Category Archives: Unionization

Guardian US Votes Unanimously To Unionize

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Source:huffingtonpost.com

Labor organizing is sweeping through newsrooms. So who’s next?

NEW YORK – The staff of the Guardian US voted unanimously Wednesday to unionize under the News Media Guild, an action that comes amid a spate of labor organizing in newsrooms.

“The Guardian has a long tradition of supporting union effort,” a spokeswoman for the Guardian US chapter of the News Media Guild said in an email to The Huffington Post.

“The move by Guardian US editorial staff to seek collective representation is consistent with the strong history of working in strong partnership with unions in the UK and Australia,” she continued. “The vote was unanimous and we look forward to working constructively with Guardian management moving forward.”

The Guardian, a British newspaper and widely read international news site, launched a New York-based US edition in 2011. Guardian US led the news organization’s reporting in 2013 on disclosures from National Security Administration whistleblower Edward Snowden, winning a Pulitzer Prize in Public Service the following year.

In a separate statement, Guardian US staff thanked new US editor Lee Glendinning for “immediately welcom[ing] our initiative to seek collective representation.”

“Our discussions with Guardian management have been conducted in a constructive manner and we’re confident we can all achieve our stated goal — a long-term, sustainable future for the Guardian and its quality journalism,” read the statement, which appears in full below.

The Guardian US’s move Wednesday comes as unionizing is increasingly discussed in newsrooms, especially as digital news sites without a legacy of collective bargaining have organized. Gawker voted to unionize in June and Salon announced plans to do so earlier this month.

On Tuesday, Mike Elk, a labor reporter at Politico who is trying to organize his own newsroom, broached the topic with Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

The NewsGuild, part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), now represents over 2,000 digital workers at outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press and The Daily Beast. The News Media Guild is the local chapter of the NewsGuild.

A NewsGuild-CWA spokeswoman told The Huffington Post the union is currently in active campaigns with other digital media organizations.

Union leaders praised the Guardian US’s organizing effort in statements Wednesday.

“The Guardian has a history of great reporting that continues today,” said Martha Waggoner, president of The News Media Guild, the local chapter that Guardian US staffers will join. “It’s a publication with a grand tradition of unionism that now includes its U.S. writers.”

Bernard Lunzer, president of The NewsGuild-CWA, said it’s “a big day not only for the writers and staff members at The Guardian US but for the news industry as a whole.”

“Digital media is growing up,” he continued, “and it’s time our digital reporters received the same benefits and protections as their print media colleagues.”

Here’s the full statement from the Guardian US chapter of the News Media Guild:

We are proud to announce that the editorial staff of Guardian US have voted unanimously in favor of collective representation under the auspices of the News Media Guild, following a ballot which was conducted independently by the American Arbitration Association. The union has been voluntarily recognized by Guardian News & Media LLC following the result of that ballot.

We would like to thank the News Media Guild and the Communications Workers of America for their invaluable help, advice and support. Furthermore, we greatly appreciate the support shown by our unionized editorial colleagues in the UK and Australia, where the Guardian has a strong history of working in partnership with its unions.

We are also grateful to the leadership shown by the Guardian US editor, Lee Glendinning, who immediately welcomed our initiative to seek collective representation. Our discussions with Guardian management have been conducted in a constructive manner and we’re confident we can all achieve our stated goal – a long-term, sustainable future for the Guardian and its quality journalism.

Guardian US is in the process of rapid growth, which has been reflected by increasing audience figures and groundbreaking journalism, from our Pulitzer prize-winning Edward Snowden disclosures to our current work highlighting police-related deaths through The Counted project. Together we look forward to continuing to enhance the Guardian’s reputation as one of the most read, most respected and most trusted news organisations in the US.

 

This article has been updated with statements from NewsGuild-CWA.

What’s in a union?

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Source: j-source.ca

 

Rhiannon Russell listens in as journalists from the Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star, London Free Press and CTV discuss unions in the newsroom, publisher influence and working for free.

Hamilton Spectator reporter Nicole MacIntyre opened the panel discussion with a tale of woe. Six years ago, her friend and (now former) colleague jumped ship for the National Post – and has never had a pay raise since. She makes $40,000 a year.

The Spectator is unionized; the Post isn’t. MacIntyre said joining the union “was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

Read entire story here

 

Local 2000 applies for certification at StarPhoenix

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Source: mediaunion.ca

This morning CEP Local 2000 applied for certification of a new bargaining unit at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, a Postmedia-owned newspaper in Saskatchewan’s largest city.

The application covers all employees at the StarPhoenix, except those in the distribution department and some management personnel.

“This is great news for all Postmedia employees, union and non-union,” said Local 2000 Vice President Gary Engler, who has been helping out with the organizing campaign for the past month. “It shows that people are prepared to stand up for themselves despite all the industry woes. You can only push people so far before they fight back.”

The union submitted membership application cards from a significant majority of StarPhoenix employees in all departments except distribution to the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board. The proposed bargaining unit will have over 130 members.

The company will be given 10 days to respond to our application and sometime later the Board will conduct a vote. If a majority of employees vote yes to the union, the process for bargaining a first collective agreement will commence.

Local 2000 has created a website, www.cepatstarphoenix.ca, for the campaign.

“Congratulations to everyone who signed cards and helped out in the campaign,” said Engler. “We had a really good group of hard-working people who made the card-signing part of the campaign a tremendous success.

“But, it’s important to stay focused on our goal: gaining a strong voice in dealing with Postmedia or whoever is the next owner of the StarPhoenix. We have taken an important step, but it is only the first of many.”

Unionization in Canada rises to 4.2 million workers

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Women experienced disproportionately more gains in unionized jobs.

by NUPGE

Ottawa, November 8, 2010 — Statistics Canada reports that just over 4.2 million employees belonged to a union in Canada during the first half of 2010, up 64,000 from the same period last year.

Union membership rose at a slightly faster pace than total employment. As a result, the nation’s unionization rate edged up from 29.5 percent in 2009 to 29.6 percent in 2010.

The largest gain in rates occurred in British Columbia while the rate was highest in Newfoundland and Labrador (37.9 percent).

The average number of paid employees during the first half of 2010 reached 14.3 million, up by 171,000 over the same period last year.The gap in unionization rates between men and women widened slightly in 2010. Women experienced disproportionately more gains in unionized jobs. Consequently, their unionization rate inched up to 30.9 percent, while the rate for men remained constant at 28.2 percent.Just over 2.2 million women belonged to a union in 2010, compared with just under 2.0 million men.The unionization rate for permanent employees increased to 30.0 percent between 2009 and 2010 while it decreased to 27.3 percent for those in non-permanent jobs. The rate rose in larger firms (100 employees or more), declined among those with 20 to 99 employees and remained constant for firms with fewer than 20 employees.The provincial picture was mixed. Unionization rates fell in four provinces: Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The largest gain in rates occurred in British Columbia while the rate was highest in Newfoundland and Labrador (37.9 percent).Among industries, rates were highest in public administration (68.5 percent) and education (67.0 percent). Notable declines occurred in agriculture, health care and social assistance and education. Notable increases occurred in transportation and warehousing and public administration.An average of 288,000 employees were not union members but were covered by a collective agreement in the first half of 2010, down from last year’s total of 300,000.In 2009, there were 157 strikes or lockouts that involved a loss in working time of at least 10 person-days. This was the second lowest number on record. At the same time, 67,000 workers were involved in these strikes or lockouts and just under 2.2 million person-days in working time were lost — the highest number of days lost since 2005.

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada’s largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good.Website: http://www.nupge.ca/