By Anabelle Garay July 27, 2012 Judicial Council members deferred action Friday on a recommendation to take up to $6.5 million from the designated interpreter budget for other court costs. CFI officials told Judicial Council members that shifting the funds would deprive a significant number of people from access to justice while violating the federal civil […]
Read MoreCourts propose wage cuts, added duties for interpreters
July 25, 2012 Region 2 court administrators proposed adding to the daily duties of interpreters while cutting wages by 10 percent and reducing guaranteed work hours. The measures presented by the courts during Monday’s opening bargaining session closely mirror those previously proposed in Region 3. The most significant proposals made by Region 2 to the […]
Read MorePulaski re-elected Executive Secretary-Treasurer at CLF Convention
Communications Workers Demand Fair Contract at AT&T Headquarters
by Kat Anderson July 20, 2012 A small but vocal contingent of CWA members rallied Thursday at AT&T headquarters in San Francisco to demand a contract settlement with the telecommunications giant that protects pay and health benefits. The message, delivered through megaphones and chants by members of three Bay Area telecom locals and the Pacific […]
Read MoreCenter for Investigative Reporting rejects Guild in close vote
By a narrow margin, journalists at the Center for Investigative Reporting voted against Guild representation during an NLRB election Tuesday. The vote was 10 to 11. One year ago, journalists at The Bay Citizen, a nonprofit news startup based in San Francisco, voted to form a union through Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521. […]
Read MoreGUILD VOICES: Chronicle should end deal with Journatic
by Kat Anderson, Director, Bay News Rising July 18, 2012 Investigations, both internal and outside, have revealed that content outsourcer Journatic supplied fake bylines to its publishing customers which include the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, GateHouse Media and Hearst-owned San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle. Journatic’s head of editorial production, Mike Fourcher resigned over the […]
Read MoreInterpreters stand in solidarity with striking court workers
by Anabelle Garay July 16, 2012 Interpreters supported striking court employees Monday as a walkout by clerks closed most courtrooms in San Francisco. Court interpreters were told to remain in the courthouse and available to work despite the stoppage in various departments. Some members of the California Federation of Interpreters used their lunch breaks to […]
Read MoreSan Francisco Chronicle ditches journalists for off-shore cheap labor
by Rebecca Rosen Lum July 16, 2012 Managers of the Hearst Corp.’s San Francisco Chronicle plan to continue using a controversial overseas content mill that fabricated bylines. Despite a protest by the Media Workers Guild, which represents journalists and other staff members at the Chronicle, editor Ward Bushee said the Chronicle will continue buying copy […]
Read MoreGuild offers unique summer program to the Next Generation of media workers
by Niesha Lofing July 12, 2012 A college student journalism project spearheaded by the Pacific Media Workers Guild is being heralded by media professionals and industry leaders as a critical program to help the next generation of workers gain experience and introduce them to the value of unionism. Bay News Rising, a summer program of […]
Read MorePhony bylines by publishers including SF Chronicle raise ethical concerns
It took real journalists to reveal last week that some publishers, including the Hearst Corp.’s San Francisco Chronicle, have been using outsourced content under made-up bylines — a disservice to readers that damages the credibility of good journalists everywhere. Our parent union, The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, has issued a statement condemning this practice, […]
Read MoreEast Bay BANG Bulletin: July 3, 2012
Employee representatives of the Guild focused on non-economic issues Tuesday in Pleasanton as talks continued. East Bay employees demand equal treatment and an end to disparity of treatment between South Bay and East Bay units. As stated previously, despite business climate difficulties, employees insist that a high-quality regional news operation demands that colleagues work together, and no one should have […]
Read MoreSan Francisco Chronicle Bulletin #2
Health care funding discussed in second round of Chronicle negotiations Negotiations on a new Guild contract at The Chronicle continued Tuesday with a discussion of health care issues for more than an hour in The Guild conference room. Executive Officer Carl Hall re-established Guild concerns with new legal representation present for Hearst. Efforts are under […]
Read MoreWelcome back to the Web
Welcome to the new Pacific Media Workers Guild site. We’ve changed software, updated our look and continue to update our content to deliver timely, high-quality labor information for our members. The change was unplanned — a hacker crippled the old site a few weeks ago, rendering it useless. We’ve been scampering to rebuild since, and […]
Read MoreGuild to grow membership in open newspaper shops
Trainers refreshed Guild activists on organizing basics at a day-long training Thursday in Sacramento, in preparation for a summer-long push to grow membership at open newspaper shops across California. Mobilizers and staff from the International shared ideas and plans for approaching more than 300 non-union newsroom employees working for Hearst, MediaNews and McClatchy papers represented […]
Read MoreRight-To-Work Laws: A GOP Assault on Unions
by Ralph E. Stone June 14, 2012 In February this year, Indiana became the 23rd state to enact a right-to-work law, the only RTW law passed in the last decade. Republicans generally favor RTW laws while unions and Democrats do not. RTW laws are geographical too. RTW states are clustered in the Southeast, covering every […]
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