Lee Enterprises | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA

Wrapping up a record year with workers unafraid to strike

There’s no denying it: 2021 was a bang-up year for NewsGuild union organizing. Journalists, staffers at nonprofits and employees of publishing houses stood up in record numbers and demanded a voice at work.

In all, 2,128 workers fought for and won union recognition at 42 new workplaces.

Column chart showing numbers of workers unionizing with NewsGuild-CWA from 2015 through 2021, with 2,128 workers joining the union in 2021.

But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. NewsGuild members embraced a new sense of empowerment, engaging in increasingly militant actions when management stalled, violated labor law or refused to bargain. 2021 was the year of workers demanding more respect and NewsGuild members played an active part.

Newsletter: Four first contracts before the new year!

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Four units won first contracts last week! That’s an amazing number — one that reflects our intensified focus on getting agreements and building escalating actions.

Newsletter: Happy StrikeMás!

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First! We’ve got a couple job openings at the Guild international. The first is for a staff representative, who would play the role of director of collective bargaining. This position has been vacant since Melissa Nelson retired in 2018. This person would review contract language and be a clearinghouse for organizing the trends happening across the Guild’s collective bargaining program and keeping folks coordinated. It’ll be a huge asset to our locals, who have asked for more support.

NewsGuild calls on pension funds to boot Cerberus

NewsGuild-CWA activist Veronica Serrano urged the board of directors of the Texas County and District Retirement System to divest its holdings in Cerberus Capital Management at the board’s quarterly meeting in Austin today, in a statement submitted in writing.

Guild leaders urge Lee board to continue the fight against Alden

The 12 unionized newsrooms of Lee Enterprises implored the Board of Directors to reject any offer by Alden Global Capital to acquire the company in a letter dated Nov. 29.

Calling Alden’s claim that it is committed to the newspaper industry a “bald-faced lie,” they urged Lee’s board to, “Stand up for us. Stand up for your investors. Stand up for your communities. Stand up against Alden.”

Alden’s sleight-of-hand bid demands a closer look

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on the website of DFMworkers.org on Nov. 23, 2021.

The executives at Florida-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital must be restless.

No longer content with extracting the lifeblood from two of the nation’s largest local newspaper chains, it’s now stalking Lee Enterprises.

Alden announced, via a Monday-morning press release, that it wants to buy all of Lee Enterprises for $24 a share, in cash.

NewsGuild denounces Alden’s continued bid to destroy local news

The union is calling on Lee’s board to reject Alden’s takeover bid.

The NewsGuild-CWA denounces the purchase offer made yesterday by Alden Global Capital for Lee Enterprises. If advanced, the deal would give Alden control of three of the four largest chains of newspapers in the United States. Such industry concentration would have a negative impact on consumers who depend on local news, employees who work for Lee papers and on our democracy.

The unionizing wave: How they did it, what they wish they had known

Jan. 27, 2019 – The one thing Tessa Duvall wishes she had known before she got involved in the campaign to form a union at the Florida Times-Union was how emotional it would be. Continue reading “The unionizing wave: How they did it, what they wish they had known”

Workers at Casper Star-Tribune Ratify First Contract

Dec. 17, 2018 – Journalists of the Casper Star-Tribune voted 10 to 0 to approve a Collective Bargaining Agreement on Dec. 14, ratifying the first contract between workers and their employer in the paper’s 127-year history. Continue reading “Workers at Casper Star-Tribune Ratify First Contract”

Lee threatens to close Missoula Independent if the union doesn’t agree to shed 3/4’s of the staff

Originally Lee Enterprises had threatened to shutter the paper if the employees organized a union. See this videos from KPAX, a major broadcaster in Western Montana, and a video from freelancer Dan Brooks at the link below, or attached to this brief. Continue reading “Lee threatens to close Missoula Independent if the union doesn’t agree to shed 3/4’s of the staff”