Media Guild of the West supports vaccine mandates

The Executive Committee of the Media Guild of the West, which represents NewsGuild journalists across the greater Southwest, has endorsed bargaining in support of vaccine mandates with reasonable medical and religious accommodations as a part of any comprehensive safety plan in the COVID-19 era.

Media Guild of the West thanks our members in California, Arizona, Texas and elsewhere who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 already. We urge anyone who can get the vaccine, but has waited, to do so as soon as possible. 

While vaccines have proven to be safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 deaths, the prevalence of breakthrough infections and high rates of community spread means that vaccine mandates should only be considered as part of a multi-layered approach to our safety. Working from home, masking, social distancing, improving indoor ventilation and other safety efforts remain essential.

The employers that depend on our members and their labor must work with their respective Guild leaders to craft these safety protocols. We are alarmed by employers such as Gannett who repeatedly have refused to bargain over health and safety protocols as the law requires. Nobody knows the risks of work better than workers, and implementing COVID-19 policies without our input gambles with our safety.

We will demand all employers bargain in good faith over all changes to our working conditions, including remote work and comprehensive health and safety issues.

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Media Guild of the West, 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.