SIF: Media Projects: 'People are So Jealous that Our Union is Able to Do This'

CWA members at newspapers and in broadcasting have a big advantage over their non-union colleagues: they can participate in projects that are organizing, empowering, mobilizing and training members.

The media SIFs include one that focuses broadly on the future of the media and another that has a laser focus on MediaNews, the Denver company that tried to break TNG-CWA locals at smaller Bay area newspapers.

That move backfired. Through the SIF?campaign, the union and an energetic band of Stewards Army volunteers organized all of the company’s Bay Area newsrooms.

“Our opponents said we’d never be able to reach agreement with MediaNews. The CWA SIF helped us prove them wrong,” said Sara Steffens, a reporter-turned-union activist. “Despite the disastrous finances of the newspaper industry and a looming bankruptcy filing, we were able to win our first contract within a year of sitting down at the table.”

What they learned helped other locals effectively use strategies to win contracts. In Long Beach, Calif., for instance, a worker-led campaign at the Press-Telegram warned readers about the damage that job cuts were doing to the quality of their newspaper.

High-Tech Training

SIF campaigns also are teaching employers to better value CWA members, especially when it comes to training. Through CWA/NETT, newsroom reporters now are learning digital photography and multimedia skills. Broadcast technicians are taking courses in cutting-edge technology, preparing them for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs.

“Our training has not only saved good, union jobs, it’s helped members get promoted,” said NABET-CWA President Jim Joyce.

A new broadcast editing lab opened this spring in Toronto and Minneapolis and has been shipped to Brockton, Mass., Detroit and New York City to teach members “Final Cut Pro,” the latest technology.

NABET-CWA Local 57411 President Butch Bowring said the 48 members who took advantage of the training, about half his local, raved about it. “Our members are so fired up and thankful about this. They couldn’t say enough positive things,” Bowring said. “We have many other people working at our stations that are so jealous that the union is able to do this for our members.”

In New York, more than 70 members have taken the video editing training. “I can’t imagine a better use the SIF for CWA’s media sectors than this,” said Peter Szekely, secretary-treasurer of TNG-CWA Local 31222. “Learning to edit video is something many of our members need to know for their careers. The fact that we’re able to offer this important training shows what an important role we’re playing,” he said.

Looking Forward

NABET-CWA, TNG-CWA and CWA’s Printing Sector are also looking at the big picture: How can journalism and jobs in journalism survive and thrive in an era with millions of websites but a shrinking pool of independent news content?