Guild Reaches First-of-its-Kind Agreement with GateHouse

Updated Dec. 21, 2017 to reflect that 2018 benefits and premiums will remain at current levels, whether employees’ premiums are currently based on 2017 levels or 2016 levels.

Dec. 14, 2017 – In a first-of-its-kind agreement, The NewsGuild-CWA reached a “global settlement” with GateHouse Media on Dec. 12 that improves wages and protects health benefits at 16 GateHouse-owned newspapers. Continue reading “Guild Reaches First-of-its-Kind Agreement with GateHouse”

Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Sarasota

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Interim Agreement

September 2017 – In August, members of the Guild unit at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune ratified an interim agreement with their employer, GateHouse Media, resolving issues that required a quick turnaround. Continue reading “Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Sarasota”

Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Pekin

Pekin Workers Ratify Contract

September 2017 – Guild members at the Pekin Daily Times ratified a two-year contract with the paper in July that will continue a wage freeze that has been in place for more than a decade and reduce severance payments. The Illinois paper is owned by GateHouse Media.  Continue reading “Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Pekin”

Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Utica

Utica Minimizes Impact

September 2017 – The Utica Guild entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in September that minimizes the impact of outsourcing copy editing and design work from the Observer Dispatch newsroom in New York to the GateHouse Center for News and Design (CND) in Austin, TX, effective Oct. 9. Continue reading “Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Utica”

Guild Conference Calls for Action

Aug. 21, 2017 – With President Trump’s attacks on journalists as a backdrop, the Guild’s August conference took on a sense of urgency. Delegates discussed the best ways to respond, approved a resolution to Defend the Right to Report, and urged its adoption by the CWA convention that followed. Continue reading “Guild Conference Calls for Action”

GateHouse Workers Launch Coordinated Strategy

Workers at the Peoria Journal Star on May 3, World Press Freedom Day.

July 12, 2017 – The battle for fair contracts at GateHouse Media newspapers has intensified in recent months. Workers at the 16 Guild-represented publications engaged in joint actions, developed a coordinated campaign to take on GateHouse and its parent company, and scored a stunning victory at a meeting of shareholders.

Continue reading “GateHouse Workers Launch Coordinated Strategy”

DFM, GateHouse Workers Target a Different Threat to Press Freedom — Asset-Stripping Hedge Fund Owners

Workers at the Trentonian paused to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Nearly 1,500 NewsGuild members in 28 bargaining units joined together on World Press Freedom Day to focus attention on an often-overlooked threat — the damage done to newspapers by profiteering hedge fund owners. Continue reading “DFM, GateHouse Workers Target a Different Threat to Press Freedom — Asset-Stripping Hedge Fund Owners”

Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Buffalo

Guild members march through the office of The Buffalo News in an effort to win a fair deal.

Buffalo Wins First Raise in Seven Years

Members of the Guild at The Buffalo News ratified a new two-year contract in April that provides a much-needed boost in wages for the first time in seven years. The agreement also beat back several damaging proposals from management. Continue reading “Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Buffalo”

Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Erie

Erie Ratifies First Contract

Eighteen months after GateHouse Media purchased the Erie Times-News, members of the Guild voted overwhelmingly to ratify an agreement for an initial three-year contract. The Guild also resolved several unfair labor practice (ULP) charges the union had filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Continue reading “Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Erie”

Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Lakeland

Lakeland Gets a First

After an enthusiastic union organizing campaign last year, members of the Lakeland Guild unit of CWA Local 3108 ratified an interim Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in April — their first formal agreement with their new employer, GateHouse Media. When a full collective bargaining agreement is reached, the terms of the MOA will be included. Continue reading “Bargaining & Settlements – Bytes & bits: Lakeland”