Truth Comes Out: Online News Workers Join Union
In today’s global society, people in different cities and continents meet, talk and take actions on the Internet. Now, the employees of Truthout.org have shown how you can join a union all online without ever seeing each other or coming face to face with an organizer.
Late last month, the Truthout workers became the first online-only news service to join a union. The new members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA (TNG-CWA) joined using the country’s first “virtual card check.” Union cards were verified with faxed PDFs of each employee’s signature.
With tools like Skype and Google Documents, organizers spent long hours on conference calls, “meeting” at night, each in their own living rooms, kitchens or backyards.
Virtual majority verification (also called “card check”) holds great promise for helping workers join unions in far-flung, online operations in which workers are not located in one central location.
Pilots Hold Info Picket at Continental Shareholders’ Meeting, and More Bargaining News
Pilots hold info picket at Continental shareholders’ meeting—and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
ALPA, Continental: Continental Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), conducted informational picketing at the annual stockholders’ meeting to press for a fair contract that acknowledges many of the sacrifices and the cuts made by the workers to help the airline. Capt. Jay Pierce, chairman of the ALPA chapter for the Continental pilots, stated that the carrier has “gained a reputation as a leader in the industry and a leader in its treatment of employees. I come before you with one simple demand: show us that you are willing to be a leader when it comes to dealing with your pilots.”
Boston Globe Workers Reach Tentative Pact; Unions Offer Options for Media Jobs Crisis
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After weeks of intense negotiations, including a 10-hour session last night, The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA) and the Boston Globe reached a tentative agreement early this morning that, if approved, would prevent the closure of one of the nation’s oldest newspapers. Meanwhile, in testimony today in the Senate, media unions highlighted strategies for addressing the industry’s finanical crisis.
The New York Times Co., which owns the Globe, had demanded a 23 percent pay cut and changes in job-guarantee language. Details of the tentative deal were not released, pending a meeting with Guild members scheduled for tomorrow.
The Globe deal comes as newspapers across the country are struggling through the recession, which has caused sharp declines in circulation and advertising revenue. Newspapers have laid off staff, eliminated sections, entered into bankruptcy or shut down.
2,000 Tampa City Workers Reach Contract and More Bargaining News
Some 2,000 Tampa City workers, ATU members, reach a contract agreement and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES, JOB ACTIONS
TNG-CWA, Philadelphia Newspapers: Leaders of the Philadelphia Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA) expressed outrage that top executives of the bankrupt Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News received significant year-end bonuses after pushing hundreds of union members to give up a $25-a-week raise. The papers likely will face questions in bankruptcy court next week.
Newspaper Workers Hold the Line on Layoffs, and More Bargaining News
Hold the press—much needed good news at a daily paper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
TNG-CWA, Long Beach Press-Telegram: In California, newsroom and circulation workers at the Long Beach Press-Telegram, represented by The Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA) Local 9400, reached a pact on a 30-month contract that offers layoff protection for a year and boosts pay by 2 percent after two years of bargaining.
