Coronavirus Update 6: Town Hall Meeting Tomorrow Night

Dear Members, 

Tomorrow, our Executive Committee will host a Guild-wide Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m. to discuss the NewsGuild-CWA (our parent union) resolution calling on congress for stimulus relief for media companies across the nation experiencing financial duress as a result of this pandemic. We will also talk about how our Local is negotiating and mobilizing around COVID-19-related issues that arise in our workplaces. 

The TNG resolution was announced last week — and supported by our Executive Committee — at a time when unionized newsrooms across the nation are implementing significant furloughs, pay cuts and layoffs and our colleagues are experiencing financial hardship and personal distress as a result. Our own Local has a few units that have faced these challenges. 

During the meeting we will hear from Jon Schleuss, President of TNG-CWA about the resolution and next steps; our own Rachel Sanders, Unit Chair at BuzzFeed News, about how we negotiated in response to proposed pay reductions; Bill Baker, Unit Chair at The New York Times and our representative on the TNG-CWA Executive Committee; and from Andrew Pantazi, a currently furloughed reporter from The Florida Times-Union and a member of the Florida Times-Union Guild. There may be additional guests. 

We know that many of you have thoughts on this stimulus proposal and might have questions about how our Local is fighting to stave off permanent staff reductions. Please join us tomorrow night at 7 p.m. for a virtual town hall meeting. 

Please email josh@nyguild.org for access to the meeting. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions.

In solidarity,
Susan DeCarava 
president@nyguild.org