Oakland labor lawyer David Rosenfeld left no doubt Friday where he stands on the anti-union California ballot measure known as Proposition 32. During the CWA’s annual District 9 Northern California-Nevada stewards conference in Reno, Rosenfeld had the participants raise their right hands and “swear or affirm” to talk against, organize against, phone-bank against and wear […]
Read MoreChronicle Guild members resist Hearst stall tactics
A video tour of the fabulous Hearst Corp. headquarters in New York shows a company that treats some of its workers to subsidized sushi. In San Francisco Chronicle labor negotiations, we see another side of the media giant. Video by Cubes. Bargaining Bulletin #11 San Francisco Chronicle Unit Hearst Corp. skipped negotiations again Wednesday, the […]
Read MoreHonored union advocate courting retirement
Duane Beeson, activist lawyer and senior partner in the Media Workers’ own law firm, Beeson Tayer & Bodine, had something like a retirement dinner Wednesday night. Beeson, 90, a onetime staff attorney for the NLRB back when the federal agency took its job of defending worker rights a lot more seriously than it sometimes does […]
Read MoreWhy are you withdrawing your proposal?
Bargaining Bulletin #9 San Francisco Chronicle Unit Hearst Corp’s pay proposal turned out to have the shelf life of a flounder on a sidewalk on a sunny day in San Jose. On Thursday, Hearst lawyers offered a pay raise of 1.5% in each year of a three-year contract, effective July 1, 2012, 2013 and 2014. […]
Read MoreSan Francisco State journalism students learn to care
Steve Rubenstein’s working life after the Chronicle has involved a lot of time lounging around with college students. He’s been teaching a course in magazine writing at San Francisco State University, where such illustrious Chronicle alumni as Yumi Wilson and Harriet Chiang also teach. Last week, Rube forced his erstwhile Chronicle associate and current Guild […]
Read MoreStudent learns ‘average is over’ at Guild program
The dwindling, setting sun filtered into the conference room of the Pacific Media Workers Guild with a gust strong enough to toss our papers into the air. It was late July and an oversized Chronicle building for the dwindling newsrooms we spoke of in our meetings loomed in the distance through the aging windows. We […]
Read MoreHearst offers next to nothing in Chronicle talks
Bargaining Bulletin #8 San Francisco Chronicle Unit Hearst Corp. finally offered its first detailed contract proposal Thursday, four months after bargaining started, suggesting all we need is a 1.5 percent pay raise in each of the next three years to solve all our problems. The proposed 1.5 percent annual pay raises would generate about $800,000 […]
Read MoreRube clowns around at the barbecue
Offer journalists a free cheeseburger and a beer and they’ll show up, which is what happened at Lake Temescal in Oakland for the annual Chronicle barbecue, presided over by soulmates Boswick the Clown and Carl T. Hall. Hall denied that the T. stands for “tartare” even though he somehow forgot that charcoal works better when […]
Read MoreHearst shifts to an even slower gear — reverse — in talks Thursday
Bargaining Bulletin #7 San Francisco Chronicle Unit Guild negotiators offered Hearst Corp. a new proposal Thursday to resolve our controversy over health care financing. We said we would simply agree to lock in the current contract commitment and shift further debate about health care to where it belongs: our jointly run health plan board of […]
Read MoreChronicle unit members share a cup of solidarity before bargaining
Bargaining Bulletin #6 San Francisco Chronicle Unit NY Hearst reps travel light Representatives of the Hearst Corp., which owns the San Francisco Chronicle, met with the Chronicle Guild bargaining committee today, rejected almost all aspects of the Guild’s proposal for a new labor agreement, and did not present a counter-offer. Guild members expressed disapproval and […]
Read MoreTop Guild brass honors retiring Guild bookkeeper Raul Ticzon
September 14, 2012 by Kat Anderson The Guild celebrated the long career of bookkeeper Raul Ticzon during an Italian-themed luncheon on Tuesday in the offices at 433 Natoma. Ticzon retired after 31 years on the San Francisco staff. Ticzon began his career with newspapers when he was hired to the payroll department of the Newspaper […]
Read MoreChronicle Guild Unit protests Hearst stalling
Bargaining Bulletin #5 San Francisco Chronicle Unit The Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge Wednesday against the Hearst Corp. after its negotiators again delayed meeting with our bargaining committee. We consider Hearst’s repeated delays and cancelations over the past five months as acts of bad faith. Our health plan, governed by a joint management-Guild […]
Read MoreEast Bay BANG Bulletin: August 13, 2012
Guild negotiators met with management Monday in Pleasanton to review some of the major issues blocking progress toward a new labor agreement that elevates East Bay terms to San Jose standards. Your bargaining committee presented a revised transfer proposal which offers greater flexibility to the management but protects employees from costly forced relocations. The proposal […]
Read MoreGuild scholarships awarded to bright members of the Next Generation
by Kat Anderson August 1, 2012 The Pacific Media Workers Guild has selected ten students to receive scholarships thanks to the generosity of our retired union members who donated to the fund. The scholarships range from $500 to $100. Our recipients were selected based on their academic records, service to school and community, and financial […]
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