Chronicle Shopnotes – tasty pie, weak coffee and strong union

Chronicle Shopnotes – tasty pie, weak coffee and strong union

Thank goodness it’s in the contract! “Reporters shall not be transferred to the position of copy editor for punitive reasons.” Check it out! Article 1, section F. Doesn’t say anything about copy editors being forced to be reporters. Maybe that’s why a perfectly good Webster’s dictionary has gone unclaimed on the free table for a month. It seems reporters already have flawless spelling. Remember, there is actually a Chronicle reporter who is married to a Chronicle copy editor. And not for punitive reasons, according to at least one of them.

Read More
Media workers stand together on World Press Freedom Day

Media workers stand together on World Press Freedom Day

A broad coalition of 1,500 unionized news workers will conduct a joint day of action on May 3 — World Press Freedom Day — as part of a national campaign to protest the corporate-led assault on quality journalism. The coordinated effort by NewsGuild members will span 29 newspapers owned by GateHouse Media and Digital First Media. It will support the fight for quality journalism at those papers and highlight the damage wrought by draconian cuts in their newsrooms and other departments.

Read More
NLRB backs union charges in immigration interpreter organizing drive

NLRB backs union charges in immigration interpreter organizing drive

After a lengthy investigation into more than a dozen charges of anti-union activity, the National Labor Relations Board is preparing to issue a formal complaint against SOS International, a federal contractor that provides language-interpreting services for the immigration courts, The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America announced today.

Read More
After the Pulitzer, layoffs hit staff at East Bay Times

After the Pulitzer, layoffs hit staff at East Bay Times

Digital First Media, owner of the Bay Area News Group, plans to move copy desk work to Southern California, triggering 20 more layoffs from a shrunken roster of 92 Guild-represented employees in the East Bay. The announcement came only a week after the East Bay news staff was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “relentless” breaking news coverage of the deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland.

Read More
Guild Freelancers protests reporter’s expulsion from SFPD press conference

Guild Freelancers protests reporter’s expulsion from SFPD press conference

The expulsion of 48 Hills reporter Sana Saleem from a San Francisco Police Department press conference on Jan. 18 has prompted Guild Freelancers chair David Bacon to send a protest letter reminding Police Chief William Scott and Mayor Ed Lee that field officers and office staff must respect the constitutional rights of all journalists including freelancers such as Saleem.

Read More