Members of the Florida Times-Union Guild talked with members of the community in Jacksonville in March 2023.

Gannett journalists to strike during annual shareholders meeting

Reporters call on Gannett shareholders to vote no-confidence in CEO Mike Reed, citing Reed’s gross mismanagement 

Two dozen newsrooms and hundreds of journalists expected to take part 

NATIONAL — Gannett journalists today announced that they would be holding a wave of nationwide strikes starting on June 5, the day of Gannett’s annual shareholder meeting. Hundreds of union journalists in two dozen newsrooms from California to New York are expected to take part to demand that Gannett get serious about reinvesting in local news, in the largest collective action that Gannett employees have taken to date. 

Journalists will take one-day walkouts on the day of the meeting, with some newsrooms walking off the job for two days or more. The Gannett publications participating will come from more than half a dozen states, including California, Arizona, Texas, Indiana, Florida, New Jersey and New York.

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Journalist unions condemn Meta’s threat to remove local news from platforms

Contact: Matt Pearce president@mediaguildwest.org

California’s journalists strongly condemned Meta’s threat to ban news on platforms like Facebook and Instagram if the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB 886) becomes law. The bill, which faces a likely Assembly vote on Thursday, would charge large platforms like Meta and Google parent Alphabet for scraping journalism for their platforms. The revenue would then be portioned out to publishers and broadcasters with a requirement that at least 70% of the revenue go directly to supporting newsroom jobs. 

“This is a corporate bullying tactic timed to intimidate California lawmakers the day before they take up this bill on the Assembly floor,” said Matt Pearce, a reporter at the Los Angeles Times and president of Media Guild of the West. “The California Journalism Preservation Act is a good bill, designed to strengthen local journalism in California, and it deserves civil debate, not threats of censorship.” 

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Insider Union votes to authorize a strike

Vote follows management illegally changing workers’ health care and a proposal in April to lay off 20% of bargaining unit

Insider Union announced today that a supermajority of union members voted in favor of authorizing their bargaining committee to call a strike. Members are calling for the company to bargain in good faith and are protesting management’s decision to illegally change workers’ health care. Members are also demanding a resolution to a proposed layoff that would reduce the newsroom by 20 percent, as they are bargaining for a fair first contract. The nearly 300 members of the Insider Union are represented by The NewsGuild of New York.

94 percent voted in favor of strike authorization on Tuesday afternoon after a bargaining session with Insider management. 80 percent of the bargaining unit participated in the vote.

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New York Times Guild wins groundbreaking contract agreement

Five-year contract includes immediate $65,000 salary floor, hybrid work options, a ban on NDAs, new investments in local news around the country

Agreement reached after a series of escalating collective actions by workers, including the first full work stoppage since the 1970s

NEW YORK — The New York Times Guild, a unit of The NewsGuild of New York, announced on Tuesday that it has reached a tentative agreement with The New York Times Company on a new collective bargaining contract after more than two years of negotiations. The tentative agreement, which must be ratified by members to go into effect, is a five-year deal that will be effective until March 2026.

The agreement will set new standards for working conditions, wages and benefits across the media industry. The deal addresses a majority of the provisions that Times workers have demanded since their previous contract expired in March 2021, at the height of the pandemic. 

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View of the Federal Communications Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 2020.

Unions, public interest advocates thwart hedge fund’s attempted takeover of local news and set groundbreaking FCC precedent  

In a major victory for journalists and media workers, funding for hedge fund Standard General’s takeover of local news broadcaster TEGNA expires while deal is under review due to concerns about its impact on jobs

Washington, D.C. — Thanks to the dedication of members and leaders at the Communications Workers of America (CWA), civil rights groups, and consumer advocates fighting against the financialization of local news, the effort of hedge fund Standard General and its private equity partner Apollo Global Management to take over local news broadcaster TEGNA appears to have failed. 

Late Monday TEGNA announced it was terminating its merger agreement with Standard General and stands to receive a $136 million breakup fee. 

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Guild calls on Gannett shareholders to vote against CEO Mike Reed at annual meeting

NEW YORK – The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America today sent a letter to Gannett shareholders urging a vote of no-confidence against CEO Mike Reed at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on June 5. The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 50 Gannett bargaining units, covering more than 1,000 employees. 

The letter warns that Reed’s actions are jeopardizing the financial future of the company, underlining that the hollowing out of newsrooms was tainting the company’s reputation, turning off subscribers, forcing out talented staff, and creating legal risks by hampering proper vetting of stories. 

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An Allan Block "Wanted" poster on a telephone pole across the street from the Toldeo Blade building Friday, May 5, 2023, in Toledo. (Andrew Goldstein/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Newsletter: We’re hiring two positions

Subscribe to our newsletter right here!

We’ve got two openings at The NewsGuild-CWA right now. We’d love to find Guild members for these roles. Please send folks our way!

Administrative secretary: we’re looking for someone who can assist our staff, run schedules, help keep projects on track, keep track of office finances and directly work with the Guild’s leadership. More info here.

Senior campaign lead: we’re looking for an organizer who’s excited to work with lots of members spread across the continent to help them build effective campaigns and coordinate with other members working for the same company. More info here.

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We’re hiring a senior organizer!

Job Title/Position: TNG-CWA Senior Campaign Lead
Salary Range: $96,097.59 — $124,430.96 Salary/year

Senior Campaign Lead may be employed in support of an organizing, political or legislative campaign or another CWA-led movement building project. The Senior Campaign lead must be able to direct and lead a broad campaign. The position would report to the appropriate Administrative Staff.

Job Qualifications:

  • At least a bachelor’s degree in relevant field or equivalent relevant experience.
  • Have at least 5 years of demonstrated campaign experience in either worker organizing, political or legislative work, corporate campaigns and/or movement building.
  • Have demonstrated commitment to economic and social justice and the labor movement.
  • Have advanced communications skills, both verbal and written
  • Willingness to work long, irregular hours and may involve travel away from home/office.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Plan, develop and prioritize strategy and tactics, analyzing what is effective
  • Leads and directs campaign work
  • Develop and manage a campaign budget
  • Identify and work with CWA Locals and community partners
  • Write and fully communicate a campaign plan and develop campaign metrics
  • Will be accountable for all aspects of the campaign and work to objectives/metrics, directing the work of others towards these goals and producing regular reports
  • Develop training materials and train locals, staff and community partners
  • Responsible for six (6) month campaign evaluation
  • Other duties as assigned

Job Specifications:

  • Wages: $96,097.59 – $124,430.96 Annually (Effective 10/1/2022)
  • Benefits and other terms as per described in the Memorandum of Agreement.
  • This position will not be used to replace regular full time CWA Staff Representatives or District Organizing Coordinators or in lieu of hiring regular full time staff for permanent positions/vacancies.

To Apply:
If you feel you have the background and experience to qualify for this position and wish to apply for it, outline your qualifications and submit a letter of interest online at Apply Here.

CWA is an equal opportunity employer, and, as such, does not discriminate an employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, age, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, disability, or any other classification protected from discrimination under applicable law.

We’re looking for an administrative secretary

We’re looking for an administrative secretary who will report to The NewsGuild-CWA President and Executive Vice President. This position is based in Washington, DC.

  • Performs wide range of clerical and secretarial work of an administrative and confidential nature.  
  • Performs duties that require a thorough knowledge of the organization, its procedures and practices. 
  • Pace of work is erratic, with periods in which work is rapidly paced.
  • Duties are generally diverse, with many duties requiring analysis and reasoning.
  • Work involves the application of standard practices.  Frequent substantive decision making is required.  Few guidelines exist for performance of duties and tasks.  Exercises independent judgment on complicated or special matters.
  • Plans and schedules own work.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Composes correspondence frequently without instruction or review.  May be asked to read reports and summarize information to facilitate review by supervisor. Handles routine administrative details independently and may participate in the management of the office. 
  • Performs all secretarial functions as required by Supervisor.  Duties include typing, word processing and data entry from a variety of sources such as: handwritten rough drafts, form letters, forms, reports, printed materials, columns of numbers etc.  May handle or compose correspondence or take action without direction from supervisor. 
  • Answers telephone, takes messages or refers calls to appropriate department.  Has regular contact with local members, local officers and or external public including individuals in high levels of responsibility.
  • Arranges and maintains accurate records and files. Must be able to retrieve information from records and files upon request.  May be required to interpret data, perform auditing or large scale reconciliation or records.
  • Keeps calendar, schedules appointments and conferences, makes travel arrangements.
  • Performs liaison duties between supervisor and other employees and offices.
  • Receives and distributes mail.
  • Operates routine office equipment including computer, label maker, copier, FAX.
  • Performs other miscellaneous general office duties as required, some of which may require independent judgment.
  • May be required to travel.

Qualifications:

  • Thorough knowledge of modern office practices and procedures and the use of office machines and equipment.
  • Thorough knowledge of policies and procedures of the union; ability to understand and interpret pertinent policies and procedures clearly and accurately.
  • Must be a self-motivated and energetic individual who possesses good interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
  • Sufficient skill in typing and the ability to take sufficient notes at a meeting from which to prepare an accurate record of events.
  • Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Word and Excel.
  • Ability to learn new software and computer equipment as required by supervisor or as technology changes.
  • Ability to understand moderate technical instructions.
  • Must have ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
  • Four to six years related experience.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods of time, use hands to handle or feel objects, writing instruments or keyboard controls, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and stoop, kneel or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include both close and distance vision.

Salary range: $73,914.90 – $77,805.16 Salary/year

CWA is an equal opportunity employer, and, as such, does not discriminate an employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, age, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, disability, or any other classification protected from discrimination under applicable law.