The mood here at the 74th annual convention of The Newspaper Guild in Washington, D.C., is, as you might imagine, rather stressed and somewhat somber. I'm here with local rep Carl T. Hall and local vice president Silvia Barden, and 107 other union activists from 38 Guild locals across the country.
Everyone seems tired and frustrated -- of bargaining pay cuts, furloughs and saying goodbye to the endless stream of talented newspaper workers our employers are shoving out the door. We're sharing our experiences in hopes of helping each other survive this firestorm. And were all hoping, of course, to find some glimmer of hope amid the gloom.
I spent about four hours Friday afternoon on two panels recounting and, unfortunately, reliving, the events that started with Frank Vega's Feb. 24 threat to close the newspaper, and will end, well, sometime at the end of the summer, when the last of the people laid off in this most recent brutal round of job cuts walk out the doors of 901 Mission Street.
As painful as it was to recount those agonizing days at the bargaining table, and waiting for the layoff axe to fall, it made me realize that it was time to blog again. Frankly, I'd been avoiding it since February because I was burnt out, bummed out and couldn't think of much worth writing.
The panel was called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Concessionary Bargaining," and I realized that there were indeed good things that came out of our lousy agreement to amend the contract.
-- We saved the San Francisco Chronicle from being shut down or sold.
-- We reduced the number of job losses.
-- We ensured that everyone who left the paper, voluntarily or involuntarily, got some severance pay and health coverage.
-- We preserved hundreds of newspaper jobs with decent pay and benefits.
Those accomplishments, of course, came at a steep price, including the loss of seniority protections, something that cost many talented Chronicle staffers their jobs. And the concessions will make it tougher for those of us who remain.
But we did what union members do best. We made a difficult decision in the best interest of the majority of our Guild colleagues. I'm proud of that decision, and proud of our members at the Chronicle, as well as those at the Sacramento and Modesto Bees, who made similar sacrifices.
The Guild convention continues Saturday, and much of the focus will be on discussing ways we can move forward. The emphasis is on preserving -- or creating -- decent jobs for journalists, regardless of whether the stories appear in print, online or on cell phones or other gadgets.
As Guild President Bernie Lunzer said during his opening speech: "The future of news is in the frontline worker."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Fighting for the future
Twenty-eight hours is a long time to spend sitting on your butt in a cool hotel meeting room with bad acoustics.
But it was worth it. Leaders from The Newspaper Guild and the broadcasting and printing sectors of the Communications Workers of America met in wintry Baltimore for three long days of meetings to come up with ways to protect jobs and help save the news industry.
"It's really tough right now, and there's a lot of despair," said Guild President Bernie Lunzer. But we think if we work together, we can kill the despair with hope."
No, we didn't come up with a magical solution -- I wish we did-- but we did take several forward-looking steps. They include:
-- Establishing a task force to develop skills training programs for members.
-- Exploring non-traditional ownership arrangements -- including non-profit arrangements, employee stock option plans, public financial support, startups and hybrid models that combine traditional ownership and alternative approaches.
-- Launching community campaigns promoting the importance of journalism and newspapers.
-- Bargaining contract language that protects jobs.
-- Establishing cooperative relationships with management to find mutually beneficial solutions to make newspapers work.
Our new, merged California Media Workers Guild was well-represented with Media News mobilizers Carl Hall and Sara Steffens joining me, along with soon-departing Luther Jackson, former administrative officer of the San Jose Newspaper Guild, and Gloria LaRiva, head of our typographical sector. We were among 150 leaders from media unions in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I left feeling tired and a bit hopeful. There's a lot of work ahead if we're going to try to save newspapers from themselves (And we'll need your help). But it feels good to be doing something other than whining, moping and cursing our owners -- and something more innovative than laying people off.
Now, it's time for me to get some sleep.
But it was worth it. Leaders from The Newspaper Guild and the broadcasting and printing sectors of the Communications Workers of America met in wintry Baltimore for three long days of meetings to come up with ways to protect jobs and help save the news industry.
"It's really tough right now, and there's a lot of despair," said Guild President Bernie Lunzer. But we think if we work together, we can kill the despair with hope."
No, we didn't come up with a magical solution -- I wish we did-- but we did take several forward-looking steps. They include:
-- Establishing a task force to develop skills training programs for members.
-- Exploring non-traditional ownership arrangements -- including non-profit arrangements, employee stock option plans, public financial support, startups and hybrid models that combine traditional ownership and alternative approaches.
-- Launching community campaigns promoting the importance of journalism and newspapers.
-- Bargaining contract language that protects jobs.
-- Establishing cooperative relationships with management to find mutually beneficial solutions to make newspapers work.
Our new, merged California Media Workers Guild was well-represented with Media News mobilizers Carl Hall and Sara Steffens joining me, along with soon-departing Luther Jackson, former administrative officer of the San Jose Newspaper Guild, and Gloria LaRiva, head of our typographical sector. We were among 150 leaders from media unions in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I left feeling tired and a bit hopeful. There's a lot of work ahead if we're going to try to save newspapers from themselves (And we'll need your help). But it feels good to be doing something other than whining, moping and cursing our owners -- and something more innovative than laying people off.
Now, it's time for me to get some sleep.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Full of thanks
Thanksgiving and the holiday season it kicks off are a time to give thanks and appreciate friends and family. I'm in sunny Goleta, spending time with my family, and I'm thankful for that. But I wanted to take a couple of moments to say thanks to my union family.
And I really do consider it a family of sorts, though sometimes a dysfunctional one, like most families. We care about each other, we help each other, we fight for what's best for us. And we support each other, especially when times are tough, which they've certainly been lately.
There are endless numbers of examples, so I won't single anyone out. But thanks to all the Guild staff, officers and activists. Enjoy the turkey and, especially, the pie.
And I really do consider it a family of sorts, though sometimes a dysfunctional one, like most families. We care about each other, we help each other, we fight for what's best for us. And we support each other, especially when times are tough, which they've certainly been lately.
There are endless numbers of examples, so I won't single anyone out. But thanks to all the Guild staff, officers and activists. Enjoy the turkey and, especially, the pie.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Twisted logic from Forbes
Even journalists, well-known for our mathematical inabilities, can figure out this word problem. Let's say you have $1,000 you're saving for a new laptop. It gets stolen, leaving you with nothing. So you work a lot of overtime -- putting it down on your timecard (hint-hint). Your long hours and hard work pays off, and you earn $2,000. So, the question is: How much did you earn? The answer, of course, is $2,000.
But a writer from Forbes would disagree. In a recent article about The Newspaper Guild (check it out via the Media Workers website), James Erik Abels downplays the magnitude of the Bay Area News Group -- East Bay organizing campaign. In an interview, I laid out the history of the BANG campaign, starting with the Singleton purchase of the Contra Costa Newspapers and the subsequent decision to form BANG East Bay and withdraw its recognition of the Guild contract.
To Abels, that somehow means that the accomplishment of organizing BANG's 208 members wasn't as significant as it seems. To me, that doesn't make sense mathematically: We gained 208 members where we had zero.
But it also ignores that the Contra Costa Times was a long-time non-union (and anti-union) paper that unions had eyed for years. And that the organizing campaign was driven in large part by a desire to maintain journalistic quality. And that nobody in the newspaper industry (and especially at Media News) ever expected it to succeed.
Abels does quote me as saying that we're receiving a lot of organizing inquiries, though he doesn't mention my statement that it's because journalists are getting fed up with the steady decline in staffing and quality, and the failures of newspaper management to try any strategy other than slashing jobs. (Now there's a story for a good business magazine).
The gist of the article is that the Guild is struggling to survive. Being in a union has always meant struggling, and that's never been more true than in the past decade of a hostile National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor. (Fortunately, that should change soon).
But we're not struggling to survive as a union (Cue the Gloria Gaynor music here). Sure, times are tough, and yes, we're losing members to layoffs. But we're organizing, we're adapting to changing times and techologies, we're exploring (and getting involved in) alternative ownership models, we're planning for our future.
Don't write The Newspaper Guild off just yet.
But a writer from Forbes would disagree. In a recent article about The Newspaper Guild (check it out via the Media Workers website), James Erik Abels downplays the magnitude of the Bay Area News Group -- East Bay organizing campaign. In an interview, I laid out the history of the BANG campaign, starting with the Singleton purchase of the Contra Costa Newspapers and the subsequent decision to form BANG East Bay and withdraw its recognition of the Guild contract.
To Abels, that somehow means that the accomplishment of organizing BANG's 208 members wasn't as significant as it seems. To me, that doesn't make sense mathematically: We gained 208 members where we had zero.
But it also ignores that the Contra Costa Times was a long-time non-union (and anti-union) paper that unions had eyed for years. And that the organizing campaign was driven in large part by a desire to maintain journalistic quality. And that nobody in the newspaper industry (and especially at Media News) ever expected it to succeed.
Abels does quote me as saying that we're receiving a lot of organizing inquiries, though he doesn't mention my statement that it's because journalists are getting fed up with the steady decline in staffing and quality, and the failures of newspaper management to try any strategy other than slashing jobs. (Now there's a story for a good business magazine).
The gist of the article is that the Guild is struggling to survive. Being in a union has always meant struggling, and that's never been more true than in the past decade of a hostile National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor. (Fortunately, that should change soon).
But we're not struggling to survive as a union (Cue the Gloria Gaynor music here). Sure, times are tough, and yes, we're losing members to layoffs. But we're organizing, we're adapting to changing times and techologies, we're exploring (and getting involved in) alternative ownership models, we're planning for our future.
Don't write The Newspaper Guild off just yet.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
It's time to vote...
...but I'm not talking about the Presidential race.
By now, most of you have probably received ballots in the mail for the proposed merger of the Northern California Media Workers Guild (that's us) and the San Jose Newspaper Guild.
A lot of people have asked me today how they should vote on the proposal. I'm recommending a "yes" vote, and so has our Representative Assembly, the local's leadership. The San Jose local approved the merger on Friday. So, it's up to us.
Why vote "yes?" Put simply, there's strength in numbers and strength in unity. This merger will give us both. If it passes, all of the Bay Area's best newspapers will become part of the California Media Guild (our proposed new name) along with California's court interpreters (already part of our local). It will also make it easier for the Bay Area News Group--East Bay and the Mercury News to work together to get fair deals from Dean Singleton's MediaNews.
Please join me in voting YES on the Guild merger proposal.
(Questions? A merger agreement was included with the ballot, but more information is available on the local Web site. More questions? Shoot me an e-mail at CTUAN@aol.com or call me at 510-612-1027.)
In solidarity,
Michael Cabanatuan
President
Northern California Media Workers Guild
By now, most of you have probably received ballots in the mail for the proposed merger of the Northern California Media Workers Guild (that's us) and the San Jose Newspaper Guild.
A lot of people have asked me today how they should vote on the proposal. I'm recommending a "yes" vote, and so has our Representative Assembly, the local's leadership. The San Jose local approved the merger on Friday. So, it's up to us.
Why vote "yes?" Put simply, there's strength in numbers and strength in unity. This merger will give us both. If it passes, all of the Bay Area's best newspapers will become part of the California Media Guild (our proposed new name) along with California's court interpreters (already part of our local). It will also make it easier for the Bay Area News Group--East Bay and the Mercury News to work together to get fair deals from Dean Singleton's MediaNews.
Please join me in voting YES on the Guild merger proposal.
(Questions? A merger agreement was included with the ballot, but more information is available on the local Web site. More questions? Shoot me an e-mail at CTUAN@aol.com or call me at 510-612-1027.)
In solidarity,
Michael Cabanatuan
President
Northern California Media Workers Guild
Thursday, October 16, 2008
We're ba-ack...and so is Kathleen: with an important message
After a longer than planned summer break (Well, hey, it still feels like summer), it's time to knuckle down and get back to posting.
Our first post is a guest post (Yeah, we're easing our way back into this blogging thing) from esteemed Chronicle ex-unit chair and researcher extraordinaire Kathleen Rhodes. We miss you, Kathleen.
A Short Note from Kathleen Rhodes
Please vote NO on Proposition 8. Sometimes the political is personal. Proposition 8is an assault on my civil rights; it will eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. The California Supreme Court this year pointed out that separate is not equal. Prop 8 is about fear, not about fact.
I have always believed in fairness and even if I were straight I would still be against Prop 8 – it is an attempt to write discriminatory language into the state constitution.
In my opinion, the people pushing Prop 8 are doing so out of both hate and fear. They are asking the voters of California to change the constitution to take away the right to marry from one group.
This proposition is not about the church-sanctioned marriage; it is about changing the state constitution to discriminate against gays and lesbian in committed relationships who want to marry. The proponents are trying to convince the people of California that they know what is best for everyone. These are the folks who want all of us to look, feel, and think like they do or else.
They are spending lots of money to impose their particular views on the rest of society.
Voting no on Proposition 8 continues California’s tradition of inclusion. We celebrate our diversity, proposition 8 is trying to destroy that.
This is supposed to be a short note, so I will stop now. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions on Prop 8. This hurtful and hateful initiative needs to be defeated. I am voting no on proposition 8. Please join me.
Thank you,
Kathleen Rhodes
rhodeskat@sbcglobal.net
Our first post is a guest post (Yeah, we're easing our way back into this blogging thing) from esteemed Chronicle ex-unit chair and researcher extraordinaire Kathleen Rhodes. We miss you, Kathleen.
A Short Note from Kathleen Rhodes
Please vote NO on Proposition 8. Sometimes the political is personal. Proposition 8is an assault on my civil rights; it will eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. The California Supreme Court this year pointed out that separate is not equal. Prop 8 is about fear, not about fact.
I have always believed in fairness and even if I were straight I would still be against Prop 8 – it is an attempt to write discriminatory language into the state constitution.
In my opinion, the people pushing Prop 8 are doing so out of both hate and fear. They are asking the voters of California to change the constitution to take away the right to marry from one group.
This proposition is not about the church-sanctioned marriage; it is about changing the state constitution to discriminate against gays and lesbian in committed relationships who want to marry. The proponents are trying to convince the people of California that they know what is best for everyone. These are the folks who want all of us to look, feel, and think like they do or else.
They are spending lots of money to impose their particular views on the rest of society.
Voting no on Proposition 8 continues California’s tradition of inclusion. We celebrate our diversity, proposition 8 is trying to destroy that.
This is supposed to be a short note, so I will stop now. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions on Prop 8. This hurtful and hateful initiative needs to be defeated. I am voting no on proposition 8. Please join me.
Thank you,
Kathleen Rhodes
rhodeskat@sbcglobal.net
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Local makes big BANG at CWA convention
Our local, the Northern California Media Workers Guild, is a small piece of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America. But Local 39521 (that's us) played a big role in last week's 70th annual CWA convention in Las Vegas -- from start to finish (literally).
Local vice president Silvia Barden (president of our court interpreters unit)opened the convention by singing the national anthem. And, yes, she hit all the high notes and remembered all the words).
During the convention, our local received awards for best local Web site (the judges liked the RSS feeds and blogs as well as the clean, crisp design)and an organizing award for the One Big BANG campaign. The YouTube video of the victory party was shown on two big video screens to kick off the awards.
But the best part of the convention came near the end, when I had the opportunity to bring the BANG-East Bay organizing committee co-chairs Sara Steffens, Karl Fischer and Michael Manekin onto the convention floor and introduce them. They were greeted with a standing ovation and raucous applause.
After the convention, they met with local leaders from throughout The Newspaper Guild to share the details of their campaign. The heroes' welcome continued through the evening with people welcoming them to the union and, rumor has it, buying them a few congratulatory beverages.
The bad news of the BANG layoffs came two days later, but I hope the warm embrace from the Guild and CWA will provide comfort and support, and remind the BANG-EB folks that they're part of the union family now.
Local vice president Silvia Barden (president of our court interpreters unit)opened the convention by singing the national anthem. And, yes, she hit all the high notes and remembered all the words).
During the convention, our local received awards for best local Web site (the judges liked the RSS feeds and blogs as well as the clean, crisp design)and an organizing award for the One Big BANG campaign. The YouTube video of the victory party was shown on two big video screens to kick off the awards.
But the best part of the convention came near the end, when I had the opportunity to bring the BANG-East Bay organizing committee co-chairs Sara Steffens, Karl Fischer and Michael Manekin onto the convention floor and introduce them. They were greeted with a standing ovation and raucous applause.
After the convention, they met with local leaders from throughout The Newspaper Guild to share the details of their campaign. The heroes' welcome continued through the evening with people welcoming them to the union and, rumor has it, buying them a few congratulatory beverages.
The bad news of the BANG layoffs came two days later, but I hope the warm embrace from the Guild and CWA will provide comfort and support, and remind the BANG-EB folks that they're part of the union family now.
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