Feb. 22, 2018 – NewsGuild organizing campaigns are taking shape across the country — among the journalists of the Casper Start-Tribune, the staff of Fight for 15, the workers at Lambda Legal, and the software engineers at Lanetix, Inc.
Casper Star-Tribune Staff Takes Steps to Form Union
A majority of the newsroom staff of the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s statewide newspaper, filed cards with the National Labor Relations Board to begin the process of forming a Guild local, the Casper Organizing Committee announced in February.
The newsroom staff holds the Star-Tribune’s local leadership in high esteem, the committee said. “But our local leadership does not control how many journalists we have available for news gathering or our budget covering the city and state,” the committee wrote. Since 2002, the paper has been owned by Lee Enterprises, an out-of-state corporation that operates in 50 markets across 21 states.
“Organizing the newsroom is our way — as journalists dedicated to the communities we cover — to strengthen the local control over Wyoming’s largest media organization.
‘Fight for 15’ Workers Join Guild
Fifty-two staffers of the National Fast Food Workers’ Union have joined The NewsGuild-CWA. They were organized by the United Media Guild local, which will represent them.
The NFFWU is the successor to several regional “Fight for 15” groups, the movement of underpaid workers that advocates for a $15 minimum wage. The NFFWU is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union; the Guild now represents its staffers.
“We’re proud to have these righteous fighters as members,” said NewsGuild President Bernie Lunzer.
Lambda Legal Employees Join Union
Employees at Lambda Legal have formed a union at the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. Eligible staff in all six regional offices, including lawyers, fundraisers, communication and administrative and support staff, have joined the Guild’s Washington-Baltimore local.
Alexis Paige, a legal assistant in the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal, said the 42-8 vote in December was a “direct result of hard work and unwavering commitment to each other and Lambda Legal. Because of that hard work and commitment, we will have a seat at the table when the decisions that directly affect our lives are being made.”
Fired Amid Plans to Form Union, Tech Engineers Fight Back!
All the software engineers at Lanetix, Inc., a tech development company, were terminated in late January, soon after they announced plans to form a unit of the Guild.
“My coworkers and I, fifteen in all, were fired on Friday in an illegal effort to bust the @news_guild union at @Lanetix,” Bjorn Westergard tweeted. “Those of us who organized only wanted a better company for our friends and coworkers,” he wrote.
The union filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the NLRB, charging that the firings and other company actions violate federal law.
“We’re going to fight this as hard as we can,” said Cet Parks, executive director of the Washington-Baltimore Local, which is assisting the workers in the union organizing campaign.
The company has offices in San Francisco and Arlington, VA, with affected engineers working at both sites.