CHICAGOIn an organizing move most Chicagoans, along with veteran journalists with a sense of history, never expected to see, the Chicago Newspaper Guild-CWA officially announced an organizing drive at the Chicago Tribune. No election date has been set.
If successful, it would mark a watershed for the Guild, the city and the paper. In its 171-year history, the Tribune, long Chicagos leading newspaper, has been strongly if not violently anti-union and pro-right wing, combined.
For at least a century, the Tribune was the voice of Midwestern isolationism. It was a power in Republican politics since at least the Great Chicago Fire. In its heyday under opinionated sole owner Col. Robert R. McCormick, its circulation extended into many states. The Trib was and is an unrelenting foe of FDR, the New Deal, Democrats, organized labor and minorities. For the Tribune, in its news and editorial columns, Ike was too liberal.
And a years-old State Department blue fact book, with details about every nation, listed each newspaper in the U.S. as Independent, except the Tribune: Independent Republican. The Tribune under McCormick was known for slanting its news columns, not just its editorials.
And it loved Mayor Richard J. Daley the father and the Boss -- if not his son, also mayor.
The papers present owners, an investment group, appear to care little about the quality of the paper or its staff, and that helped lead to the union drive, the 46-staffer organizing committee announced in an open letter to their colleagues.
In the past few weeks, weve talked to most of you about our hopes for the Chicago Tribune and its community publications. Those conversations have convinced us: Its time to form a union. Were hoping youll join us, thelettersaid.
Rather than improving the Tribune or paying heed to its staff, the company owners last major move was an unsuccessful bid to buy Chicagos other metro daily, the Sun-Times, which is unionized in order to close it. That bid lost to a syndicate headed by a wealthy local Democratic alderman and including the Chicago Federation of Labor.
The Tribune Company, now calling itself Tronc, also owns other papers. And its attitude shows up at them, too. When the staff at its #2 publication, The Los Angeles Times, voted this year to unionize with The News Guild, Tribune sold the Times to a local Chinese multimillion-aire weeks later. The Guild-represented staff at the Baltimore Sun is still seeking a local buyer.
Before the current owners, real estate magnate Sam Zell milked the Tribune and Tronc, then took it into bankruptcy. Zells reign was so bad that even the federal bankruptcy referee, prodded by the Suns Guild rep on the creditors committee, rejected bonuses to Zells team.
The Tribune union organizing drive is the Guilds fifth campaign among journalists this year. The others were at the Los Angeles Times, the Casper (Wyom.) Star-Tribune, Mic.com and the Missoula (Mont). Independent. And on April 16, the staff at the 100-plus year-old New Republic voted to join the News Guild of New York. The magazine has 12 staffers.
Theres an uprising among journalists a fight for the heart and soul of the profession, said News Guild President Bernie Lunzer. Its evident in the union organizing campaigns. Its also evident in thedefiant actions of the editors of the Denver Postand in the reaction to theoutrageous demands of Sinclair Broadcasting.
Sinclair, which is even more right-wing it sends its radio and TV stations canned must-read scripts for their newscasts pushing conservative ideologies and the Trump administration is trying to buy Troncs radio network. Various progressive groups oppose that bid before the Federal Communications Commission. The Denver Posts editorials blast the investment group which owns Colorados leading daily and which has drastically cut its staff to increase profits.
Journalism is in turmoil, but as the industry searches for a business model that allows working journalists to remain true to our mission, there is tremendous potential for positive change. The journalists of the Chicago Tribune are playing a great part in that struggle, Lunzer said.
The organizing committee described themselves as veterans and newcomers, among them many prize-winners, all dedicated to providing our readers with the first-rate coverage of local, state and regional news they expect.
But a series of corporate owners Tronc being only the most recent has jeopardized our ability to do great work. Regular raises, cost-of-living adjustments and job security are non-existent. The cost of our healthcare has significantly increased. Our maternity and paternity policy is inadequate.
Development opportunities the kind that allow us to achieve professional goals and to enrich our news coverage are rare. We have lost many talented colleagues to higher-paying jobs that offer better protections and more possibilities for advancement.
And although we live in a racially and ethnically diverse city and state, diversity is not well-reflected in the newsroom. A more diverse staff will help guide coverage that fully reflects the lives of the many types of communities in and around Chicago. We can do better.
Our primary goal in forming a union is to give us, the Tribunes journalists, a voice in setting the course for the publications we hold dear. This includes the Aurora Beacon-News, Daily Southtown, Naperville Sun, Elgin Courier-News, RedEye and Hoy, the organizers said.
We believe the union is an investment in our work, in ourselves, in our readers, in our city and state. They signed off with a slogan: For the Chicago Tribune. For Chicago.
Source: PAI