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51: June/July 2007Race for international president heats up Race for international president heats upThe presidential campaign is off to an early start - but not the one you think. Bernie Lunzer, the Newspaper Guild's secretary-treasurer, is challenging President Linda Foley in her re-election bid, setting up a rare contest between the international's top two officers. Lunzer's campaign has a strong Midwestern accent. The St. Paul, Minn., native has named Chicago Newspaper Guild Executive Director Gerald Minkkinen as his campaign manager and Milwaukee Newspaper Guild President Jennie Tunkieicz as his campaign treasurer. A presidential candidate debate is planned for the Guild's Midwest District Council meeting in Chicago in November. Local 51's Executive Board has not endorsed either candidate in this race. Also, Providence Newspaper Guild Administrator Tim Schick has declared his candidacy for Lunzer's job. Foley says she is seeking "a proven Guild leader" to run against Schick on her ticket. But Lunzer and Schick say they are not running as a ticket. Foley, the international's first woman president, is a former reporter and copy editor for the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, where she served as president of the Lexington Newspaper Guild. She joined the international staff in 1984 and was elected secretary-treasurer in 1993. She was elected to the presidency in 1995, at the same time the Guild was merging with the Communications Workers of America, and she became a CWA vice president in 1997. Lunzer worked in the newsroom and in the advertising, marketing and circulation departments of the St. Paul Pioneer Press before he was named the Minnesota Newspaper Guild's administrative officer in 1989. He was elected international secretary-treasurer in 1995. Schick was a reporter at the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union, where he was elected president of the Albany Newspaper Guild. He has been the Rhode Island local's administrator since 1990. International officers serve three-year terms. Of the 12 Executive Council members, the president, secretary-treasurer and Canadian director are the only full-time elected positions; the international chairperson and eight regional vice presidents are volunteers. If any race draws more than two candidates, the Guild's Sector Conference in February will serve as the primary, narrowing the choice to two nominees for each post. All Guild members then can vote next spring in elections for chairperson, president and secretary-treasurer, while the Canadian director and regional VPs will be elected by members in the areas they serve.
Three fill rolesIt wasn't easy to replace Mandy Jenkins, but the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild finally has found someone - in fact, two someones. Guild members have elected Sonya Jongsma Knauss to replace Jenkins on our Executive Board. Knauss, the MKE assistant editor, will serve through Sept. 30 in the seat previously held by Jenkins, a JSOnline producer who left for a job in Cincinnati. The board has appointed JSOnline producer Heather Marshall Gergen to replace Jenkins as our Webmaster through early October. This is the second stint in the Webmaster spot for Gergen, who also has served on our Bargaining Committee. Separately, Adam Lovinus has been named to the Fifty-One staff, filling a vacant position last held by local news editorial assistant Steve Potter. Lovinus, an MKE editorial assistant, also joined our Social Committee.
As work shifts to CNI, Guild files grievanceLocal 51 has filed a grievance against the Journal Sentinel over the shift of work from bargaining-unit employees at the Journal Sentinel to non-union CNI workers. Lots of suburban stories once covered by reporters in the Journal Sentinel newsroom and bureaus are being handed off to CNI employees. Why was a grievance filed? Handing those jobs off to CNI reporters means fewer jobs handled by bargaining-unit members. The Guild is excited about the organizing effort at CNI and about welcoming them into the union. But the company's goal is far different. The Journal Sentinel is trying to undercut the union through a pattern of "in-sourcing" jobs, which sends stories to lower-paid workers at CNI.
Set sail, socialize on Aug. 18Ahoy, mateys! Join your Journal Sentinel crew mates Aug. 18 for a sunset cruise on the waters of the Milwaukee River and the inner harbor of Lake Michigan aboard the good ship Edelweiss. Hors d'oeuvres and cocktails will be served as we sail leisurely past the sights of downtown and the Third Ward and get a great view of the Milwaukee Art Museum's Calatrava addition. All Guild members in good standing are invited. Each member can bring one guest on the two-hour tour. And it won't cost you a dime or a doubloon; it's all free. We weigh anchor at 7:30 p.m. sharp from the riverwalk at 204 W. Highland. Boarding begins at 7:15 p.m. If you plan to sail with us, you must RSVP by noon Aug. 6 via e-mail to info@milwaukeenewsguild.org. Invitations will be mailed to all Guild members. So don't miss the boat! Join us for an evening of good food, great drinks and Guild camaraderie. Talks begin on excluded jobs, Web postingsGuild officials recently have opened discussions with management on two topics - excluded positions and online postings. Our contract sets a limit on the number of positions that can be excluded from Guild coverage. The Guild has met with management in the past to discuss which positions would be scratched from the list to meet the limits set in the contract. As of Jan. 1, the number of excluded positions was no more than 55. The contract also states that "no later than July 1, 2007, the parties will reopen negotiations on the appropriate number of listed excluded positions." The Guild is proposing additional reductions in the number of such positions because the number of positions eligible to join the Guild has shrunk through attrition. Jerry Ziegler, Larry Sandler and Greg Pearson have been handling these talks for the Guild. Discussion of JSOnline.com postings is part of a grievance the Guild recently filed. The Guild has said that online postings should be done by Guild personnel. Management should be posting on a limited basis, just as they are limited in writing for the paper - a limit set by our contract. Management has argued that postings done by managers have been for emergency situations. The Guild countered that many of those postings do not fall into an "emergency" classification. OmissionThe April/May newsletter article listing Milwaukee Press Club awards won by Journal Sentinel and MKE staffers inadvertently omitted a second-place award for MKE online producer Sara Oceguera. That brings the total to nine staff members who won four first-place and four second-place awards, including one three-member MKE team who shared two awards. Effort to bring union representation to CNI stallsMany CNI newsroom workers said they feared for their jobs if they supported the union effort. Despite the hard work of CNI organizers and strong support from Guild members, the effort to bring the advantages of union representation to staffers of those Journal-owned suburban weeklies has stalled - at least for the moment. After a heavy campaign of threats and misinformation by management, including at least three hour-long, union-bashing lectures at which staff attendance was mandatory, many CNI newsroom workers said they felt intimidated and feared for their jobs if they supported the union effort. The unionizing drive also lost momentum when two leading organizers accepted reporter positions at area daily newspapers, including one union-represented paper. The union organizing committee in the CNI newsroom is being revamped and, hopefully, re-energized. The Guild remains unwavering in its support for CNI staffers who seek to organize their own unit, negotiate a contract with management and have a much-needed say, at last, in the operation of their newsroom. The Guild stands ready to aid them in that effort. Guild BriefingMultimedia training: Online training is being offered to Newspaper Guild members from Communication Workers of America. The courses offered are: digital photography, digital editing (Photoshop), basic videography, digital video editing (advid), Web design (dreamweaver), writing for print, copy editing and Flash 8. For more information, contact Jennie Tunkieicz. The Newspaper Guild-CWA and the University of Maryland School of Journalism have launched a survey of union members about the future of their jobs in the news industry. Please fill out an online survey at www.merrill.umd.edu/futurejobs. TNG-CWA has asked out local to have at least 26 people complete the survey. The survey wants to gather information that can be used as the basis for a news industry jobs "summit" meeting this fall. The summit, to be convened by the University of Maryland, will include Guild members and leaders as well as their bosses, plus other important industry players. Funding for this project is provided by the CWA's Strategic Industry Fund, which was established by delegates to the 2006 CWA Convention. A total of 2,500 survey responses are needed for the survey to be credible. Guild representatives from all over the United States, and perhaps Canada, will gather in Chicago on Nov. 9-11 for a meeting. On Nov. 10, there will be a special meeting for Guild members 35 years of age or younger. This would be a great opportunity for Milwaukee members in that age category to meet other Guild members from across the country and to talk about some of the challenges they face in the industry. Also that Saturday, candidates for the international jobs of president and secretary-treasurer will participate in a candidate forum. This is an opportunity for you to meet the candidates. We are trying to gauge interest to see whether it would be helpful to rent a bus, in cooperation with the Sheboygan Newspaper Guild and the Kenosha Newspaper Guild, to take a group to the meeting Nov. 10. If you are interested, please contact Jennie Tunkieicz or your steward. Why join a union? For starters, to have a voice
It was a group of courageous employees who, now nearly 25 years ago, were discouraged by working conditions and general mistreatment who fought to start the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild. The effort at CNI is stalled, but we're not discouraged and those who are there in the trenches shouldn't be either. Sometimes it just takes time to bunch up our muscles and do the right thing. We'll continue to be there for them. Let me steal from my colleague Larry Sandler: Here are some reasons to consider joining a union. To the veteran employees who think they can ride out their service at CNI until retirement, Sandler cautioned: What makes you think you'll be able to ride it out safely? At the Journal Sentinel, the 50-plus crowd often has been the group management has tried to target for layoffs and buyouts. But in each case, the Guild has been able to get better deals for them than the company was offering. To the people who say they don't plan to work there much longer: Don't be so sure you'll get another job - they're not that easy to come by, and a lot of Journal Sentinel people who said that were still around years later. You have no way of knowing how long you're going to be here, so you should be interested in trying to make this a better workplace however long you're here. To the new people concerned about their union support endangering career-advancement: It won't. Bob Helbig, a longtime Milwaukee Newspaper Guild activist and former president, is now an assistant business editor. And there are many other examples. Here are some words of advice from the AFL-CIO: Why join a union?
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