One Big Week for the Guild

This is a big week for our union -- One Big WEEK, as our BANG organizing committee might say. For our local, for the San Jose local and for the international Newspaper Guild. And for journalism and journalists throughout the Bay Area.

On Friday, journalists working for the Bay Area News Group -- East Bay (BANG-EB in Singleton parlance) will vote in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board whether or not to join the Guild.

This is not the typical union campaign. Many of the BANG journalists were members of our local, as employees of ANG Newspapers until last August, when Dean Singleton's Denver-based MediaNews withdrew recognition by merging the Oakland Tribune and other ANG papers with the Contra Costa Times and its affiliated papers.

But instead of giving up and giving in, our members joined with Times employees and formed an organizing campaign with the moniker One Big BANG. Last month they submitted cards representing a majority of eligible employees to qualify for a union election.

As expected, BANG management has hired consultants and lawyers and concocted a campaign to convince their employees to vote against the union. While we expect they've done a good job of making their case, we know that journalists are smart enough to dispassionately analyze the arguments and figure out what's true and what's not.

And, of course, we hope they'll vote YES!

This is a big deal for all of us. A victory at BANG-EB will make us all stronger. It will form a solid cluster of newspaper unions in the Bay Area and enable us to work together to keep journalism strong in the face of the seemingly endless cuts.

If you know anyone at BANG-East Bay, give them a call, drop them an e-mail, take them out to lunch, and let them know why joining the Guild makes sense. Assure them that joining the Guild doesn't create a combative newsroom and doesn't prevent you from interacting professionally or even socially with your bosses.

And if you haven't signed the online petition supporting the campaign yet, please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/support-journalists-for-quality-and-fair-deal NOW.