Latest News | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA

We’re hiring an organizer!

Media employees at print and digital publications around the country are organizing in record numbers. Journalists at outlets such as Politico, New York Daily News, Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New Yorker, and BuzzFeed are among the more than 6,000 workers that have organized since 2015. In the face of a consolidating industry increasingly run by hedge funds and private equity firms, workers are demanding fair pay, job security and the preservation of quality journalism.

These workers are organizing with The NewsGuild, a sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a dynamic, member-led union that is building a movement for social and economic justice. TNG-CWA seeks a highly experienced and motivated campaign lead to serve as a lead organizer on campaigns at media companies around the country.

Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald journalists condemn management’s stalling

Journalists of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald condemned the publications’ parent company at a press conference on Saturday, accusing McClatchy of stalling on contract talks, perpetuating pay disparities, and using a pregnant staffer as a bargaining chip in bargaining over parental leave. Contract talks began almost two years ago after workers at the largest newsroom union in Florida organized.

“McClatchy needs to do better,” said Joey Flechas, co-chair of One Herald Guild. “McClatchy has not agreed to a wage system that would address longstanding inequalities between journalists at el Nuevo Herald and Miami Herald.” Veteran journalists at el Nuevo Herald, some with several decades of experience, earn far less than their counterparts at the Miami Herald, he said.

M+R Union ratifies much-improved second contract

The M+R Union ratified its second collective bargaining agreement with 100% of its 72 members voting yes, the group announced on Tuesday. M+R Union represents staffers at M+R, a firm that works for nonprofits “fighting for a just and sustainable world.”

The biggest win is a new compensation structure with a $62.4k floor. Members will get a median raise of $10k and a median bonus of $6.5k at ratification, with the biggest raises going to those who currently earn the least.

Florida journalists rally for local news, fair contracts

Dozens of Florida journalists rallied outside five Gannett-owned newspapers across the state on Monday, seeking support for fair contracts and for local news. The events were the first coordinated action among the state’s unionized Gannett papers.

Union members stood on busy street corners near their offices, holding signs, making noise, and talking to passersby about the crisis facing local news: extremely low pay, staffing that’s insufficient to properly cover their communities, a push toward regional – rather than local – coverage, and unending rounds of cutbacks.

Daily Hampshire Gazette columnists announce writers’ strike

A group of writers who contribute columns to the Daily Hampshire Gazette announced a writers’ strike in solidarity with the Pioneer Valley NewsGuild on Monday.

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.

Crosscut workers ratify first contract

Members of the Crosscut Union, representing workers at Crosscut and KCTS9, nonprofit news outlets based in the Northwest, voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first contract with Cascade Public Media on Nov. 30.

“This contract – and the hard work it took us to get here – is something to be immensely proud of,” union members said.

BuzzFeed News Union members walk out, demanding a fair contract – on the day shareholders take the company public

BuzzFeed News Union members walked off the job Dec. 2 to demand a fair contract, the same day shareholders will vote to take the company public. 100% of union members are participating in the 24-hour work stoppage.

After two years of fighting for a fair contract, they are calling on management to negotiate adequate pay raises, affordable health care, a sensible policy on “outside work,” and a prohibition on using traffic and revenue metrics as a basis for issuing discipline to workers.

Pittsburgh Local scores big court win

Workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette scored an important win on Nov. 30, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected management’s attempt to reverse an arbitration ruling that required the company to cover increases in workers’ health insurance premiums.