Category: News

Happy Labor Day!

Hopefully you’re off today and taking time today to reflect on the struggles we face as working people.

I’m writing to you from Pittsburgh where I’m supporting our members at the Post-Gazette, who have been on strike for the last 11 months. Workers here are holding their employer to account, demanding they follow federal labor law and provide affordable health insurance to their colleagues. This is a difficult fight, but I know we will win it.

Workers across the NewsGuild, from media, to interpreters, nonprofit workers and labor movement activists are making sure we hold the line and do whatever it takes to get the respect we deserve in the workplace.

Our members who work in the labor movement face their own threats. For example, the staff at the AFL-CIO has faced death by a thousand cuts even though the federation has raked in more dues from affiliate members. It’s time for those workers to finally get a decent wage and protections for their healthcare and retirement.

In the time since last year’s Labor Day more than 1,100 workers have unionized with us from Condé Nast, Cityside, SEIU Healthcare Michigan, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, ProPublica and many more workplaces. And we’ve gone on strike A LOT.

In 2022, 21 newsrooms went on strike for one day or longer, demanding first contracts and for their employer to follow the law. So far in 2023, 28 newsrooms have gone on strike.

Currently workers are on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and TVO, the provincial public broadcaster in Ontario. TVO workers are demanding fair pay to keep up with inflation and protections from temporary work. TVO workers have a righteous fight on their hands as they hold the line alongside all Guild members.

And we’re getting solidarity from other unions, from the United Steelworkers, to SEIU, to the Teamsters and CUPE in Canada. Workers from other unions have stood on our picket lines and supported our causes.

It seems we are under attack in almost every single workplace. But we are fighting back.

And we have more power than we know.

Have a safe and happy Labor Day this year and continue to build a union of love and compassion for your colleagues and our society.

In solidarity,
Jon

The staff of Education Week took a major step this week toward forming a union as they seek to ensure a more transparent and equitable workplace.  

Reporters, visual artists, digital and engagement specialists, marketing and advertising professionals, and other employees across Education Week signed cards stating their desire to be represented by the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild. On Tuesday morning, employees asked EdWeek’s senior leadership to voluntarily recognize their union—a collaborative approach that many other media organizations have taken. 

Education Week is unionizing! We are a strong majority of @educationweek’s reporters, artists, researchers, marketers, engagement specialists, and much more. @NewsGuild @CWAUnion @WBNG32035https://t.co/pqQmjHI0Sk pic.twitter.com/rs1GPMV4Bd

— EdWeek Union (@EdWeekUnion) August 30, 2023

But that evening, EdWeek’s senior leadership informed employees that they had rejected their request for voluntary recognition. Employees will now secure recognition by pursuing an election monitored by the National Labor Relations Board.   

“Employees from departments across our organization have come together to say we deserve a seat at the table—a change that can only make Education Week stronger,” said Sarah Schwartz, a staff writer for Education Week. “To do the kind of work that can inspire and empower the education field, we must advocate for ourselves as well. A union will preserve our ability to deliver the high-quality journalism that Education Week readers have relied on for more than 40 years. We’re disappointed that management rejected our request for voluntary recognition, but we’re confident that our strong majority can win an election.”

The NewsGuild-CWA would represent nearly 50 employees of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week, a top nationwide source of news, research, and analysis. Many EdWeek employees say their job is the most fulfilling and meaningful of their careers. Some have stayed at the organization for decades, in part because of the strong relationships they have developed with their colleagues and their respect for senior leadership.

But in recent years, the company has lost many valuable and longtime employees, in part due to stagnant salaries and a lack of opportunities for career advancement. These losses have been particularly detrimental toward the company’s goal of having a diverse workforce: Education Week currently has no Black reporters or editors.

“I fear we aren’t effectively retaining our talented employees or are missing out on a wealth of great prospective employees, because some of our wages haven’t kept up with the rising cost of living,” said Hayley Hardison, a social media producer for EdWeek. She noted that the D.C. metro area has among the highest costs of living in the nation.

While EdWeek senior leadership has recently taken steps toward addressing some of these concerns, employees say they want more of a voice and more transparency in decisionmaking. 

“I believe in the EdWeek Union because I believe in my coworkers,” Hardison said. “I believe in pay equity, managerial transparency, diversity, inclusion, and our right to a seat at the table. I trust that we can hold fair, effective negotiations with our management as we all share the same underlying goal: to advance EdWeek’s mission of empowering K-12 educators with trusted news and insights. I believe that a union will protect all that I love about EdWeek by ensuring that all whom I love at EdWeek are taken care of.”

A mission statement drafted and signed by employees interested in affiliation with the NewsGuild says: “The EdWeek Union’s goal is to strengthen and preserve the best parts of our company—namely, our supportive and family-friendly culture—which lay the foundation for our ability to produce deep, nuanced, and revelatory journalism. The EdWeek Union is fighting for equitable pay, progressive family leave, fair remote work policies, and the continued commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

For interviews with Education Week staff, please email edweekunion@gmail.com. 

About the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild:

The Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild includes more than 2,500 workers at news outlets, nonprofits, and labor organizations. Other notable units include the Washington Post, Bloomberg Industry Group, AFL-CIO, the Baltimore Sun, and Inside Higher Ed. WBNG is a local of The NewsGuild-CWA, which is a sector of the Communications Workers of America.

NewsGuild members across North America will be celebrating Labor/Labour Day this coming Monday. Parades in Pittsburgh and Toronto will include strikers at the Post-Gazette and TVO, the Ontario public broadcaster. 

Continue reading “NewsGuild members are marching for Labor/Labour day!”

Contact
Jeanne d’Arc Umurungi
Communications Director, CMG
416-708-4628
jeannedarc@cmg.ca

The Canadian Media Guild announced that TVO workers walked off the job today on a legal strike. “We are deeply saddened to have not been able to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with our employer,” CMG said in a statement. Annick Forest, President of the Canadian Media Guild and Meredith Martin CMG-TVO branch President are available to comment.

Workers feel they are being forced to take job action that will interrupt services the public relies on, such as The Agenda with Steve Paikin, TVO Today’s Ontario-focused journalism, children’s programming, and online courses used by teachers in schools across the province.

Continue reading “TVO members begin strike today”

Contact: calmattersguild@gmail.com

SACRAMENTO, CA – The staff of CalMatters, the award-winning nonprofit journalism outlet covering California politics and policy, announced Tuesday that they are forming a union to preserve and protect a robust, equitable and thriving newsroom.

An overwhelming majority, 92% of non-management staff, have signed cards authorizing union representation by The Pacific Media Workers Guild, NewsGuild-CWA Local 39521. They are asking CalMatters leadership to voluntarily recognize the CalMatters Guild as a unit of the Communication Workers of America.

Continue reading “CalMatters staff announce unionization, joining news nonprofits organizing across U.S.”

On Thursday, the employees of ProPublica won voluntary recognition of their union, the ProPublica Guild. The union — which secured support from 97% of eligible staff members — is wall-to-wall, covering editorial, business and operations departments at the largest nonprofit newsroom in the country.

“This is a momentous day for ProPublica. We look forward to writing a strong collective bargaining agreement that will help set the standard for newsrooms throughout the industry. We are immensely proud to join together in solidarity with our unionized colleagues to fight for a better future for newsroom employees everywhere,” graphics editor Lucas Waldron said. 

Continue reading “ProPublica Guild wins voluntary recognition”

Canadian Media Guild (CMG) members at TVO have spoken, providing a strong strike mandate to their bargaining team: 95.8% of members have rejected their employer’s latest offer and indicated they are ready to strike if necessary. This is a strong mandate. It does not mean we are currently on strike, nor have we set a date to walk out. We are still hoping to negotiate an agreement and avoid a strike. But our message to TVO and the Ford government is clear:

Continue reading “CMG members overwhelmingly reject TVO’s latest offer and are ready to strike”