pay gap; still far to go in newsroom diversity”
For Immediate Release – March 12, 2019
Contact: Bernie Lunzer
202-434-7177
Sally Davidow
sdavidow@cwa-union.org
Unions representing 30,000 reporters, correspondents, photographers, field producers and newsgathering broadcast employees are praising a bill that would make it a federal crime to assault journalists. Continue reading “NewsGuild-CWA, NABET-CWA support Journalist Protection Act”
By Martha Waggoner, TNG international chair
UPDATED 03-07-2019.
The Boston City Council approved a resolution backing a free press and the Boston Newspaper Guild, which is in the midst of tense negotiations for its members at The Boston Globe. Continue reading “Resolution supporting Boston Newspaper Guild workers gets council’s OK”
Members of The NewsGuild of Philadelphia from across the country have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year agreement with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. Continue reading “Philly Guild ratifies three-year agreement with Restaurant Opportunities Center”
By Caroline Grannan, Guild unit chair, San Francisco Chronicle
Feb. 28, 2019 – Managers at the San Francisco Chronicle illegally restricted union representatives from visiting the workplace and talking with members of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.
The NLRB ordered the Chronicle, a Hearst newspaper, not only to post an announcement about the union victory but also to read an announcement aloud. As of late February, the company hasn’t done as it was told, unit members said.
Since the administrative law judge entered the order in December, the Chronicle and the company have agreed on an access policy that’s now part of the bargaining agreement. The union represents 160 Chronicle employees.
In the Dec. 13 ruling, Administrative Law Judge Gerald M. Etchingham found the company’s actions restricting union representatives’ access were an unfair labor practice that amounted to retaliation against the union representatives.
Etchingham’s ruling said that during her testimony, Hearst Human Relations Vice President Renee Peterson admitted that the management’s limited access policy of December 2017 imposed false and harsh access restrictions on only the union “contrary to its longstanding policy of continuous free access regarding other visitors.”
The case grew out of a Dec. 6, 2017, incident in which a representative of the Chronicle human relations department ordered Guild staff Carl Hall, executive officer, and Kat Anderson, administrative officer and business agent, to leave.
The two were speaking with Guild members in the Chronicle newsroom after signing in with a security guard and receiving visitor badges.
On Dec. 21, 2017, the Guild received a letter from Chronicle attorney Mark Batten saying that Guild staff was allowed to speak to Chronicle employees only “while they are on break or in non-work settings. … “
The letter said the policy “requires all visitors to sign in with security and be escorted by a member of Human Resources or by an employee to a designated non-work area. Non-work areas include: cafeterias, break rooms, common areas, and lobbies.” The Chronicle doesn’t have a cafeteria or any spaces designated break rooms.
“These same restrictions apply to all visitors,” Batten’s letter said, claiming that the policy had existed since 2014. Actually, no such policy had ever been announced, applied or enforced.
The Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge, leading to the eventual decision in favor of the union.
In the ruling, Etchingham said Peterson’s own testimony at the trial refuted the statement in the Dec. 21, 2017, letter, which Peterson herself had distributed to Guild representatives.
Etchingham ordered the company to rescind the access ban (which it has done) and post a notice announcing the ruling, physically and electronically, for 60 days.
By Martha Waggoner, International Chair
Feb. 26, 2019 – Women who work at Dow Jones media companies, including the Wall Street Journal, on average missed out on $2,000 in annual salary last year, compared to men, according to a new study that the union that represents the workers. Continue reading “‘Gender penalty’ an issue at Dow Jones companies, union study finds”
Feb. 25, 2019 – The award-winning staff of The Morning Call took a major step Monday toward forming a union, The Morning Call Guild, a unit of The NewsGuild-CWA. Continue reading “Morning Call staffers petition for union recognition”
