One Big BANG-up job -- We Won!

Yeah, that's right -- we won. The journalists of the Bay Area News Group voted to establish a new unit of the Northern California Media Workers Guild, TNG/CWA Local 39521. Read the details at www.onebigbang.org or www.mediaworkers.org.

Now, a message to the folks from BANG-EB:

Congratulations. Welcome (or welcome back) to The Newspaper Guild. We're glad to have you, and think you'll be glad you chose to join us.

But most of all, we'd like to say "thank you." Your incredible campaign and the election results have inspired and energized more of your fellow journalists and union activists than you'll ever know. You've reminded many of us why we became journalists and union activists in the first place. You've provided a spark of light in the darkness enveloping the newspaper industry.

Yes, there's lots of hard work ahead -- like, say, bargaining a contract -- and we hope you will all stay involved, as we said during the campaign. Really, it wasn't just campaign propaganda.

But, for now, it's time to celebrate.

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.

One Big THANKS to Teamsters Local 853

Last week's One Big BBQ for the One Big BANG campaign was One Big SUCCESS. You can read the details on onebigbang.org or mediaworkers.org -- and probably have done that already.

While the food was great, the clown entertaining and the crowd fantastic, One Big HIGHLIGHT was the letter Teamsters Local 853 delivered from its top officer, Rome Aloise.

The letter pledges "the full support of Teamsters Local 853" in the organizing effort and in the recently announced alliance between the Northern California Media Workers Guild and the San Jose Newspaper Guild. It notes that the Teamsters have had productive relationships with Hearst and Media News, and it acknowledges common challenges, including organizing the Transcontinental printing plant being built by the Chronicle.

"Our negotiations and organizing can only be helped if we all stand together," Aloise writes. "I want you to know that Teamsters 853 will stand with your Guild units in seeking a productive future for us all."

Thanks for the support, Rome (and Chuck Davis and Dave Ellis, who showed up in the Big Green Teamstermobile to deliver the letter and some Krispy Kreme donuts). It's good to know you've got our backs. We've got yours, too. We'll support your efforts to keep (or make) the Bay Area's newspapers union papers.

We firmly believe that union papers are better papers. You have our pledge that we'll work with you to ensure that Bay Area newspapers are filled with news and advertising produced by union workers, are printed by union workers and are delivered by union workers.

Eat a burger, help build the Guild

A lot of you have been asking how you can get more involved in the Guild. A lot of you have been wondering how you can help with the organizing campaign at the Bay Area News Group -- East Bay. The time is now.

An election has been scheduled for June 13 for BANG-EB employees to decide whether they want to join the Guild. Better than a majority have told us they do. But we need your help in combating the anti-union campaign Dean Singleton and his MediaNews managers, attorneys and consultants are spreading.

Your task won't be too tough -- We want you to attend a picnic/BBQ, eat some burgers and chat about the Guild, and why you care about the union. The picnic is May 31 from noon to 4 p.m. at Live Oak Park in Berkeley. Bring the spouse, the kids, the in-laws and any Guild supporters you can round up. A side dish would be nice, too. (But no booze in the park; it's against city ordinance). The Guild will provide the burgers, the drinks and the entertainmment.

In addition to talking up the Guild at the picnic/BBQ, if you know anyone at the Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune or other MediaNews papers in the East Bay, give them a call, drop an e-mail or buy them a cup of coffee or a beer and tell them why it's a good idea to form a union in the newsroom.

Our strength as a union comes from our committed membership. So c'mon out, have a burger or two, and help the folks at BANG win a union election. Their success will make us all stronger.

It's your turn -- vote!

Your chance to affect the future of The Newspaper Guild is here. By now, your ballots have probably arrived in the mail, and you have until April 29 to cast your votes. As one of the only labor unions to allow its members to directly elect its top officers, the Guild is among the most democratic unions in the nation. So take advantage of it.

The Guild international's top three posts are being contested. Incumbent president Linda Foley is being challenged by Secretary-Treasurer Bernie Lunzer. International chairwoman Carol Rothman is running against regional VP Scott Stephens for secretary-treasurer. And Connie Knox, regional VP, is running against Lois Kirkup, regional VP, for international chairwoman.

Regardless of who you choose, I hope you'll vote. Need more information? You can read up on the candidates and campaigns at the following websites -- www.teamguild.org and www.astrongerguild.org -- or in the Guild Reporter.

Cash for college

You know the usual benefits of union membership -- a voice in your workplace, the opportunity to bargain your wages working conditions and benefits, representation when your boss is picking on you.

But there are other benefits as well, including college scholarships for members and their families. The deadline for the Communications Workers of America Joe Beirne Foundation scholarships is coming up at the end of this month.

The Beirne Foundation offers 30 scholarships of up to $3,000 each to members of the Guild and other CWA members and their families. Anyone who receives the scholarship, will receive the money for a second year as well, given satisfactory academic achievement.

Those eligible include spouses, children and grandchildren, including dependents of retired, laid-off, or deceased members. Applicants must be high school graduates or high school students who will graduate during the year in which they apply. Undergraduate and graduate students returning to school are also eligible.

Applications must be filled out online at the Foundation's website: http://www.cwa-union.org/members/beirne/ by April 30. More information is also available at that site.

The scholarship program is funded by donations from CWA locals.

Members of the Northern California Media Workers Guild have been recipients of the scholarships in the recent past. So, yes, it really is worth giving it a shot.

No excuses...

Just an apology for the delay in posting. As promised, here's my report from the Guild Sector Conference (essentially the Guild convention) in Providence, R.I.:


I went to The Newspaper Guild's sector conference in Providence, and, instead of a lousy T-shirt, I ended up getting elected the western regional vice president of the Guild.

Granted, I was elected by acclamation, which is a polite way of saying there was no opposition, that nobody else wanted the job. But I was encouraged to run for the post by some of the people I respect most in the Guild, including both of the candidates for president.


Along with no opposition, there's also no pay. But this is an important position at a critical time for newspapers and for The Newspaper Guild. The West, and particularly the Bay Area, are on the leading edge of change in the media industry, and part of my role will be to present that perspective to the rest of the Guild's leadership.

While changes such as the loss of classified advertising to Craig's List and readers to a variety of online sources slammed us first, I think we'll also be where the answers to those challenges are developed. We're not only the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, we're the prospectors.


But enough about me. Plenty of other things happened at the convention -- and almost all of them involved politics. The race for president between incumbent Linda Foley and challenger and secretary treasurer Bernie Lunzer colored just about everything.

Supporters of Lunzer and his slate hung their convention badges on yellow "A Stronger Guild" lanyards. Backers of Foley sported blue "Team Guild" buttons. Leaflets, stickers and various other campaign items were distributed. Lunzer held a fundraiser in a local restaurant. Foley held a lunch in a downtown hotel. Many clandestine meetings were held in hallways, hotel rooms and restaurants as people plotted.

And while there were a few confrontations and arguments, and a lot of discomfort among convention attendees who like both candidates or are striving to stay neutral, most of the disagreement was tempered with respect. Or maybe it was the beer and cocktails. After all, we're all Guild members first.

Not all the politics were Guild-related. For more than 30 years, the Providence Newspaper Guild has put on the annual Follies -- an event where they mock local politicians and events a la Saturday Night Live. It's a big deal -- attended by most of the state's politicos and power-brokers and filling a cheesy banquet hall with 1,200 people. Humor's never captured well in rewritten accounts, so I won't even try. Let's just say it was funny. And there were two political celebrity sightings:

-- Sen. John Kerry, who did a long standup routine that ended when his endorsement of Obama went on too long, and Clinton supporters started chanting: Hill-a-ry, Hill-a-ry.

-- Chelsea Clinton, who showed up before the show to work the crowd days before the Rhode Island primary. Chelsea was also spotted at the conference hotel, where she stayed, but did not attend the convention.

Another highlight of the convention was the reception given master organizer/mobilizer Carl Hall's presentation on the One Big Bang drive in the East Bay. Fellow delegates were so moved that, without solicitation, they pledged to give about $3,200 to help support the campaign.