Member meeting set for June 28 for Keenan Award, updates

The Guild will hold its semi-annual meeting for members from all units on June 28 to present the 2011 Thomas M. Keenan Newspaper Guild of New York Service Award and to conduct other business.

As reported, the 2011 Keenan Award was won by Jill Jaroff, a Sports Illustrated copy editor, who stepped up to fill a leadership void at the Time Inc. unit and went on to improve the working lives of her Guild-represented co-workers by uncovering previously overlooked contract provisions.

Members attending the meeting will also get reports on the state of the Guild and a preview of the CWA convention from President Bill O’Meara, Secretary-Treasurer Peter Szekely and Local Chair Ed Fannon. There will be an opportunity to ask questions as well.

The meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Newspaper Guild of New York, 1501 Broadway Suite 708 (between 43^rd and 44^th Streets) in New York City. Refreshments will be served.

Jaroff was chosen for the award by the Guild’s Administrative Committee, which received three separate nominations from her fellow Guild members at Time Inc. The nominating period was from May 20 through June 3.

Co-workers praised Jaroff for her close reading of the Time Inc. contract and attention to detail, as well as her ability to deal with management in a “low-key, civilized manner” and her efforts to reach out Guild-covered employees who are not members.

The annual award is named after Tom Keenan, a former unit chairperson at The New York Times, who died in December 2000 after a long battle with cancer. It recognizes the member who “has performed above and beyond the call of duty in service to the New York Local, and best exemplifies the ideals of a true labor leader, in the spirit of Tom Keenan.”