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Union leaders representing the Denver Call Center served notice on Purple/ZVRS management this week of our intention to move our ongoing talks for a new labor agreement to Denver. The company — recently found guilty of multiple violations of federal labor law — threatened to file even more time-consuming legal appeals to keep that from happening.

The 2018 Bay News Rising class delivered a series of compelling articles tackling some of the more intractable issues of our time, including immigration, mental health and police shootings.

On a motion by Guild First Vice President Gloria La Riva, the San Francisco Labor Council’s Committee on Political Education voted 58-21 to oppose San Francisco Proposition B, a measure on this November’s ballot that would, among other things, empower the Board of Supervisors to tamper with the city’s Sunshine Ordinance, the nation’s strongest local government transparency law, which the voters passed in 1999.

After 14 months of negotiations, the Chronicle and the Pacific Media Workers Guild on Wednesday reached tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract that offers an average annual merit-based pay raise of 2 percent and – for the first time – a 401(k) employer contribution and match of up to 2.5 percent of annual salary.

College reporters, who are paid for their work, dive into weighty subjects under the guidance of professional journalists and union officials.

Shopnotes Fun Fact!  The exciting new Hearst employee online fitness plan is being rolled out at the same time that the company is seeking to take away employee sick-leave banks. If that makes your blood pressure go up, you could have gotten it checked for free on enrollment day in Jeff Johnson’s office

DFM management came to a bargaining session empty-handed, telling a national coalition of NewsGuild representatives that the company’s hedge fund ownership intends to keep employee pay frozen companywide to help maintain its profits. Alden Global Capital, principal owner of Digital First Media, has earned worldwide notoriety for its ruthless staff cuts and double-digit profit margins. The ongoing damage to newsrooms across the country has triggered protests from New York to Denver to the Bay Area.

An overwhelming majority of the 63 unionized workers in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newsroom voted on April 25 to ratify a five-year contract with owner Oahu Publications Inc.

The North Bay newspaper’s Pulitzer – in the Breaking News category – continues an impressive run of journalism for newsrooms covered by the Pacific Media Workers Guild. The East Bay Times won a Pulitzer in 2016 for breaking news coverage of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.

Chronicle Guild negotiators rejected Hearst Corp.’s demand to eliminate union jurisdiction over the marketing and advertising departments. Our committee sent a letter on Monday to convey that stance to the management.