Letter from Martin O’Hanlon

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March 30, 2020

 

Dear fellow CWA Canada members,

Let me start with some good news: the federal government announced today that news companies are eligible for a 75% wage subsidy to help cope with the COVID-19 crisis – exactly the help we asked for in a letter to the feds on Friday. We applaud the government for its quick action.

Combined with government ad buys in local papers, that should largely ease the financial burden on our employers. We are already calling on employers that have laid off staff and cut hours to return to full operation.

The bigger issue continues to be health. We have just been informed of the first positive case of COVID-19 at a workplace where we have members – the Windsor Star. While the person affected is not a member, he works near our members and has been in contact with at least one. The workplace has been shut down for a couple of days to be disinfected. We are urging the company to allow staff who have been in contact with the infected employee to self-quarantine at home with full pay.

We want to work co-operatively with our employers but it is also our legal and moral responsibility to ensure that our members are protected. Rest assured that we are communicating with our employers to ensure your health – and finances – are looked after.

If you feel your workplace is not observing proper health protocols, if you are not being compensated properly, or if you have any questions, please contact your Local president or designate immediately. We at the national union will provide any advice, resources and support needed.

In the meantime, continue to practice social distancing, wash your hands regularly, avoid travel, and check the Health Canada website for updates on the spread and how to protect yourself: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

If you develop symptoms (cough, fever, shortness of breath), avoid contact with others, phone your doctor’s office, and advise your employer and Local president.

In solidarity,

Martin

 

Martin O’Hanlon

President, CWA Canada

The Media Union

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.