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 MoreGuild proposes to make employees whole after years of concessions
Bargaining Bulletin #10 San Francisco Chronicle Unit In light of the Hearst Corp.’s continued stalling and inadequate offers, the Guild bargaining committee expanded its list of demands Monday during the latest round of contract talks. The Guild had hoped to reach a quick settlement on a short list of economic proposals focusing on a need […]
Read MoreLocked out Castlewood workers will return to work in October
After two years of stalling and dirty tricks by management, Castlewood Country Club has been advised to end its lockout – and quickly. An administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Aug. 17 that the lockout was illegal. The judge told the company to reinstate the workers by Oct. 16 and pay […]
Read MoreSeth Rosenfeld discusses criticism of his book over Aoki revelation
Investigative journalist Seth Rosenfeld never imagined his new book would attract so much criticism after it named 1960s Bay Area activist Richard Aoki an undercover FBI informant. “Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals and Reagan’s Rise to Power,” is a nonfiction book that details the history of the FBI’s secret activities surrounding the University […]
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 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 MoreReport language access barriers in California courts
Members of the California Federation of Interpreters want to bolster equal access to justice in California by documenting language services problems in the courts. CFI, part of Local 39521, needs your help collecting incident reports which detail instances of barriers to justice. These barriers include, but are not limited to events like the following: Hearings or attorney-client interviews wherein no interpreter was provided to a […]
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 MoreNo backing down in Hilo
By Niesha Lofing President, Pacific Media Workers Guild The aloha spirit is certainly alive and well among Pacific Media Workers Guild units in Hawaii. Executive Officer Carl Hall and I traveled to the islands recently to meet with members in Honolulu and Hilo to discuss negotiations, contracts and future plans. While union business was at […]
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