My final act as local president

As many of you know, or probably don't, I am turning over the reins of the Pacific Media Workers Guild after 10 years as local president. So this column/blog post is quite likely my final act as head of our Guild local.

Since I'm on vacation, a benefit we've worked hard to protect, I'll keep it fairly brief. Unlike my tenure as head of the local.

I never planned to stay in this post for this long. When then-executive officer Doug Cuthbertson cajoled me into taking over the presidency of the local over lunch at the Tempest late in 2001, the idea was that I would serve as president for maybe two two-year terms, in keeping with the local's tradition of changing presidents every few years to keep things fresh and get more members involved.

That plan changed when the terms were extended by the CWA, our parent union, to three years. Then it changed again when the seemingly endless series of layoffs and buyouts began, and many of the Guild's potential new leaders were shown the door. While I was ready to welcome new leadership to the local, I wasn't about to abandon the Guild in a time of need.

But now, I'm glad to say, the local has new leaders ready to take over. I'm pleased to hand over the gavel (once I find it; I think I used it once) to Niesha Lofing, who was elected president at the November meeting. A Sacramento Bee reporter for nine years, and a Guild unit chair, Niesha is a graduate of the Guild's New Local Officers training seminar. Now she's moved on to become editor of the Sacramento Valley Union Labor Bulletin, so she already has experience in the worlds of both journalism and unionism. I look forward to having her as my local president. Thanks for stepping forward, Niesha.

Thanks, too, to Dan Harper, a San Francisco organizer for the Guild's AFSCME Local 3299 staff union affiliate, who will take over for George Powell as local treasurer, and Mike Ferreira, who takes over as head of the Guild's California Federation of Interpreters as first local vice president. A shout-out, too, to Karl Fischer, ace crime reporter at the West County Times, who had volunteered to step forward as president before Niesha threw her hat in the ring. He'll remain as vice president for California units.

It's been a good 10 years during a lousy 10 years. I won't dwell on the negative, which we all know too well. We've seen hundreds of our members walked out of the buildings, suffered way too many givebacks in our contracts, and suffered through the decline of the newspaper industry. But we're still here.

That, to my mind, is the Guild's biggest accomplishment during my presidency. even though we've been under attack for most of the past decade, we've maintained contracts that protect decent working conditions for our surviving members, and we've helped our former members who've been forced out the doors.

But there's much more that's been accomplished. The local has also grown into a union that's stronger than it would have been otherwise. Our biggest victory was organizing the Bay Area News Group -- East Bay, the first major newspaper union organizing victory nationally in years. And we've merged -- twice -- with other locals -- first, San Jose then Hawaii. Another big move was the formation of the Freelancers Unit, which includes many formers members of our newspaper units, and has spurred national efforts to organize freelance writers to better their working lives.

Along the way, we've changed our name a couple of times. I became president of the Northern California Media Workers Guild, which became the California Media Workers Guild with the San Jose merger then the Pacific Media Workers Guild with the Hawaii merger. In addition to having a greater reach, we have a nifty new logo -- and cool t-shirts. OK, there's my marketing plug.

Before we change names again, it's time for me to sign off. But while I'm leaving as president, I'm not abandoning the Guild. As I've done for the past three years, I will continue as Western regional vice president of The Newspaper Guild/CWA,serving on the board that runs the Guild internationally. And I'll remain as a shop steward at the Chronicle, and perhaps as a member of the bargaining committee,if the unit agrees. But I plan to spend my "extra" time -- especially those Saturday meeting days -- with my family: my wife, Adrianne, and son, Ben, who have patiently tolerated and supported my Guild activism. And I'll no longer have to worry about scheduling conflicts with Cal football games. Go Bears!

Finally, in addition to the new local leadership, I'd like to say thanks to the great local staff, headed by Executive Officer Carl Hall. All of you have made my life, and the lives of so many of our members, better, and helped us through difficult times.

OK, so this wasn't exactly a brief column. But it's nearly over now -- and so is my 10-year term as local president. I leave with pride in what we have survived, in what we have accomplished, and in our continued strength and solidarity. And I look forward to being a plain-old member of the greatest local in The Newspaper Guild.

Noticed the notice at the Chronicle?

Maybe you’ve seen the official-looking notices reading posted near the center elevators and a few other places around the building. Even if you have, chances are, you didn’t read them, figuring you’d better get into that elevator before it breaks down again, or discounting it as one of those routine messages businesses are required to post.

Well, the Chronicle was required to post the notice from the National Labor Relations Board, but it’s hardly routine (And we should be thankful for that). And it’s worth a read.

The notice is part of a settlement to a complaint brought by the Guild after one of our members was told by her supervisor that he couldn’t really work with her to improve her job performance because “You’ve been talking to the union.” She was fired soon after the conversation.

That sort of statement is illegal — so the Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge, and Chronicle management agreed to settle it, compensating the fired employee for dismissing her before following a proper process, and agreeing to post the notice.

In the notice, signed by Calvin Siemer, Chronicle vice president of legal affairs, management agrees that it will not:

-- Discourage employees from joining or being active in the Guild, or to penalize them for engaging in union activity, including seeking advice from the union.
-- Fire employees for union activity.
-- Interfere in any way with an employee’s right to join, form, seek representation from, or engage in protected union activity.

In other words, the Chronicle is recognizing that its employees are represented by the Guild, and that it cannot do anything to discourage that.

While the posting of a notice may seem like a small victory, it's an important one. It shows us all that the Guild, and sometimes even the National Labor Relations Board, has our backs.