Category Archives: cwa canada

World Press Freedom Day Message from CWA Canada President Martin O’Hanlon

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May 3, 2020

We mark World Press Freedom Day this year in the most unusual of circumstances: a worldwide pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people, crippled economies, and challenged democracies.

We must start by mourning the media workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 and paying tribute to those who continue to provide vital news and information in this time of pandemic, many risking their own health to do so.

Now, more than ever, it is critical that people get reliable news about what’s really happening and how best to get through this crisis.

At CWA Canada, we have been working relentlessly to ensure employers protect the health of workers, and to defend our collective agreements so that our members have some financial security, especially those who have been temporarily laid off or had their hours cut.

At the same time, we recognize that employers are struggling to deal with plunging revenues and we have urged the federal government to do even more to provide relief. We also pushed successfully for federal aid for freelancers, temps, contract and other precarious workers.

The current crisis has only exacerbated an already troubling situation with freedom of expression under serious threat around the globe.

In a day and age when billions of people get their news from social media, it is vital that journalists and trusted news sources are protected and promoted.

There are five main ways in which governments and others attack freedom of the press: violence and intimidation, blocking internet access and communication, internet surveillance, legislation limiting free speech, and online harassment.

So what can we do about it?

We can launch public pressure campaigns. Such campaigns can yield great results. We must publicly call out governments and bad actors to embarrass them into behaving better. We need to rally the public to hold government to account and that requires educating people.

We can use social media against itself. We can use social media to educate and rally the public and expand the civic space by sharing information about fake news, disinformation, and hate, while promoting trusted, reliable news sources.

We can impose sanctions against bad actors. It is vital that progressive, responsible governments speak out publicly whenever freedom of expression is under attack, that they pressure offenders diplomatically to do better, and punish the worst offenders through economic sanctions if necessary. And those sanctions should be on specific officials, not just governments. Block key politicians and officials from travelling abroad and seize their foreign assets and see how quickly things change.

We will continue the fight for press freedom in 2020. It’s a fight we can’t afford to lose.

As journalism goes, so goes democracy.

Challenger Schleuss wins re-run election for president of NewsGuild

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Jon Schleuss was elected President of The NewsGuild-CWA on Tuesday, defeating 12-year incumbent Bernie Lunzer.

Challenger Jon Schleuss has won The NewsGuild-CWA election, unseating incumbent Bernie Lunzer to claim the presidency.

The unofficial tally Tuesday showed Schleuss, a Los Angeles Times graphics and data journalist, with 1,979 (56.7%) votes and 1,514 (43.3%) for Lunzer.

Schleuss, whose four-year term begins immediately, ran on a platform to reform and modernize the 87-year-old union.

“We now have a stirring of wind at our backs, and we must build on our accomplishments,” he said in a news release. “It won’t always be easy, but our mission is to continue to grow the Guild and fight to preserve the future of journalism.”

Lunzer led the Guild through its greatest period of growth in decades, organizing 60 workplaces and 3,000 workers in the last four years.

The international referendum, in which all CWA Canada members were eligible to vote, was an unprecedented re-run of the spring contest. The union’s election committee determined that over 1,000 members had been effectively disenfranchised when mail-in ballots were sent to out-of-date addresses, mostly at the Canadian Media Guild (CWA Canada Local 30213). Locals are responsible for maintaining up-to-date member addresses.

The independent American Arbitration Association, which was contracted to conduct the election, reported that almost 3,600 ballots had been received by the Dec. 9 deadline. Each Local could choose whether to conduct in-person voting between Nov. 12 and 17 or arrange for members to receive mail-in ballots.

With more than 20,000 members, including 6,000 at CWA Canada Locals, TNG is the largest journalists union in North America. It is a sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and is affiliated with, but has no involvement in governance of the autonomous Canadian union.

The two candidates were nominated at TNG’s 80th Sector Conference held in Florida at the end of January. Attending as a guest, Schleuss became a TNG member in good standing immediately prior to the start of the conference.

Schleuss, 32, was a key player in the successful 2017 campaign to organize editorial employees at the famously anti-union Los Angeles Times, where he has worked since 2013.

The 62-year-old Lunzer — who worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for 10 years, then as administrative officer of the Minnesota Guild from 1989 to 1995, when he became TNG’s secretary-treasurer — has been president since 2008.

Committee orders re-run of election for NewsGuild president

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The TNG election committee confirmed that more than 1,000 ballots had been returned unopened after being mailed to incorrect home addresses. (Photo: jonforpresident.com)

 

An independent committee has ordered an unprecedented re-run of the election for president of The NewsGuild (TNG), in which all CWA Canada members were eligible to vote.

TNG-CWA’s Sector Election and Referendum Committee (SERC), following an exhaustive investigation, determined that the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), contrary to its constitutional obligations, had “provided deeply flawed and unreliable membership information” in the referendum process that resulted in the disenfranchisement of more than 1,000 members.

The SERC had certified the resultsof the April election that saw incumbent Bernie Lunzer defeat Jon Schleuss 1,282 to 1,021.

CMG — the largest Local in TNG-CWA with 5,000 members — filed an election challenge upon learning after vote-counting had concluded in May that hundreds of mail-in ballots were sent to out-of-date addresses and returned unopened to TNG.

The committee’s resulting investigation found that “CMG provided more than 1,089 incorrect home addresses for members in good standing” and also “erroneously identified to the SERC as members in good standing approximately 942 individuals who are not Guild members” and therefore not entitled to vote in Sector elections.

In its decision released on Monday, the SERC said that, because of CMG’s “violation of its constitutional duties” and “egregious errors” that were “so numerous as to impact the outcome of the election,” it had no choice but to order a re-run.

The committee also decided that the re-run election, scheduled for this November, will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA), a contractor experienced in the administration of union elections.

“The use of AAA will lift from the SERC and assisting Guild staff the considerable physical and administrative burden posed by their responsibility to conduct an international mail referendum under complex and onerous election rules and constitutional requirements with limited resources.

“Equally important, use of AAA … will ensure confidence in a fair and democratic international referendum process,” said the committee.

The SERC said that, although the decision to re-run the election rendered consideration of two other election challengesunnecessary, “we nevertheless do so in the interest of reporting the full extent of our investigation and findings.”

It found no merit to allegations of bias, secrecy and a cover-up contained in the challenges, one filed by Schleuss and the other in the form of a petition from Fatima Hussein.

Nomination period open for national election at CWA Canada

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This is a national election year for CWA Canada and the nomination period is now open for two senior leadership positions.

All members are eligible to run for office or nominate someone as a candidate for President and/or Vice-President, the posts currently held by Martin O’Hanlon and Lois Kirkup, respectively.

The deadline for submitting nominations is noon ET on Thursday, May 23.

If an election is required, a campaign and voting period would immediately follow, during which each union Local can decide how it wants to conduct the vote.

The president of CWA Canada, which is a full-time paid position, and the vice-president serve four-year terms. (Under the Constitution, the president must reside in the Ottawa area.)

O’Hanlon and Kirkup were first elected to the two top leadership positions in 2011. Both won by acclamation in 2015.

PDF downloads: Nomination Form | Election Rules

Completed forms are to be sent to:

National Election Committee
CWA Canada, 301 – 2200 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa ON K2E 6Z9
Email: info@cwa-scacanada.ca
(Emailed forms must be backed up by signed originals sent by regular mail.)