Subscribe to the Guild’s newsletter here.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
There’s been a lot of Guild news over the last two weeks, so I’m just going to jump in.
A federal judge approved a settlement last week that prohibits Minnesota State Patrol from attacking or arresting journalists and awards $825,000 to several journalists who were assaulted while covering protests over the police killings of George Floyd and Daunte Wright in 2020.
The lawsuit was initiated by the Minnesota ACLU against Minnesota and Minneapolis law enforcement agencies on behalf of several journalists, as well as the CWA and The NewsGuild.
The suit accused the law enforcement agencies of deliberately targeting journalists as they covered the protests – firing hard projectiles and tear gas at them, ordering them to disperse even though curfews exempted the press, arresting them and interfering with their ability to observe and document the protests. We’re still working with the ACLU and other plaintiffs to pursue the other defendants in the case, including the City of Minneapolis, the former Police Chief, former Minneapolis Police union head and the Hennepin County Sheriff.
Journalists at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette received reimbursement checks this month totaling more than $100,000 plus 6% interest, after a years-long legal battle with Block Communications when the company refused to pay health care coverage increases as required.
The reimbursement follows a November ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld a December 2020 ruling from U.S. District Judge Marilyn J. Horan.
The Blocks spent an absurd amount of money fighting union members instead of simply living up to their obligation.
“Victory has never tasted so sweet, and this is only the beginning,” said Lacretia Wimbley, the local president.
“Shame on the Blocks!”
Staffers at the Financial Times US bureaus are unionizing! They will become part of the News Media Guild, which also represents members at the Associated Press, Guardian US and others.
“Unions have become an integral part of media companies these days,” said Marc Filippino, an FT podcast host and a member of the union Organizing Committee. “The FT is no different. Our U.S. office needs a union – for diversity and inclusion, for fair pay, to avoid burnout. And those are just a few of the reasons.” Journalists at FT in London and FT Specialist are already unionized. “Now it is our turn,” Filippino said.
Journalists at Grist also launched a union campaign! Workers at the nonprofit media outlet tell stories about climate solutions and a just future. They’re unionizing with the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild Local 37082. They’re asking management to voluntarily recognize their union.
“In recent years, the organization has made enormous strides in terms of culture, compensation, benefits, and diversity and inclusion,” workers said in a Mission Statement they sent to management on Feb. 9. “We are excited to take a seat at the table to protect these important gains and continue to build Grist into a stronger and more equitable organization.”
“Listening and sharing power with workers is integral to maintaining a strong news organization,” said Gabe Schneider, who handles external partnerships for the organization. “Grist can cement its place as an example in public media by recognizing our union.”
Members of Black & Pink National Union won voluntary union recognition last week, joining the Denver News Guild. Workers at the nonprofit fight to abolish prisons and support LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV/AIDS affected by the incarceration system.
“We believe that the best way to increase this capacity is through a collective contract, which is why we, the staff of Black & Pink National, are unionizing,” they said in announcing their union five days before winning voluntary recognition.
(Courtesy of Emily Michot, Miami Herald photographer, NewsGuild-CWA Local 3108.)
After two years of bargaining, the journalists of Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald have had enough. Last week the members of One Herald Guild launched a work-to-rule campaign, declaring, “Our members will work the hours and roles we were hired for and nothing more.”
They have made progress on some issues, but remain stagnant in key areas, including pay equity between English and Spanish-language journalists, layoff protections, severance pay and their 401(k) plans.
Like so many journalists, they do extra work and put in extra time because they believe in the importance of serving our communities. But they need relief. They’re demanding that McClatchy, which owns the publications, finish negotiating a fair contract.
The Montana News Guild ratified its second contract with Lee Enterprises this month.
The contract provides raises for all union members, increases parental leave to four weeks and secures Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an additional holiday. It also includes a successor clause in the event Lee Enterprises sells the Billings Gazette to another owner.
During negotiations, Alden Global Capital made an unsolicited bid to buy Lee stock, making the successorship agreement especially important. The notorious hedge fund known as “the destroyer of newspapers” has cut staff and sold off real estate to boost profits at the expense of the newspapers it owns. Guild members called on Lee to say no to Alden’s bid.
“It’s encouraging to see continued improvements to our newsroom,” said MNG Co-chair Victor Flores. “We’re far from satisfied, but we never expected to get everything in the first two contracts. We’re excited to get back to the table later this year.”
Workers at the Longview Daily News in Washington state are calling on Lee Enterprises to negotiate equitable living wages.
After months at the bargaining table, Lee proposed pay of just $16.82 an hour for new journalists and $17.31 an hour for those with a master’s degree or five years of experience.
Support them by sending a letter to Lee management.
Staffers at Justice at Work, a legal aid nonprofit that supports low-wage workers, won voluntary recognition of their union at the end of January. The Justice at Work Staff Union is now officially part of The NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia Local 38010. The unit includes paralegals, administrative staff, and attorneys.
The Senate heard testimony this month on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, a bipartisan bill that would exempt media companies from antitrust laws and allow them to collectively negotiate for advertising revenue lost to Google and Facebook.
It’s good to see there’s a bipartisan coalition in Congress that’s concerned about the crisis facing local news in America, but in its current form, the JCPA falls far short: It doesn’t direct any additional revenue to local news jobs and local news coverage.
As the bill stands now, private equity and vulture hedge funds could rake in billions of dollars a year and use that money to buy up more newsrooms and then gut them for profit.
As I testified to Congress last March, “Because many American news companies put shareholders and investors above our communities, the law must require that any additional revenue is tied to new jobs to invest in local news.”
In the meantime, we’ve been enthusiastically supporting the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, a bipartisan bill that would provide a path to financial stability for struggling local news outlets while adding jobs and strengthening local news coverage.
Under the LJSA, local newspapers, digital-only publications, and television and radio stations would be eligible for a series of tax credits, including a tax credit of up to $25,000 for each local journalist they employ – up to 1,500 employees – for the first year and $15,000 for years two through five.
As we have said for a long time now: if we want to #SaveLocalNews we have to support local news jobs.
NewsGuild swag has been arriving in members’ homes over the last week or so to rave reviews. Currently, bomber jackets, hoodies, T-shirts and pins are available. Order yours here.
The NewsGuild store will soon be offering non-leather jackets (significantly less expensive than the partially leather jackets) and coffee mugs.
Unfortunately, Dow Jones, the owners of the Wall Street Journal, closed their Bowling Green, Ohio, printing plant last week. Because of a strong contract, many workers are getting 56 weeks of severance pay, 12 months of health insurance coverage and funds for retraining. IAPE Local 1096 talked with members and wrote a farewell to Bowling Green last week.
Open bargaining has been key to the impressive progress NewsGuild units have made over the last year, especially in winning first contracts. Often, management resists it. Sometimes even our own members are skittish about it.
The first time union members at the New York Times attended a bargaining session in big numbers, the company freaked, said Davey Alba, a bargaining committee member who is a technology reporter at the Times. “Management refused to speak for 30 minutes and made a big show of being insulted that we brought all these people.” But that just piqued workers’ interest. Check out some of the lessons from recent success stories here and here.
The Guild lost a hero last month. Hannah Jo Rayl always believed that those who had the least deserved a little bit more. During her long and storied career as an international union representative and later as executive director of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild, Rayl combined keen intelligence, unlimited energy and a righteous moral center to improve the lives of those she represented. You can read more about her life and work here. Her family asks that donations in her honor should be directed to the Community Christian Chapel, 2306 18 Street SW, Akron OH 44314.
Some great events are set for next week. Check them out!
Gannett Bargaining Conference, 7-9 pm ET, Thurs., Feb. 17. Open to all Gannett Bargaining Teams and interested members across the Guild. We will review contract language and develop bargaining goals. One Gannett Union! Register here.
Member Organizers Monthly Meeting, 3-4 pm ET, Sun., Feb. 20. Connect with Member Organizers from around the union, build community and share skills. This month: How to mobilize for a strong contract. Register here.
In honor of Black History Month, listen to One of the Most Influential Black Journalists You Probably Never Heard Of, a podcast that tells the story of a crusading Black journalist who organized one of the first chapters of the Newspaper Guild. She reported on labor and race until she was pushed out of journalism by redbaiting. Aired by On The Media, hosted by Lewis Raven Wallace, the creator of The View from Somewhere.
And lastly, Labor Notes is hosting its 2022 conference June 17-19 in Chicago. I plan to be there! Will you?
In solidarity,
Jon Schleuss
President, NewsGuild-CWA
Photo at top: From a tweet by NewsGuild member and Star Tribune reporter Chris Serres, May 31, 2020.