hey mentored, negotiated landmark contracts, served legions of members with compassion and commitment. Individually, they gave selflessly to improve the working lives of many. Collectively, they helped strengthen our union. We honor today these models of union solidarity we have lost since last coming together.
Bruce R. Nelson
By Melissa Nelson
Husband, father, journalist, mentor, teacher, activist, leader, staff rep, friend.
Bruce Nelson was all of those things and much more. A dues-paying member for more than 50 years with three TNG locals: Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Albany (twice), Bruce had storied careers in both journalism and the Guild.
Bruce had a love for language, communication, and learning. He was on debate teams in high school and college with undefeated records leading to national recognition and a spot in the National Forensics League. His degree from Minnesota’s Metropolitan State University, which was in personnel management-labor relations and communications, was received in tandem with being named the university’s outstanding graduate of 1983.
Bruce spent decades involved in journalism, beginning in high school writing a column for his school paper called the Whale’s Tale; then as an award-winning reporter at newspapers in St. Cloud and St. Paul, Minn., covering education and politics (local and national); followed by more than 30 years as an international staff representative (IR) with The Newspaper Guild.
He signed his first Guild card in 1971 as a member of the Twin Cities Guild (now the Minnesota Newspaper & Communications Guild) at the St. Paul Pioneer Press after a few years spent on the reporting staff of the St. Cloud Times. When he learned that the St. Paul reporters’ pay rate was higher than that of the Times, a result of the union contract, he initially advocated to organize the St. Cloud newsroom. His coworkers weren’t as enthusiastic, so he hopped on I-94, went south to St. Paul, and never looked back.
Bruce’s Guild membership in the Twin Cities included representing his colleagues on several contract bargaining teams; administering those contracts; developing and overseeing the local’s worker participation and quality-of-work life programs; stints on the local’s Representative Assembly; as a local delegate to the International Guild’s annual convention; and successful local election outcomes that included terms as president and as the executive officer of the Twin Cities local.
In January 1984, Bruce was hired by The Newspaper Guild, now the NewsGuild-CWA, as a member of the field staff of international representatives. At 34, he had the distinction at the time of being the youngest IR ever hired by TNG.
Bruce’s Guild career was filled with benchmark moments in collective bargaining, organizing, advocacy, and mobilizing. He assisted staff and local leaders by teaching, training, and mentoring them on the art of negotiating contracts and maintaining their hard-won bedrock protections and benefits through local labor-management committees, his preferred method, or the grievance and arbitration process.
Bruce’s first major assignment was the successful organizing of the Milwaukee Guild, then leading the local’s bargaining team in negotiating its first contract. Recently, Jack Norman, the Milwaukee Guild’s first president and a former member of the NewsGuild’s Sector Executive Council, shared news of an event he attended earlier in the spring with members and leaders of the Milwaukee local.
Jack said despite dealing with corporate owners and a shrinking workforce, they were all “young, energetic, enthusiastic,” wearing newly designed Milwaukee Guild T-shirts. They told Jack that the initial contract language for layoffs negotiated in 1984 by Bruce, which still exists, had been a “powerful defense as they went through layoff after layoff” and that “they felt they had fared better” than many others because of those contract provisions.
For the length of his IR career, Bruce played an integral role in a training program for newly elected officers at Guild locals in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. Begun in 1982 and held annually, the New Local Officers Seminar, or NLOS, was created for the sole purpose of addressing Guild local officers’ increasing need and desire for training in the basics of how to effectively run a local union including learning the inner workings of collective bargaining and contract administration.
Bruce’s sessions focused on member advocacy, contract bargaining and grievance administration, all of which served as a training ground for a growing cadre of local Guild leaders, many of whom moved on to hold national union offices, or into staff positions with Guild locals, TNG, or other national unions.
One of those students, way back in 1992, was Bruce’s wife, Melissa, a volunteer officer with the Albany Newspaper Guild. She took his teachings, and her own in-the-trenches activism, to lead bargaining for her fellow members to several successful contract settlements; then to a spot on the professional staff of the Philadelphia Guild; and finally, to the position of the NewsGuild-CWA’s director of collective bargaining, from which she retired in 2018. Bruce’s lessons sparked her advocacy and dedication to the Guild and its members.
Bruce’s greatest joy came from sharing his perspectives and deep body of knowledge. His connections with Guild leaders and activists grew exponentially through his bargaining assignments, garnering respect from both sides of the negotiating table, not only for the work he did, but how he accomplished it.
Retired TNG rep Darren Carroll noted in one of the many tributes following Bruce’s death in January that Bruce imparted a philosophy in which “we build power by sharing it, we become stronger through the relationships we build with others in our union. In making that fundamental concept central to his work, he helped each of us not simply to become better leaders, but better people.”
Bruce Nelson, may you rest in peace and in power.
Kathy Mulvey Brennan
Kathy came to work as a staffer for the Guild in 1997, bringing “heart and head” to the job, said TNG General Counsel Barbara Camens. She retired as the director of contract administration and previously was the office manager and Guild coordinator.
“She was knowledgeable, reliable and fully committed to the goals of the labor movement,” recalled Marian Needham, the Guild’s executive vice president.
Kathy was predeceased by her husband, Bob Brennan, who was a staffer at the Communications Workers of America.
Wayne Cahill
One thing is for sure about Wayne, geography was no impediment to serving Guild members.
Wayne spent more than 25 years at the Seattle Times Newspaper, where he was also actively involved in supporting employee rights through his service with the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
From there, he went east to Philadelphia, where he served as administrative officer of what is now the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia from 1991 to 1997. He then went west again, this time to Honolulu, where he served as administrative officer of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild from 1997 to 2010.
He was an equally fervent servant to his community through many local service organizations, including the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America and Aloha United Way, and to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he most notably served as a bishop of the Makiki Ward in Honolulu from 2004 to 2010.
H.J. Cummins
A reporter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 12 years and former treasurer of the Minnesota Newspaper & Communications Guild, died in November 2021.
Edward J. Dunphy
Ed was a longtime Chicago Guild bookkeeper, starting in 2003 and working until the age of 88.
John Edgington
John Edgington was former Secretary-Treasurer of The Newspaper Guild from 1987 until 1992 and oversaw the introduction of computer systems in headquarters and also oversaw the move of headquarters to Silver Spring, Md. Prior to that he was administrative officer at the San Diego Newspaper Guild and worked at the paper in the circulation department.
Larry Hatfield
As the 1960s played out, Larry Hatfield had been a cub reporter in the news cauldron of Washington, D.C., working at the Washington Star and United Press International, where reporters, editors, photographers and others were represented by the Newspaper Guild. Moving to California, he got a job in San Rafael at the Marin Independent Journal, whose local owners defiantly opposed unions.
In 1970 the International Typographical Union set up a noisy picket line outside the newspaper’s entrance, which Larry not only refused to cross, he joined. And was fired for doing so.
He would go on to be a passionate and reliable union leader and reporter, covering the news for more than 30 years in San Francisco – including earthquakes, scandals, politics and many complex issues – and then dazzling many with his brilliant rewrite skills.
Rick Hummel
Known as “The Commish” at ballparks throughout the country, Rick Hummel covered baseball at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for five decades. In his Hall of Fame career, he was so well-sourced and well-respected that two actual commissioners of Major League Baseball called him by his nickname.
Rick’s career included 42 consecutive All-Star Games, and as the Post-Dispatch’s lead baseball writer or national baseball columnist, he chronicled the Cardinals’ three most recent World Series championships, six MVP seasons, 11 managers and seven National League pennants. Rick received the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Career Excellence Award in 2006 from his peers, placing his name and achievements in the writers’ wing at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
He continued covering baseball, retiring after this past season, his 51st year with the Post-Dispatch.For almost 25 years, Hummel rarely missed a game — meaning a Cardinals fan could graduate high school, marry and attend a child’s high school graduation while rarely going a day without reading Rick Hummel.
Rick was also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, honored as the Media Person of the Year by the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis and inducted into the St. Louis Media History Foundation’s print Hall of Fame in 2016.
None of it went to his head. The Post-Dispatch reported this bit of advice he gave to interns: “One day, if you are talented and hard-working and fortunate enough to become a giant in your profession, be a giant who never made anyone feel small.”
Gwen Knapp
Mary Gwen Knapp became a sports columnist in 1995, then one of only a few women in the country to hold that title.
She became an award-winning sports reporter and editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer, pioneering columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle, and editor, writer, and mentor for the New York Times and other publications.
Gwen combined a relentless effort to produce accurate and impactful journalism with an engaging personality and sharp mind to inform and entertain countless readers and advance the role of women in journalism.
Her writing, in addition to the inherent drama of sports competition, often addressed sexism, racism, homophobia, doping, injustice, and other important issues that others before her had overlooked or ignored.
In the Bay Area, her columns drew the ire of some of the biggest names in sports, the New York Times wrote, like champion cyclist Lance Armstrong and baseball star Barry Bonds.
Over four decades, she won national awards from the Associated Press sports editors as a reporter in 1994 and a columnist in 1998, and was known by colleagues for her energy and endless curiosity. She later oversaw the night sports desk at the New York Times where she was a mentor to young staff members, especially female ones.
Bill McLeman
A gentle soul with a heart of gold, Bill McLeman, who came from a tiny community in British Columbia, was never known to raise his voice, according to his widow, Bridget.
That is not to say he wasn’t a force in the newspaper world, which he joined delivering papers while he was in high school in the 1940s. He began a reporting career at the now defunct Vancouver Herald and later moved on to the Vancouver Sun.
Bill established a reputation as a key negotiator at the Vancouver Newspaper Guild and became its executive director. He eventually became the first Canadian director of The Newspaper Guild, negotiating contracts all across North America.
In 1988, he became director of field operations of The Newspaper Guild and moved with his family to Washington, D.C. There, he played an important role in the Guild’s 1995 merger with the Communications Workers of America.
Joe Rigert
Investigative reporter and former Guild unit chair for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, died in November 2022
Hannah Jo Rayl
During a long and storied career as an international representative for The Newspaper Guild and later as executive director of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild, Hannah combined keen intelligence, unlimited energy and a righteous moral center to improve the lives of those she represented.
Her death just six days after turning 85 elicited an outpouring of grief and remembrances on social media from past and current Guild members whom she touched as a mentor, colleague and friend during nearly a half-century of advocacy and friendship.
In the 1970s, the Ohio native left her job in the Canton Repository newsroom, where she was an active leader in her union, to become the Guild’s first human rights coordinator, a pioneer in fighting for equity issues for Guild members. Later becoming an international representative, Hannah traveled around the country to bargain contracts, organize new local unions and handle grievances.
In 1994, the Cleveland Newspaper Guild (dubbed Local 1 by Guild founder Heywood Broun) enticed her to return to Northeast Ohio to serve as its executive secretary. In that role she was a catalyst for the merger of the Akron Beacon Journal and other locals to form the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild. In that role, she negotiated a landmark 10-year contract for the newsroom at The Plain Dealer in 1996.
Manny Suárez
Manuel “Manny” Suárez del Río, partner in many union struggles and defender of the principles and values that the union has represented for six decades, was the president-founder of the Union of Journalists, Graphic Arts and Associated Branches (UPAGRA).
In a statement, UPAGRA’s Leadership Committee said: “Manny was synonymous of struggle, perseverance, sincerity and fidelity. … He was a motivating force in the tireless fight for the rights, dignity, and respect of the workers of UPAGRA and our Puerto Rican nation.”
The union recognized the “fighting spirit, noble and dignified” of Suárez, whom it described as “a positive historical value.”
From the origins of UPAGRA, when the North American chain Scripps Howards began to publish the English-language newspaper The San Juan Star (founded in 1959), Manny joined other journalists who had union experience with the American Newspaper Guild in the U.S. Joining Manny were notable journalists like Eddie López and Tomás Stella, who were part of the group that started organizing the union, including Alex W. Maldonado from management. On Feb. 1, 1962, the creation of Local 225 of the American Newspaper Guild with the name of Puerto Rico Newspaper Guild was made official. The workers of the editorial office and the administration of the San Juan Star had voted for the union in October 1961 and on Feb. 19, 1962, they signed their first collective agreement.
At that time the press worked a six-day week, no overtime was paid, and compensatory time was not recognized; salary increases were always for a small group chosen by management, and there was no job security. This served as an example to others in the media and led to the workers (writing, administration and telephone) of the newspaper El Mundo also joining the Guild. Later, those from the workshop and typographers from El Imparcial joined in, and in 1969 the United Press International news agency. Eventually, when the local leadership decides to organize other workers linked to the media, such as tele reporters, press operators, newspaper distributors, etc., it becomes UPAGRA, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
“Manny Suárez’s commitment to the Union was indisputable. Manny couldn’t conceive of being a journalist without being syndicalist. UPAGRA honors him and promises that he will live forever in our work and in the memory of the Syndicate,” said the Leadership Committee.
Glenn Vensel
Glenn was a 28-year employee of Reuters Video News where he worked as a master control operator in Washington, DC. His colleagues will remember him as kind, thoughtful and loyal with a wonderful dry sense of humor. He embraced RC airplanes as a hobby and spent hundreds of hours learning to build, fly and tweak minute details. He was also a voracious reader of history novels and a life-long Pittsburgh Steeler fan. Glenn was a native of Butler, Pennsylvania, and most recently lived in Hagerstown, Maryland. He had been a member of the NewsGuild since 1995.
Gregory Yee
Greg was an activist in the nascent effort to unionize the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., before he finally became a proud Guild member at the Los Angeles Times. He died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 33.
Margaret Zack
Marg Zack, longtime courts reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and stalwart elected officer for the Guild, died in November 2021. She led a pioneering fight in the 1990s that resulted in a legal settlement to increase pay for women who were paid less than men for similar reporting and editing work.
Ralph Amasa Zahorik
Ralph was chair, at different times, of two different Chicago Guild units, an outstanding reporter and editor, and a tireless activist for labor causes and a co-workers who passed his love of the struggle for workers’ rights across generations. His grandson was a Chicago Guild legal intern in 2022.
We also remember and appreciate the efforts of these departed Guild members:
Charle Aldinger
Robert William Ankeny
Natvidal Aponte-Roche
Don Asmussen
Phillip Badger
Jeffrey Barry
Gaetan Benoit
Robert Berkvist
Johnny Bookhardt
John Boyle
Robert E. Bruner
William Francis Buchanan
William N. “Bill” Buil, Sr.
Ernest Carter
Robert Child
Francis Clines
Charles Conway
Kenneth Conway
Grady Crenshaw
Judith Curran
Juan Davila
Claudia Deutsch
Patricia Duchene
Eric DuVall
Marcus Eliason
Mitch Feldhandler
Jerry Filteau
Dennis A. Foley
John Fossa
Paul Freireich
Milt Freudenheim
Jimmy Gaines
Gillian Gillers
Jody Ginsberg
Grace Glueck
Agnes Greenhall
Jane Gross
Alexandra Grullon
Thomas Harrigon
Edward Hawkins
Kevin Hayes
Rudolph Haynes
Burton Heward
Catherine Hills
John J. Hughes IV
Lenny Ignelzi
Barney Ingoglia
Fred Jewell
Janice Johnston
Roger Jordan
Harold Hall Julian
Theo Ahrends Kenyon
Mary Gwen Knapp
John Leinung
Claudia Levy
Paul Lewis
Irving Lipner
Robert Louks
Ursula Mahoney
Robert (Bob) Marleau
Michel Marriott
John Patrick McLaughlin
Joseph Michalak
Ronald Douglas Miskoff
Charles Earl “Chuck” Mitchell
Irvin Molotsky
Charles Smith Montague
Warren Montgomery
Evelyn Morgenstern
Walter Mosby
Ronald Moss
Joseph Mullen
Mart Rolf Munk
Robert Palmer Jr
Adrienne Pan
Jugal Patel
Earl Pavao
Donald Perman
Darla L. (Gilbert) Picket
George Porto
Francis Quinn
Tomas Quitiaquez
Robert Ramaker
Eriberto “BJ” Reyes
Miguel Rodriguez
Robert Rosselot
Robert (Bob) Rupert
Richard V. Sabatini
Rick Sadowski
Richard Samperi
Ann Sapienza
Al Saracevic
Zola Emily Dincin Schneider
James F. Scotton
Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich
David Scull
Edward Seaton
Richard Severo
Helen Shane (Fletcher)
Susan Sherring
Allan Siegal
Shawn Sigouin
Joan Simpson
Greg Small
Carl Sommers
Andrea Stevens
Terry Stover
Arthur Stupar
John Styczynski
Charlie Tobias
Martin Tolchin
Jerry Trambley
Joseph Vecchione
Glenn Vensel
John Vinocur
Dave Wagner
Arlene Weingartner
Timothy Williams
Ausborn Williams
Larry Yakata
Alex Yan