The U.S. Senate has a chance to pass the bi-partisan PRESS Act, a bill that would protect journalists and sources from government overreach. The legislation would create protections that already exist in almost every U.S. state. It would protect against future administrations intimidating whistleblowers and journalists and increase protections already provided in the First Amendment.
The U.S. House version passed without opposition in January and it’s important that this legislation pass now during the lame duck session. We have to go all in on this and protect America’s journalists and whistleblowers.
Do you live in a state with a Republican senator?
Then ask your friends, family and supporters to do the same.
The Senate version of the bill was introduced with bipartisan support of Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The PRESS Act isn’t just about protecting journalists—it’s about protecting all Americans. From exposing political corruption to uncovering public health crises like Flint’s water disaster, journalists play a vital role in holding power to account and informing our communities. We made a toolkit with more information, graphics and social media suggestions.
We’re in the full swing of holidays and our Pittsburgh strikers need your support! They’re asking for your continued financial support this month with a goal of raising $50,000. Donate here. I made another donation this weekend after getting a call from Joe Knupsky, one of our strikers. And on Friday a local DC bar hosted a fundraiser. Now’s the time to re-up and stand with our family striking for more than two years.
Unionized editorial staff at Forbes walked off the job last week in a one-day strike who ordinarily would be staffing the launch of the magazine’s most important issue of the year, “30 Under 30.” The one-day ULP work stoppage protested the company’s continued delays at the bargaining table and violations of federal labor law.
Our family at Forbes is seeking better wages with strong minimum salaries, seniority protections and better severance pay and healthcare.
The Forbes Union is also demanding that the company stop illegally and unilaterally pulling people out of the bargaining unit. Workers are unionized with The NewsGuild of New York, which has filed unfair labor practice charges against the company.
Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) workers ratified a first contract last week. The Denver-based organization started in the 1970s to promote community gardens in the region. Today, workers oversee about 200 gardens in six counties, including dozens of schools.
Workers won a contract that establishes a labor-management committee, a clear pay structure to support pay equity, advancement opportunities, a bilingual differential and more.
“We hope that our win will inspire other nonprofit and mission-driven workers to organize for fair terms of employment and to challenge the systemic issues in our sector,” said Marisa Loury, a union leader and DUG’s Senior Manager of Garden Leadership.
“By valuing the work we do for our community, we believe our contract will address the burnout that a lot of nonprofit workers experience, which will in turn advance the impact of our organization. We don’t have to sacrifice our well-being just because we work for a nonprofit!”
Two dozen workers in Denver launched their union last week. A supermajority of eligible staff at Metro Caring, a nonprofit that fights hunger, formed a union and sought voluntary recognition last week. Workers are organizing with the Denver Newspaper Guild and asked management for voluntary recognition.
Metro Caring is one of Denver’s oldest nonprofits, celebrating its 50th anniversary. As Metro Caring celebrates its 50th anniversary, the organization is turning more of its attention to addressing the root causes of hunger. Workers want to unionize to fight inequitable pay and the racial wealth gap, which are root causes of hunger in society.
Joy Concepcion, Metro Caring’s head of training and acceleration, is a third-generation union member, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, uncle and father.
“Because of being in a union previously, my husband and I were able to start our family and welcome our daughter into this world without going into medical debt,” Concepcion says. “I am now in a position to be a part of the movement to preserve the rights I have benefited from. As we face existential crises around every bend, it will take all of our collective creativity at the table to co-create the solutions our world needs. By preserving collective power through unions, we ensure that everyone has a place at the table.”
The University of Texas is asking U.S. journalists to complete a survey on how they feel about the use of generative artificial technology and learn about your perspective on regulation and guidelines. Complete that here.
Color of Change workers are asking for supporters to write a letter to the nonprofit’s board demanding the civil rights group halt further layoffs. The group is still negotiating a first contract. It can be illegal for an organization to do layoffs during “status quo” when workers are negotiating a contract. And it was.
In September the National Labor Relations Board ruled the nonprofit violated federal law and ordered it to reinstate the workers it illegally laid off and cover their back wages. Then the nonprofit’s president resigned a few days later.
Now, more layoffs? No no no.
Tell the board to halt layoffs and negotiate with our members.
The Los Angeles Times’ owner last week said he was going to put a “bias meter” on news and opinion coverage in the publication. The details are spotty and Patrick Soon-Shiong hasn’t offered any evidence of bias in reporting. However, he did personally kill a planned endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris just a few days before the election. He blamed staff for his decision while he and his daughter gave contradictory accounts to why they blocked the endorsement.
In a statement, the L.A. Times Guild said that all staffers abide by a strict set of ethics guidelines “which call for fairness, precision, transparency, vigilance against bias, and an earnest search to understand all sides of an issue.”
“Those longstanding principles will continue guiding our work,” they said.
I can’t imagine how a “bias meter” would even work. The concept shows that the publisher/owner needs to spend more time listening to Times’ journalists and less time hanging out on Twitter/X/whatever it’s called now.
Washington Post staffers noted the one-year anniversary of their strike over the weekend. The strike built pressure to get management back to the bargaining table. Prior to the walkout, the company spent weeks insisting they had no improvements for the staff. And that came after 18 months of slow negotiations. More than 18,000 supporters sent letters to management. More than 750 Post workers walked off the job for 24 hours and held three pickets across the U.S.
The Washington Post strike has been part of a wave of walkouts at newsrooms across North America. We’ve now struck 93 times in the last three years! The work stoppages have led to improvements for thousands of our members.
Our members at Cascade PBS want your support for their next contract. They originally unionized in 2019 and won their first contract two years later. Now they’re fighting for fair wages that keep up with inflation, better job security, more paid time off, fully-paid parental leave and to maintain strong workplace protections. Stand with them and sign their petition.
The NewsGuild-CWA Official™ Starter Pack is now up on Bluesky! Starter Packs help you find community on Bluesky. Ours features Guild locals like the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, bargaining units like the ProPublica Guild and our family unions like AFA-CWA!
Join Bluesky and follow everyone in our starter pack.
Don’t see your local or unit on the list? Let us know by filling out this Google Form with your local or unit Bluesky account information. This starter pack is not for individual member accounts, but you should follow us. For now, help us add all official NewsGuild accounts!
In solidarity,
Jon Schleuss,
President
The NewsGuild-CWA