Virginia journalists gain voluntary recognition from Tronc and join The NewsGuild-CWA
Sept. 14, 2018 – Calling themselves the Tidewater Media Guild, over 100 newsroom employees at Tronc-owned publications The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, Virginia Gazette, and Tidewater Review in Virginia have won voluntary recognition. Together these publications account for the dominant media market in the southeastern Virginia region. Continue reading “Virginia journalists gain voluntary recognition from Tronc and join The NewsGuild-CWA”
CWA Canada members face prospect of lockout, strike
More than 120 members of CWA Canada face the prospect of a lockout and a strike if they don’t accept a Postmedia demand for massive givebacks coming at the same time as the company CEO has received a huge salary increase.
Members of the Ottawa Newspaper Guild began voting Sunday under the threat of lockout Thursday if they don’t accept the so-called deal. Meanwhile, members of the Montreal Guild say they will strike in support of the brothers and sisters if Ottawa is locked out.
Montreal, which Postmedia also owns, is facing the same demand for givebacks.
The 63 members employed by The Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun are feeling bullied by the company’s tactics, said Lois Kirkup, vice president of the ONG (CWA Canada Local 30205). Members are scared and angry, she said.
“And that was their tactic – to scare people into voting for a really lousy deal,” she said.
During the almost three years of bargaining, Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey has received a 33 percent pay increase and bonuses while the Ottawa workers haven’t had a pay increase in six years.
Postmedia is demanding concessions on health benefits and sick leave that could cost ONG members thousands of dollars – members who already made concessions on the pension plan.
The 58 members of the Montreal Guild (CWA Canada Local 30111) who work at The Gazette will strike in solidarity, local President Ron Carroll said.
The executive board of the Communications Workers of America has granted strike approval at the request of CWA Canada President Martin O’Hanlon.
Panel to vote on newsprint tariffs that TNG, publishers oppose
By Martha Waggoner, Guild International Chair
The NewsGuild-CWA and newspapers owners and managers agree on one issue: the tariff increase on paper is wrong and should be eliminated.
The International Trade Commission meets Wednesday to decide the issue. Among those opposing the tariff increase is TNG, through its parent union, the Communications Workers of America. Newspapers have blamed the tariff increase for layoffs and for reductions in print editions.
CWA President Chris Shelton wrote a letter to the commission, urging that it consider the effects of the tariffs on the U.S. news industry. The commission is an independent government agency that will decide whether to maintain the tariff on uncoated groundwood paper.
In his letter written to the commission in July, Shelton references TNG as representing 25,000 journalists and other media workers. He lists the many problems facing the troubled media industry, including a 30 percent decline in newspaper subscriptions over the past decade.
“Given the upheaval already facing the newspaper industry, I am concerned that steep duties on imported uncoated groundwood paper from Canada could make it even harder for newspapers to succeed in the current economic environment,” Shelton wrote in his letter to David Johanson, chair of the commission.
One paper factory in Washington state, North Pacific Paper Co., and its private-equity owner, One Rock Capital, requested the tariff, The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers have reported. The 87-year-old partner of One Rock Capital, John A. Georges, owns multi-million-dollar homes, as does his son, who’s also a partner at One Rock.
Terrance C.Z. Egger, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, told the Inquirer that the tariff “is extremely onerous, unfair and totally unwarranted. The damage it is doing to the already fragile state of the economics of newspapers of all sizes across America is severe.”
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”
Targeting Jeff Bezos? Post employees want to share in success.
The Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild continues to negotiate with the Bezos-owned Washington Post. From the Vanity Fair piece (click headline above): The new economy’s archetypal disrupter was a dead-tree media hero for saving the paper. But now his journalists want a bigger cut. “Bezos has done amazing things for this place,” says one staffer. “But the disaffection with Silicon Valley monopolies may be coming home to roost.”
The NewsGuild-CWA joins with other free speech groups demanding AG Jeff Sessions explain seizure of reporter’s records
Following the Justice Department’s seizure of a reporter’s phone and email communications without prior notice, The NewsGuild-CWA, The National Press Club, PEN America and more than a dozen other leading organizations representing professional journalists and free speech advocates are demanding an explanation from Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Continue reading “The NewsGuild-CWA joins with other free speech groups demanding AG Jeff Sessions explain seizure of reporter’s records”
Rally protests ‘censoring’ of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Rob Rogers
Supporters of longtime, award-winning Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Rob Rogers gathered outside the newspaper’s former Downtown location today to condemn what they’re calling the censorship of his work by the paper’s higher-ups, particularly art that is critical of President Donald Trump.
Guild Urges Duke to Sever Ties with Hedge Fund President
SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Duke to cut ties to Alden/Heath Freeman
This article by Julie Reynolds appears on the DFM Workers website.
March 2, 2018 – The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents workers at 12 Digital First Media newspapers, is urging Duke University to sever its ties to hedge fund president Heath Freeman, saying Freeman’s donations “directly contradict” the mission of Duke, home to one of the nation’s most prominent research centers for media and democracy. Continue reading “Guild Urges Duke to Sever Ties with Hedge Fund President”
Dangerous Times for Journalists
Feb. 23, 2018 – Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter who was imprisoned in Iran for 545 days in 2015 and 2016, said 2017 was the most dangerous year ever for journalists. He warned that 2018 could be even worse. Continue reading “Dangerous Times for Journalists”