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A few NewsGuild locals recently wrapped elections.
Congratulations to Lacretia Wimbley, who was elected last week as president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. I understand that due to some issues with the security of ballots the local election committee may decide to re-run the election. Also, over the weekend, workers organized a car caravan over the bad faith bargaining from the paper’s owners and poor treatment of Post-Gazette employees.
Congratulations also go to Fatima Hussein, the newly elected president of the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild. Hussein said on Twitter that she was “honored and thrilled to be chosen” and “We have so much work to do defending our members rights in the workplace; thanks again!” Congratulations to all the other workers elected to the WBNG executive committee.
And Congratulations to Jodi Green, the newly elected president of IAPE 1096! Congratulations, Jodi! IAPE members also passed a proposal to eliminate the Union dues cap.
The Dallas News Guild announced it formed a 16-member bargaining committee and will begin contract negotiations with A.H. Belo on Dec. 8. “We worked hard over the past few weeks to recruit a committee of diverse voices and lived experiences,” Unit Chair Leah Waters said in a statement. “Each member represents a department in the newsroom, ensuring all voices are included as we shape a contract that protects all workers.”
McClatchy agrees to paid parental leave in 2021: The move comes after a massive pressure campaign spearheaded by Guild members at the Miami Herald. Congratulations to them. With McClatchy joining the 21st century, Tribune Publishing is now the only major media company to not offer employees any parental leave.
This week we launched a revitalized website. Check it out and let me know what you think. We’ve added more member voices and photos along with bios for the staff and leadership. We’ll continue to improve it in the new year.
We’re planning several training sessions at the beginning of next year so mark your calendar. In late January or February we’re planning training for local officers to handle sexual harassment in our union. If any member experiences harassment, they should contact a local officer or my office directly (guild@cwa-union.org). I strongly recommend you communicate that to our members and let them know about the CWA Policy on Mutual respect. Please post that in your groups and on your websites.
Finally, Happy Thanksgiving! Please be safe this week. As someone said on Twitter, they canceled the Olympics when we had fewer cases. Please cancel eating potatoes in a group.
In solidarity,
Jon