Media Guild of the West members endorse the PRO Act

Resolution passed by Media Guild of the West members 54% to 46% at the July 12, 2021 membership meeting:

Whereas, the journalism industry is experiencing a historic surge in new labor organizing across the United States;

Whereas, many journalists and media workers by the thousands are forming new unions to protect themselves from rapidly changing working conditions, discrimination, deteriorating standards of living, and widespread industry uncertainty;

Whereas, many of these journalists and media workers have found common cause by organizing with the NewsGuild-CWA and its locals, including Media Guild of the West;

Whereas, many industry employers are now owned and operated by hedge funds and private equity firms whose business models depend on paying workers as little as possible, regardless of the impact on workers, readers, and their communities; 

Whereas, this employer behavior includes trying to prevent employees from unionizing, even when a clear majority of employees have expressed their wishes to form a union for mutual aid and protection;

Whereas, these employers then often engage in bargaining tactics and other practices that flout federal labor labor law with little consequence; 

Whereas, these practices are frequently encountered by the NewsGuild-CWA and its locals, including Media Guild of the West;

Whereas, these employer practices make it more difficult for many workers unionize and to bargain first contracts within a year of organizing, resulting in prolonged labor disputes that are contrary to the National Labor Relations Act’s intent to promote collective bargaining;

Whereas, federal labor policy impacts the Media Guild of the West’s institutional rights, its collective bargaining responsibilities and the working conditions of its members;

Therefore, be it resolved:

The members of Media Guild of the West, NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213, support measures such as the federal Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 that, as introduced, would make it easier for journalists and media workers to carry out their wishes to organize unions, bargain first contracts in a timely manner, and to otherwise engage in mutual aid and protection without employer interference.