Media Guild of the West members support SB 1044, higher safety standards

Media Guild of the West members, at a July 11, 2022, quarterly membership meeting, voted 96% to 4% to adopt the following resolution endorsing California Senate Bill 1044 (Durazo) and similar policies that boost journalist and media worker safety in hazardous work environments:

Whereas, California lawmakers are debating a bill, SB 1044, that would allow workers to leave or refuse to report to dangerous disaster zones and other hazardous areas without retaliation from their employers;

Whereas, many journalists and media workers place themselves at risk to cover dangerous events such as wars, riots, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes to bring newsworthy and essential information to the public;

Whereas, California law has rightfully recognized this unique role of the press and afforded duly authorized journalists access to areas otherwise closed to the public due to emergency conditions or unrest;

Whereas, many journalists and media workers cover hazardous stories willingly, but often without the same level of training, equipment, resources and support provided to first responders and other emergency workers in the same environments;

Whereas, frontline journalists and media workers often work alone, sometimes with poor communications access, and have more information than remotely based supervisors about working conditions in the field;

Whereas, journalists and media workers are best suited to assess their own risks and should be legally empowered to decide for themselves whether their working conditions have become too dangerous;

Therefore, be it resolved:

The members of Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39219, support California Senate Bill 1044 and similar statutory and collective-bargaining policies that allow journalists to remove themselves from unsafe work environments or to refuse dangerous assignments without the threat of discipline, punishment, loss of pay, loss of benefits, or other forms of employer retaliation. 

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Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213, was founded in 2019 and represents unionized journalists and media workers at the Los Angeles Times, Arizona Republic, Pop-Up Magazine, Phoenix New Times, Desert Sun, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Southern California News Group.