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MERCURY NEWS UNIT NEWS Veteran Mercury News reporter Cathie Calvert dies at 74 Veteran San Jose Mercury News reporter Cathie Calvert died May 17. She was 74. Graduating with a journalism degree from San Jose State College, Calvert went to work as society editor for the nearby and now defunct Sunnyvale Daily Standard. She joined the then-afternoon Mercury News 13 years later, in 1970. FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS
Can the dailies survive behind paywalls? A little over a year from now, you may no longer be able to read any Bay Area daily newspaper online for free. And it's not just happening here. All over the country, after years of bankruptcies and plunging revenues, the largest media and entertainment outlets are finally getting up the gumption to demand that you pay for what they produce. If they succeed, the odd quirk of history that gave us instant online gratification will come to an end. But will they succeed? More objections filed in MediaNews Group parent's bankruptcy case Two more objections were filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in connection with the pre-packaged reorganization plan offered by Affiliated Media Inc., parent of Denver-based newspaper chain MediaNews Group Inc. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE News of the MediaNews bankruptcy The MediaNews bankruptcy marches ahead. So far, proceedings in Delaware bankruptcy court seem to agree with the idea that Chapter 11 proceedings will be limited to MNG's holding company, Affiliated Media Inc., and will not affect employees or union contracts. David R. Hock of Cohen, Weiss and Simon represented The Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America locals at the first day hearing on Jan. 26. It appears the pre-packaged bankruptcy will come to a swift conclusion, heading for confirmation without objection on March 4. MediaNews Group reportedly worried its phones will be shut off In its reporting about the impending bankruptcy filing by Affiliated Media, the holding company of MediaNews Group, its owner, the Denver Post left the B-word out of the headline -- and its published version of an Associated Press story about the filing left out intriguing info included by other papers, including details of MediaNews boss Dean Singleton's salary. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE MediaNews bankruptcy filing stirs union legal action Guild will fight to protect contracts MediaNews Group's planned bankruptcy filing raised alarms throughout the company, and Guild members have wasted no time getting our legal department on the case. Our East Bay leaders were part of a national MNG Guild gathering in San Francisco, where an announcement was issued the day after the long-rumoured debt plan was unveiled. SINGLETON MESSAGES STAFF
MediaNews nearing debt deal with banks Singleton asks patience of employees MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton and President Jody Lodovic said Thursday that the company is close to an agreement with its banks on a debt restructuring plan. Once the plan is completed toward the end of the first quarter of 2010, they added, the company expects to have a "manageable level of debt" and will look forward to "a changing but exciting future." BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE Health care costs creep ever higher Management has sent open enrollment packets for next year's health benefits to all workers at both the Bay Area News Group-East Bay and the Mercury News. In most cases, California MediaNews Group employees -- union or not -- are covered by the same health plan. The Guild has negotiated protections against premium increases at the Merc and Monterey Herald, but we did not yet achieve this in our first round of contract negotiations in the East Bay. Our contract guarantees, however, that Guild-covered workers at BANG-East Bay be treated the same as management when it comes to health care. FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
Cal journalism students celebrate hyperlocal launch Richmond Confidential news site debuts online Students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism launched Richmond Confidential, the school's third "hyperlocal" news site, with a pizza party Thursday night at North Gate Hall. Local politicians offered congratulations along with Cal faculty and the Media Workers. We urged the students to make their voice heard as the new nonprofit media collaboration known as the Bay Area News Project takes shape. NEWSROOM OF THE FUTURE
Hellman news play: KQED, UC -- and N.Y. Times? Nonprofit in talks with NY Times Financier Warren Hellman is teaming up with public broadcaster KQED Public Media and UC Berkeley's graduate school of journalism to create a nonprofit news organization by next year to fill gaps in local news coverage left by the decline of the San Francisco Chronicle and other daily papers. The venture may also include the New York Times Co., which said it has had "fruitful" conversations with the other participants. FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS
Time for frank talk about Mercury News 'Our work here is important. We need your help to preserve it.' We need to talk. We need to talk about the Mercury News, about why it's vital to you and about how we can make it better in a time of shrinking staffs and declining profits. Maybe you've read about how the newspaper business, and the Mercury News with it, is struggling. Maybe you've taken that to mean that we've lost our determination to bring you the news, or that we're just playing out the string. We haven't and we aren't. Text of award honoring Sylvia Ulloa The Frank Rene Sauliere Award is the highest honor our local can bestow on one of its members for outstanding Guild service. It is not given every year, only when a Guild member exhibits exemplary leadership and service. It has been awarded only 15 times over the San Jose Guild's 72-year history. This year, the honor goes to Sylvia Ulloa, who over the course of her years serving as unit chair, local president and vice president of the newly merged San Jose and San Francisco local, has displayed remarkable leadership and a fierce commitment to protecting the interests of Newspaper Guild members during the union's most tumultuous and challenging period, which includes the merger of the locals. BULLETIN More layoffs imminent at Chronicle No details known as yet The Guild was given a "heads-up" today that more layoffs are in store for The Chronicle. There were no details as to numbers or departments, but additional information was expected within a day or two. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE Copy desk, other issues raised with MediaNews Guild representatives from BANG-EB and the San Jose Mercury News met with MediaNews Group representatives this week to discuss the recent staff reductions, copy desk consolidation, internships and other important issues. Both units had concerns about the recent move of copy editors from San Jose into the Walnut Creek newsroom. Williams joins California Watch The Center for Investigative Reporting announced today that it has hired Lance Williams as an investigative reporter covering money and politics for CIR's new California Watch project. Williams joins California Watch from the San Francisco Chronicle, where he helped break many of the newspaper's exclusive stories on the BALCO steroid scandal. With Mark Fainaru-Wada, he wrote Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. The book, combined with the Chronicle articles, prompted Sen. George Mitchell's investigation of baseball's steroid era and led to many reforms.
Former Mercury News photographer Len Vaughn-Lahman dies at 55 He was a sweet-souled bear of a man, a globe-trotting photojournalist who infused his work with heart and true grit. And whenever former Mercury News photographer Len Vaughn-Lahman rolled off on assignment, he'd bring back not only the perfect photo, but stories that were as much a part of him as what he had seen through the lens. BULLETIN The Guild has been trying to answer the many questions regarding the upcoming editorial work reduction in the BANG-EB unit. Executive Editor Kevin Keane sent out answers to many of them yesterday afternoon. Instead of replicating them, the information is posted below. There are also additional questions we have asked the company. We asked how many guild positions are among these 18. The company was checking, but an early answer was that it will probably depend on how many volunteers there are. If you volunteer, you will qualify for unemployment insurance. The company said it will not challenge claims, as it has done in the past. PRESIDENT'S VIEW
Finding glimmers of hope in frontline workers At the Guild convention in Washington, I was part of a panel that reviewed recent concessionary bargaining situations, and it was my job to recount the brutal round of talks this spring at the San Francisco Chronicle. 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. News workers offered path to skills upgrade Everybody: Take the survey! MediaNews workers: a deal for you As Bay Area newspapers cut hundreds of jobs, skill training programs are springing up to help out-of-work print journalists find new jobs -- and help current members at MediaNews papers increase their prospects while they still have jobs. A survey and special scholarships are in the works -- and here are early details. REBEL GIRL Steffens to focus on her other family for a while Sara Steffens stepped aside Saturday as East Bay unit chair. She was presented a framed poster of "Rebel Girl," commemorating the famous Wobbly lyric written by Joe Hill about Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in service of the "One Big Union," which provided inspiration for the "One Big BANG: One Guild Universe" organizing drive that led to the founding of the East Bay unit in 2008. CAREERS IN FLUX
How to get free multimedia training New consortium aims to help 100-200 news workers Guild members are welcome at a June 17 job forum in the South Bay that will include a career coach, resume-writing help and other resources. Also, former San Jose Guild leader Luther Jackson, now a consultant, is leading a survey as part of an exciting new multi-media training project for unemployed Guild members looking to gain new skills. Details of the San Jose settlement Here are some details of the new contract your bargaining committee negotiated with the company. As you know, it is a difficult period in the newspaper industry and the country. This contract settlement represents our best efforts at protecting workers, jobs and quality at the Mercury News. The San Jose bargaining committee and representatives of the Mercury News have come to a tentative agreement on a new 18-month contract. Lead negotiator Darren Carroll will be verifying details of the deal with the company's representatives. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE
East Bay unit officer elections June 6 in Oakland As summer approaches, a new Guild season awaits Meeting date change: Because of the holiday-related switch in EC/RA meeting plans, our BANG-EB meeting moved, too. Now, plan on June 6, 11 a.m., in Oakland to elect unit officers and hear about negotiations. BARGAINING BULLETIN East Bay contract 90% complete Core issues left include right to bargain on pay Guild negotiators met Tuesday with Bay Area News Group-East Bay management to continue our push toward a first contract. Tentative agreements were reached on union membership and dues deduction policies, as well as a preamble that emphasizes cooperative effort to advance the twin goals of editorial quality and business efficiency. Hellman has 2-month timeline to create business model for news Noted San Francisco financier Warren Hellman said in a statement Friday that he and "a team of business and media experts" are, as rumored in recent weeks, working on a plan to develop a new, sustainable model for community journalism in San Francisco and the Bay Area, given the intense pressures on daily papers, including the San Francisco Chronicle. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 16 Mediator keeps talks in confidence Representatives of the Guild and the Mercury News met today and had a serious discussion about pay cuts, jurisdiction and consolidation. At the direction of federal mediator David Weinberg, details of the current negotiations will remain in the confidence of the bargaining committee until we get more information from the company. CHRONICLE UNIT BULLETIN Hearst puts hatchet away at least until May Management has told us that there would be no announced layoffs this Friday and that any layoff announcement would be "most likely sometime in May." No other details were given. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 15 But pay may fall -- and some jobs move to East Bay Guild and Mercury News negotiators on Tuesday traded proposals, and both sides expressed hope for a collective bargaining settlement in early May. Company officials dropped several demands, including removing advertising sales representatives from the bargaining unit and seeking a 40-hour work week. But the company made clear its need to find significant permanent savings to ensure the newspaper survives. BARGAINING BULLETIN Nailbiting time in East Bay talks Progress after three days of talks -- focus shifts to Merc Three days of intensive negotiations in Pleasanton have produced significant progress toward a first contract for the Bay Area News Group-East Bay Guild unit. We have not yet reached our goal of a comprehensive labor agreement, which will be subject to a ratification vote by our membership. But discussions between the BANG-EB bargaining committee and management resolved a number of critical areas, including severance, management rights, overtime provisions, flexible schedules and subcontracting. Eugene Bryant, longtime union leader, dies of cancer When Eugene Bryant Jr. went in to battle for his troops, the newspaper labor negotiator came prepared with his arsenal of facts and held his ground firmly. But the burly former college football player never raised his voice. Chronicle, Teamsters agree on job cuts The approximately 235 Chronicle drivers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 853, are scheduled to vote Sunday on what was presented as the company's final offer, said Rome Aloise, the local's secretary-treasurer. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 14 Merc management proposes two-tiered salary structure The Mercury News on Wednesday expanded its wage concession proposal. In addition to seeking a 15 percent across-the-board wage cut for current employees, the company proposed that all future employees would come in at substantially lower salaries. The proposal came at a session where the Guild was expecting a long-awaited company proposal on revamping advertising commissions. Newspaper Guild-CWA representative Darren Carroll, the Guild's chief negotiator, told the company negotiators, "We're very confused about the message you intended to send," saying the introduction of a two-tiered salary structure would disrupt the parties' effort to quickly reach a new collective bargaining agreement.
Print refugees building a new home Public broadcasters expanding mission Groundbreaking collaborations are beginning to surface as public broadcasting stations partner with laid-off print journalists to bolster multiplatform local and regional reporting. Though future business models and financial relationships remain undefined, pubcasters and newspaper journalists are finding that their missions mesh nicely. BARGAINING BULLETIN East Bay team hones contract proposal A push is on to reach agreement by May Day Guild negotiators presented a revised comprehensive contract proposal to management Tuesday. The proposal emphasizes a minimum weekly pay rate of $800 for most editorial employees including reporters, photographers and copy editors, $15.20 an hour for support staff (editorial assistants), and guaranteed severance in the event of layoff. Guild bargainers hope to conclude negotiations by May 1. Three more full days of negotiating are scheduled to begin April 13. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 13 Talks yield no new agreements The San Jose negotiating team and the Mercury News met for a short session this afternoon. The MN offered a partial response to the Guild's proposal on cost reductions, but no tentative agreements were made.
No justice from NLRB in East Bay layoffs MediaNews had 'business considerations' to ax Steffens Our last-chance appeal for justice in the July 2008 BANG-East Bay layoff case was snuffed last week. The NLRB saw no grounds to resuscitate unfair labor practice charges, accepting the employer's defense that it had "a legitimate business reason" for laying off Sara Steffens, Rebecca Rosen Lum and Geoff Lepper. They were most prominent among 29 Bay Area News Group-East Bay workers who lost their jobs after a hard-fought union campaign.
The invitation to join SFGate's new corps of bloggers called City Brights offers the opportunity to reach a substantial audience, a prospect no journalist or professional writer turns down easily. But it carries troubling implications. Blogging for free for a news business that has just announced plans to lay off or buy out scores of paid staff journalists feels uncomfortably like scabbing. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 12 Guild offers comprehensive package The San Jose bargaining committee and the Mercury News resumed expedited negotiations Thursday for a new labor agreement, exchanging proposals that addressed jurisdiction, outsourcing and compensation. Guild negotiators offered a comprehensive package that outlined cost-reduction measures designed to meet the company's goal of reducing $1.5 million in annual expenses. The Guild proposals protect current pay scales, phase in health-care premium increases, preserve jobs and work in core areas, increase severance for those laid off due to outsourcing, and provide for experimentation with novel pay plans in advertising.
SPJ's Chronicle gabfest on the radio Friday KALW-FM 91.7 will air "A Conversation About the Chronicle" this Friday March 27 at 7 pm. A panel of 15 news types, academics, media "innovators" and one Media Workers rep were questioned by KALW's Rose Aguilar. The event was sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Full video coverage Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 11 No deal reached in MediaNews Guild unit merger talks BANG-EB and Mercury News to seek separate contracts Bargaining committees representing the two largest MediaNews Group Guild units in the Bay Area will resume expedited negotiations for individual contracts after talks about a proposed merger of the units failed to produce an agreement Monday. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 10 Guild bargaining team meets with federal mediator Guild bargaining teams met Tuesday with company representatives and agreed to meet with a federal mediator to explore the possibility of creating a merged unit including the existing BANG-EB and San Jose Mercury News guild units. BARGAINING BULLETIN No deal reached for MediaNews Guild unit merger BANG-East Bay and Merc to resume separate contract talks Bargaining committees representing the two largest MediaNews Group Guild units in the Bay Area will resume expedited negotiations for individual contracts after talks about a proposed merger of the units failed to produce an agreement Monday. A meeting of the Guild and management committees was held Monday with David Weinberg, a federal mediator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. San Diego daily sold to private equity firm Union-Tribune sale ends 80-year run for Copley The parent company of The San Diego Union-Tribune announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to sell the newspaper to the Beverly Hills private equity firm Platinum Equity for an undisclosed price. La Jolla-based The Copley Press Inc. had been seeking a buyer since July 2008, when it hired investment bankers to explore “strategic options” amid a nationwide decline in newspaper advertising and circulation. P-I offered reporting, Chronicle served flackery Under editor Ward Bushee Jr., the San Francisco Chronicle has provided little actual news reporting about its prospects for dissolution unless its unions agree to drastic job cuts and givebacks for those who remain on the payroll. Mostly, Bushee gave Chronicle readers unsigned "staff reports" -- actually rewritten Hearst press releases. Chronicle Guild braces for devastating job cuts After the Hearst Corp. threatened to put the Chronicle on the market the California Media Workers Guild voted by an overwhelming margin to eliminate seniority protections against layoffs. Hearst now threatens to cut 150 or more jobs, vs. 225 had there been no deal. Either way, the impact will be devastating... and raises some big questions. Podcast FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS Knight Foundation spending millions to reshape journalism Experiments in a period of transition Brothers John S. and James L. Knight were media titans in the era of upright typewriters and gray fedoras -- publishing newspapers, including The Miami Herald, in more than two dozen communities. Now, their Miami-based charity, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is underwriting an ambitious effort to shape journalism in the digital age, through a five-year, $25 million initiative called the Knight News Challenge. BARGAINING BULLETIN Chronicle Guild ratifies contract changes Now, a search for real solutions Members of the San Francisco Chronicle Unit voted today by a 10-to-1 margin in favor of ratifying proposed amendments to the collective bargaining agreement designed to help avoid sale or closure of the newspaper. The Guild Elections Committee announced that 366 members cast ballots, either in person or absentee, 333 for ratification, 33 against. BARGAINING BULLETIN Chronicle ratification moved to Saturday Pension issues await answers before vote Guild negotiators announced Wednesday that tomorrow's scheduled ratification vote of proposed amendments to the Chronicle collective bargaining agreement has been moved to Saturday. Time and place will be announced shortly. Officers said the main reason for the change was to allow pension officials a chance to clarify issues surrounding early retirements, termination dates and an expected financial recovery timeline for the Chronicle pension plan. Although changes in the pension aren't part of the Chronicle labor agreement, issues are interconnected and there has been considerable confusion in our ranks which our pension lawyers are working to fix. FAQ Details on proposed Chronicle contract changes As most of you know, we reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with Chronicle and Hearst management representatives Monday night. Because of the urgent need to expedite this process, there are meetings planned to go over pension questions and to discuss the Tentative Agreement and whether it should be ratified. A majority of the membership (simple majority of those who cast ballots) must approve the amendments to the contract before they can take effect. The vote will be held on Thursday night, March 12. Below you will find meeting and absentee voting information, a summary of the tentative agreement and a general Q&A. |
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