Communist
9th September 2009, 15:10
Truthout Has Unionized (http://www.truthout.org/090809A?n)
Truthout becomes the first online-only news site to
unionize
Dear Readers,
We, Truthout's employees, have come together and
unionized our workplace. On Thursday, August 27, we
held the nation's first-ever virtual card check, and we
are now proud members of The Newspaper
Guild/Communications Workers of America. We're excited
to be further aligning ourselves with Truthout's core
values. Please check out today's lead story, which
chronicles our unionization effort.
Our promise to you, our readers: We will work with
renewed vigor to grow this organization, expand
original coverage, zero in on key issues and serve your
interests to the best of our abilities for years to
come.
Sincerely,
The Truthout Staff
=====
Truthout becomes the first online-only news site to
unionize
by: Maya Schenwar and Matt Renner,
t r u t h o u t - Report
Tuesday 08 September 2009
http://www.truthout.org/090809A?n
On the night of Thursday, August 27, a small group
gathered in a quiet, bare room in Pacific Palisades,
California, preparing to sign off on the future of an
organization and spur the momentum of a movement.
Though the meeting was brief and inconspicuous, it made
history.
A member of Truthout's board of directors had signed a
recognition statement, granting Truthout employees
membership in The Newspaper Guild/Communication Workers
of America. Earlier that evening, Truthout had held the
country's first "virtual card check," verifying union
cards with faxed PDFs of each employee's signature. We
became the first online-only news site to successfully
unionize.
"It points to what is possible going forward," said
Truthout's union representative, Shannon Duffy, of the
St. Louis Newspaper Guild. "For other employee groups
who are scattered around the country, this is a model
that organizers may want to attempt. It made the
Internet a tool of organization that it had never been
before."
Truthout's unionization was unique in that employee
recruitment, meetings and strategy sessions all came in
a virtual form, according to Bernie Lunzer, president
of The Newspaper Guild/Communication Workers of
America. The members of the Truthout organizing
committee were based in New York, Sacramento, Los
Angeles and Chicago, respectively.
"We've certainly represented wire services for years
that were far-flung, but we've never done any
organizing where the group never saw each other or the
organizers face to face," Lunzer said.
Moreover, the virtual card check introduced a new tool
to ease the process of unionizing, at a time when many
workplaces are spread out over different states - or
even different continents.
"It made a theoretical practice - online card check -
into a reality," said Patric Verrone, a television
writer and president of the Writers Guild of America,
west (WGAW), who led the historic 2007 writers' strike.
"As such, it will allow for employees with many
disparate locations to sign a union representation card
without the expense and complications of traveling to a
central location."
Verrone served as Truthout's "third party neutral"
during the card check, counting employees' union cards
to verify a majority. He noted that the labor movement
has paid more attention to online workers in recent
years. One product of the 2007 writers' strike was that
the WGAW's jurisdiction expanded to cover media made
for the Internet.
Making Online Organizing Work
Employers of online-based employees often claim that
unionization isn't feasible since there's no central
location where employees can meet, according to
Verrone. He also notes that, since many web sites are
small start-up operations, it's easy to claim that
budgetary woes make union benefits an unrealistic
luxury.
Signing.
However, telecommuting employees often need a union
just as much as on-site workers.
Internet-based employees share many of the same
concerns that prompted workers to start unionizing in
the first place, although they may look different in a
virtual context, according to Lunzer. He pointed to the
issue of work hours as an example of an age-old
workplace problem that manifests in new forms for
online workers.
"The myth is there's this group of young, digital-savvy
workers who live all day on the Internet," Lunzer said.
"The truth is, all workers need a life. Online workers
are beginning to say, we need to sort this out - work
is a part of life we enjoy, but it's not our whole
life. In a way, they're just like the textile workers
in New England who worked long hours every day and
didn't get Saturdays off."
So, how does one organize a union, when there's no
basement or living room to meet in, no cafeteria in
which to mingle?
We found tools like Skype and Google Documents,
formerly just helpful devices that made work a little
easier, to be indispensable for organizing work. We
spent long hours on conference calls, "meeting" at
night, each in our own living rooms, or kitchens or
backyards.
"It mostly came down to a lot of hard work," Joshua
Jacobo, one of the founding members of the Truthout
Organizing Committee said, adding, "The organizers
worked over 80 hours a week for months in order to make
this a reality and I'm thrilled that we did."
Although we didn't share a common workspace, we shared
a common philosophy and common values - the same values
that inspired us to care about Truthout itself.
"Even though the people who were organizing together
never met during the process, their belief in Truthout
helped them bond and trust one another," said Sari
Gelzer, Truthout's newly elected unit chief. "The
workers really felt this was the right direction, so
they decided to take that leap."
As Truthout's staff moves forward into contract
negotiations in the coming weeks, we are venturing into
barely charted territory. Only a sprinkling of web
sites have ever unionized.
"This union contract is really going to set a
precedent," Gelzer said. "I look forward to seeing its
impact not only on the labor movement, but also on the
news industry as a whole, as it continues to transition
to online publications."
The Struggle for Card Check
Not all workplaces enjoy the right to unionize by card
check alone.
Under current law, the process of unionization begins
when at least 30 percent of workers sign blank cards
from an existing union, indicating they want to join.
Employers can then decide whether to recognize the
union right away, or to require that the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) hold a secret-ballot election.
During the interim period between "card check" and
election - sometimes lasting weeks or months -
employers often pressure, coerce and even fire
employees attempting to organize. Many unionizing
efforts collapse during this period, crushed by fear
and intimidation.
However, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), currently
awaiting a vote in Congress, would alter unionization
procedures, adding a "card check" requirement. It would
demand that employers and the NLRB recognize a union if
the majority of employees have signed cards.
The card check provision in EFCA can be compared to the
"public option" in the health care reform bill,
according to Lunzer. It's a vital part of the
legislation, but Congress members are under extreme
pressure from business interests to cut it from the
bill.
Lunzer said it's unclear where card check stands
currently.
"Before the Senate went on recess, it looked like the
card check provision was going to be removed," Lunzer
said. "But the movement - from the top down - has said
there is a plan to go forward, to get Employee Free
Choice and not let it get watered down to the point
that it is basically destroyed. There's a new
dedication to getting it done."
The Truthout unionization effort was bolstered by a
commitment from our Board of Directors to abide by an
organization-wide card check as the only step necessary
for union recognition.
"The Truthout Board of Directors needs to be
acknowledged for their very progressive role in all
this," organizer Duffy said. "The Board is a group of
people that truly do live their values."
Today, as Congress returns from recess, the labor
movement's eyes are trained on EFCA. For labor-
sympathetic journalists following the story, it's an
anxiety-filled wait. What's at stake for us is not only
the right to unionize fairly, but also the opportunity
to exercise our true freedom of speech: to tell it like
it is, without fear, not only on our pages but also on
the job. With freedom of speech comes the power to
investigate, to ask tough questions, to keep democracy
going strong.
"Journalists are inquisitive people who want to know
why things are the way they are," Duffy said. "I hope
to God that never goes away."
[Maya Schenwar is Acting Executive Director of
Truthout.
Matt Renner is a senior editor and Washington reporter
for Truthout.]
_____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _____________
__________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________ __
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them tointerpret the world and to change it.
Truthout becomes the first online-only news site to
unionize
Dear Readers,
We, Truthout's employees, have come together and
unionized our workplace. On Thursday, August 27, we
held the nation's first-ever virtual card check, and we
are now proud members of The Newspaper
Guild/Communications Workers of America. We're excited
to be further aligning ourselves with Truthout's core
values. Please check out today's lead story, which
chronicles our unionization effort.
Our promise to you, our readers: We will work with
renewed vigor to grow this organization, expand
original coverage, zero in on key issues and serve your
interests to the best of our abilities for years to
come.
Sincerely,
The Truthout Staff
=====
Truthout becomes the first online-only news site to
unionize
by: Maya Schenwar and Matt Renner,
t r u t h o u t - Report
Tuesday 08 September 2009
http://www.truthout.org/090809A?n
On the night of Thursday, August 27, a small group
gathered in a quiet, bare room in Pacific Palisades,
California, preparing to sign off on the future of an
organization and spur the momentum of a movement.
Though the meeting was brief and inconspicuous, it made
history.
A member of Truthout's board of directors had signed a
recognition statement, granting Truthout employees
membership in The Newspaper Guild/Communication Workers
of America. Earlier that evening, Truthout had held the
country's first "virtual card check," verifying union
cards with faxed PDFs of each employee's signature. We
became the first online-only news site to successfully
unionize.
"It points to what is possible going forward," said
Truthout's union representative, Shannon Duffy, of the
St. Louis Newspaper Guild. "For other employee groups
who are scattered around the country, this is a model
that organizers may want to attempt. It made the
Internet a tool of organization that it had never been
before."
Truthout's unionization was unique in that employee
recruitment, meetings and strategy sessions all came in
a virtual form, according to Bernie Lunzer, president
of The Newspaper Guild/Communication Workers of
America. The members of the Truthout organizing
committee were based in New York, Sacramento, Los
Angeles and Chicago, respectively.
"We've certainly represented wire services for years
that were far-flung, but we've never done any
organizing where the group never saw each other or the
organizers face to face," Lunzer said.
Moreover, the virtual card check introduced a new tool
to ease the process of unionizing, at a time when many
workplaces are spread out over different states - or
even different continents.
"It made a theoretical practice - online card check -
into a reality," said Patric Verrone, a television
writer and president of the Writers Guild of America,
west (WGAW), who led the historic 2007 writers' strike.
"As such, it will allow for employees with many
disparate locations to sign a union representation card
without the expense and complications of traveling to a
central location."
Verrone served as Truthout's "third party neutral"
during the card check, counting employees' union cards
to verify a majority. He noted that the labor movement
has paid more attention to online workers in recent
years. One product of the 2007 writers' strike was that
the WGAW's jurisdiction expanded to cover media made
for the Internet.
Making Online Organizing Work
Employers of online-based employees often claim that
unionization isn't feasible since there's no central
location where employees can meet, according to
Verrone. He also notes that, since many web sites are
small start-up operations, it's easy to claim that
budgetary woes make union benefits an unrealistic
luxury.
Signing.
However, telecommuting employees often need a union
just as much as on-site workers.
Internet-based employees share many of the same
concerns that prompted workers to start unionizing in
the first place, although they may look different in a
virtual context, according to Lunzer. He pointed to the
issue of work hours as an example of an age-old
workplace problem that manifests in new forms for
online workers.
"The myth is there's this group of young, digital-savvy
workers who live all day on the Internet," Lunzer said.
"The truth is, all workers need a life. Online workers
are beginning to say, we need to sort this out - work
is a part of life we enjoy, but it's not our whole
life. In a way, they're just like the textile workers
in New England who worked long hours every day and
didn't get Saturdays off."
So, how does one organize a union, when there's no
basement or living room to meet in, no cafeteria in
which to mingle?
We found tools like Skype and Google Documents,
formerly just helpful devices that made work a little
easier, to be indispensable for organizing work. We
spent long hours on conference calls, "meeting" at
night, each in our own living rooms, or kitchens or
backyards.
"It mostly came down to a lot of hard work," Joshua
Jacobo, one of the founding members of the Truthout
Organizing Committee said, adding, "The organizers
worked over 80 hours a week for months in order to make
this a reality and I'm thrilled that we did."
Although we didn't share a common workspace, we shared
a common philosophy and common values - the same values
that inspired us to care about Truthout itself.
"Even though the people who were organizing together
never met during the process, their belief in Truthout
helped them bond and trust one another," said Sari
Gelzer, Truthout's newly elected unit chief. "The
workers really felt this was the right direction, so
they decided to take that leap."
As Truthout's staff moves forward into contract
negotiations in the coming weeks, we are venturing into
barely charted territory. Only a sprinkling of web
sites have ever unionized.
"This union contract is really going to set a
precedent," Gelzer said. "I look forward to seeing its
impact not only on the labor movement, but also on the
news industry as a whole, as it continues to transition
to online publications."
The Struggle for Card Check
Not all workplaces enjoy the right to unionize by card
check alone.
Under current law, the process of unionization begins
when at least 30 percent of workers sign blank cards
from an existing union, indicating they want to join.
Employers can then decide whether to recognize the
union right away, or to require that the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) hold a secret-ballot election.
During the interim period between "card check" and
election - sometimes lasting weeks or months -
employers often pressure, coerce and even fire
employees attempting to organize. Many unionizing
efforts collapse during this period, crushed by fear
and intimidation.
However, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), currently
awaiting a vote in Congress, would alter unionization
procedures, adding a "card check" requirement. It would
demand that employers and the NLRB recognize a union if
the majority of employees have signed cards.
The card check provision in EFCA can be compared to the
"public option" in the health care reform bill,
according to Lunzer. It's a vital part of the
legislation, but Congress members are under extreme
pressure from business interests to cut it from the
bill.
Lunzer said it's unclear where card check stands
currently.
"Before the Senate went on recess, it looked like the
card check provision was going to be removed," Lunzer
said. "But the movement - from the top down - has said
there is a plan to go forward, to get Employee Free
Choice and not let it get watered down to the point
that it is basically destroyed. There's a new
dedication to getting it done."
The Truthout unionization effort was bolstered by a
commitment from our Board of Directors to abide by an
organization-wide card check as the only step necessary
for union recognition.
"The Truthout Board of Directors needs to be
acknowledged for their very progressive role in all
this," organizer Duffy said. "The Board is a group of
people that truly do live their values."
Today, as Congress returns from recess, the labor
movement's eyes are trained on EFCA. For labor-
sympathetic journalists following the story, it's an
anxiety-filled wait. What's at stake for us is not only
the right to unionize fairly, but also the opportunity
to exercise our true freedom of speech: to tell it like
it is, without fear, not only on our pages but also on
the job. With freedom of speech comes the power to
investigate, to ask tough questions, to keep democracy
going strong.
"Journalists are inquisitive people who want to know
why things are the way they are," Duffy said. "I hope
to God that never goes away."
[Maya Schenwar is Acting Executive Director of
Truthout.
Matt Renner is a senior editor and Washington reporter
for Truthout.]
_____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _____________
__________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________ __
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them tointerpret the world and to change it.