The Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor annual Labor Day Parade is this Monday, September 3.  The theme is “Saving the American Dream”.  Hope to see you there!

Labor Day nears

Sorry if us yes voters aren’t communicating well enough. Two people I’ve talked to in recent days weren’t remotely aware that the Guild will participate in the Labor Day parade in Bloomington. I think we show up at the L&J at 9. Parade moves from downtown to Miller Park at 10.
Help us reach you: Send us an e-mail address and tell us who you are (name and address won’t be published, of course) and tell us whether you are leaning Yes, Maybe or No. Tell us why.

That’s amazing. They haven’t let people leave early since the winter blizzard. Of course, you had to make up the time if you left for the weather. Did people get credit for the time. Or is the union perceived as more dangerous than the blizzard?

I don’t think they wanted us to be spared of harassment, as a constitutionally protected rally isn’t harassment. If the union reads the U.S. Constitution on the sidewalk, they’d call that harassment too.

     Workers at the Pantagraph who support unionizing will rally with other laborers outside the newspaper building in downtown Bloomington at 5 p.m. Cathy Schwegman of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild tells WJBC’s Laughlin and Reynolds, as soon as the Pantagraph management became aware of organizing activities, they began an anti-union campaign.

http://www.wjbc.com/wire2/news/06039_Pgraph-Rally-2WEB_084214.htm

This statement was posted as a comment to our last post.   Wow… as we’ve mentioned in the press release (which was of course faxed to the Pantagraph along with other local media) this rally is a chance for community supporters to show Pantagraph employees that you aren’t alone.  Wonder why the paper is so concerned??  

Management obviously thinks we are stupid. Just wanted to let you know that they have told Advertising employees about the organizing tonight, and have told us that they want us to avoid the harassment. SO they gave us the option to leave early or to stay late. They are also taking the sales staff to Gill St. at 4:15 to avoid the union organizers, (but said it was because of the recent good work as a reward.) My suggestion is to show up early and surprise the hell out of them. Good luck!

During an organizing campaign, with constant pressure from the company–it is understandable to feel that you are out there on your own.   Management has been actively opposing union activity here all along-it is important to realize that we have many allies.   

 Members of the local labor community will rally tomorrow in support of the right to organize.  We’ll meet up at 5 pm in front of the paper. 

The communities of Bloomington and Normal depend on the employees of the Pantagraph for well-researched, quality journalism.  Certainly the employees at the paper are capable of making an independent decision about joining a union. 

For more information on the rally:

http://www.bntrades.org/index.php

All are welcome to join us at Maguires tomorrow (Thursday) at 7 pm.  Shannon Duffy, our Business Representative, will be in attendance. 

If you didn’t get a postcard–and would like one next time, or for more information–please email cathy@stlouisguild.org

Thanks!

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

MSNBC’s Olbermann credits the Guild with saving his career

In an interview prior to moderating last night’s AFL-CIO’s Presidential Candidates Forum, MSNBC’s “Countdown” host, Keith Olbermann said the News Media Guild * saved his career years ago after a boss who’d returned from a liquid lunch “fired me on the spot and said ‘you don’t give the managers no lip. You get your stuff and get out of here.’”

“If that firing had held I might not have been able to continue in broadcasting.”

How was the Guild able to get Olbermann reinstated? He was covered by a union contract that provided protections against discharge without just cause. The union contested his dismissal and prevailed, which allowed Olbermann to continue on in his chosen career.

*The Media Guild was formerly called Wire Service Guild and is a local of The Newspaper Guild-CWA

Note:  This post taken from another Guild Organizing Blog–http://www.tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/

As we are seeing at the Pantagraph, employers will often say and do absolutely anything to prevent their own employees from having a voice on the job. Often, management is working from a script—provided by ‘union avoidance’ law firms hired by the company—while adding enough of a personal touch to attempt to persuade individual workers. While many workers have expressed their dissatisfaction with Lee Enterprises and the current publisher, most I’ve talked with have a great deal of respect for their immediate supervisors. Particularly in the newsroom, I’ve been hearing that various managers have been working long hours to compensate for the understaffing and poor morale resulting from questionable decision making at the top. Because supervisors are excluded from the protections provided by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), they are often forced to assist in the company’s anti-union campaign.

Being forced by your employer to stop union activity by your employees-not a good situation for anyone-except top corporate executives and the lawyers who can sit back and collect fees. Each department head sent out a personalized letter in June (I’ll post the letters next so you can look for commonalities). On the surface these letters may appear to be a sincere request among colleagues-but if you compare the three you will probably pick up on a pattern. Since then, has your boss (or your boss’ boss) taken a few minutes to chat with you and listen to your thoughts and suggestions? It might be interesting to compare notes with your coworkers—these seemingly casual conversations may actually be quite systematic and eerily similar.

There are occasions when companies use tactics that are of questionable legality or so unpleasant that the corporation is not willing to risk bringing it out in the open. In these cases, it is common for management to begin a “whisper campaign”. These campaigns are effective because they play on the fears and uncertainties already prevalent in the workforce, and since the source can not be traced, it is difficult to discover the truth. One such whisper which I’ve been advised of is a rumor that if there is a union election at the paper, there will be repercussions for Editor Mark Pickering. I sincerely hope that this rumor is incorrect, and that Lee would not dare be so shortsighted and callous an employer. To make a scapegoat of any of the dedicated employees that produce this newspaper would be a shameful injustice.

Let’s be honest. Without a contract, any employee can be fired at will. There isn’t any need to threaten anyone’s job. Lee should step back from the overt and covert anti-union attacks and allow employees at the Pantagraph to make an informed decision.