Off to a good start

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's been a long time since my last post. But that's not because of a lack of anything to write about; it's that I've been too busy to blog. Well, that's my excuse anyway.

I spent the last week of January at a district meeting of the West Coast locals of the Communications Workers of America then filled the better part of the first week of this month with The Newspaper Guild's Media News Project.

While it added up to way too much time spent in chilly windowless meeting rooms, it left me feeling upbeat about organized labor and my fellow union members. It also left me with a nasty cold, but that's not the point of this entry.

At the CWA District 9 meeting, the message was that unions need to change, and are changing: to a scenario where members are more involved and where locals determine the needs, priorities and approaches.

The Media News Project was all about putting that theory into practice: training employees in the Singleton empire to mobilize their co-workers, and in the case of our local, to organize employees at the Bay Area News Group.

A common sentiment ran through both of the meetings: Workers are sick and tired of sitting by and watching their professions deteriorate, and are ready to do something about it.

Nowhere is that more clear than at the Contra Costa Times, where the organizing drive has moved into high gear. If you haven't done it yet, browse the Guild's BANG organizing site , www.onebigbang.org , and read the inspirational messages from the brave employees who are heading the organizing effort.

While the year is young, and the BANG organizing effort has a long way to go, things are definitely off to a good start. It's not too late to join the fun. Contact your unit officers to see how you can get involved.