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This four-minute video may cure what ails someone close to you

State law allows employees to use half their earned sick leave to care for a sick family member. Is it really that simple? Of course not! That's why we have lawyers, including labor-friendly ones at the Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld firm in Oakland. This four-minute talking-lawyer video covers the basics.
 
LOCAL NEWS

BARGAINING UPDATE #9

Tentative deal calls for bonus pay in CFI Region 4

Ratification planned for February

CFI-Media Workers Guild - 27 Jan 2012

A tentative agreement for a new MOU was reached yesterday afternoon at the end of a drama-filled bargaining session. The proposed new contract would extend through July 31, 2014, and provides for three $1,000 annual bonuses. In addition, interpreters could be assigned certain work outside courtrooms.

BARGAINING BULLETIN #5

Press Democrat proposes new takeaways as talks resume

Unit leaders call membership meeting Monday

Media Workers Guild - 27 Jan 2012

Members of the Santa Rosa Guild met Thursday with management to re-start negotiations following the sale of the paper by the New York Times to the Florida-based Halifax Media Group. Management negotiators presented a revised set of non-economic proposals that they described as a “radical departure” from their previous demands.

LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

Guild backs 3 state pro-sunshine measures

Richard Knee-Freelance Unit - Media Workers Guild - 23 Jan 2012

Amid some debate on whether a journalists’ organization should participate in political advocacy, the Pacific Media Workers Guild is backing three California bills aimed at strengthening sunshine. Members of the local’s Executive Committee and the Representative Assembly voted on Jan. 21 to endorse measures mandating that political advertisements disclose their largest funding sources and that state prison authorities permit reporters to interview inmates face to face. The Local already has backed a state amendment expanding advance posting of meeting agendas.

BARGAINING UPDATE #8

Balky county blocks deal for Region 4 interpreters

Bosses ask for more time to keep talks on track

CFI-Media Workers Guild - 17 Jan 2012

Bargainers for the Guild's California Federation of Interpreters and Region 4 of the Superior Courts moved closer to agreement on a package CFI would bring to the membership for ratification, but the talks snagged when one county decided it wanted the ability to opt out of part of the deal. The region includes courts in San Diego, Orange County and Riverside-San Bernardino.

BARGAINING BULLETIN

Talks resume in Santa Rosa

Company to revise proposal after NYT departure

Media Workers Guild - 13 Jan 2012

The Santa Rosa Guild's bargaining committee met Thursday (January 12) in Rohnert Park with local management, who confirmed that they have the authority to continue negotiating with the Guild now that the Halifax Media Group has acquired The Press Democrat from the New York Times Co. Management said that they will be presenting revised contract proposals. Next talks are January 23 and 26.

More local news

New local president puts solidarity first

After nine years as a reporter at the Sacramento Bee, Niesha Lofing recently became editor of the Sacramento Valley Union Labor Bulletin, a publication sponsored by the Sacramento Central Labor Council and Building Trades. As if that weren't enough of a transition, she also ran unopposed for Local Guild president. She discussed her plans for the Pacific Media Worker Guild with Executive Officer Carl Hall during a recent meeting in Sacramento.

 
NEWS OF THE INDUSTRY

NONPROFIT NEWS

Thriving Texas Tribune has Perry campaign to thank

Nieman Journalism Lab - 24 Jan 2012

Last August, Rick Perry delivered a gift to the Texas Tribune: The governor announced his candidacy for president. Two days later, reporter Jay Root would break the story that Perry had backpedaled on his controversial effort to vaccinate girls against HPV. Root’s story was viewed about 150,000 times in total in 2011 and generated the biggest-ever traffic day for the online startup. “There’s no question Rick Perry was good for business,” said Trib CEO and editor Evan Smith. “Even if his presidential campaign wasn’t successful these last five months, we were.”

Daily newspaper going the way of milkman

Alan Mutter - Reflections of a Newsosaur - 10 Jan 2012

Daily newspaper delivery will go the way of the milkman in a growing number of communities in 2012 and beyond. Barring a miraculous turnaround in the economy, a sea change in the thinking of media buyers or a late-breaking proclivity for print in the sub-geezer population, publishers in ever more communities are likely to reduce the number of days they provide home delivery – or print a newspaper altogether.

Stephens empire expands newspaper holdings

North Bay part of NY Times sale of regionals

Max Brantley - Arkansas Times blog - 30 Dec 2011


Warren Stephens

Interesting that an investment company owned by Little Rock financier Warren Stephens has purchased 16 newspapers from the New York Times to add to a newspaper Halifax Media already owned in Daytona Beach, Fla. Industry press says the price -- $143 million and change for more than 400,000 in daily circulation — represents a dramatic reduction in the value the newspapers once held.

Guild meetings 2012

Members of the Executive Committee and Representative Assembly voted to approve a tentative meeting schedule for 2012.  All Local Officers, Unit Chairs and Representative Assembly delegates should make plans to attend.

Most meetings are held the third Saturday of the month at our San Francisco headquarters in the Guild Building, 433 Natoma St.  Here's a tentative list of proposed dates.

One special note: We are a big local spread across two states. In order to increase participation by our Southern California, Central Valley and Hawaii members, we are considering whether to schedule some meetings in locations outside San Francisco.

Skype is another option for members who live outside the Bay Area. 

 


Times announces sale of regional news group

Santa Rosa Press Democrat part of $143 million deal

Guy Kovner - Press Democrat - 27 Dec 2011

The New York Times Company announced an agreement on Tuesday to sell its Regional Media Group of 16 newspapers, including The Press Democrat, for $143 million in cash to Halifax Media Holdings LLC. The transaction is expected to close within a few weeks, said Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company.

OCCUPATION MOVEMENT

Wall Street of the waterfront

How will ILWU rank-and-file workers respond?

Steve Stallone - Counterpunch - 08 Dec 2011

The Occupy movement is barely more than two months old and already showing signs of growing up. Seeing their encampments thwarted, they are responding with a coordinated counterpunch themselves. Coordinated protests at West Coast ports could signal a new direction for the Occupy movement: engaging in mass direct actions outside of established institutions to both support local labor practices and strike at the heart of the global economic apparatus. For a young movement these are some sophisticated maneuvers. Still, growing pains endure.


More industry news

Departing president looks back at decade of growth despite relentless attack 

By Michael Cabanatuan
Local President (2001-2011)

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.

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.

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.

The local has also grown. Our biggest victory was organizing the Bay Area News Group-East Bay, the first major newspaper union organizing victory nationally in years. We merged twice to bring in other locals: first, San Jose, then Hawaii. We formed the Freelancers Unit, first in the Guild to recognize the value of bringing independent journalists into the union.

I leave with pride 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.

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