Nomination of Delegates

Feb 12, 2013 by admin

UNITED MEDIA GUILD LOCAL 36047

MEETING NOTICE

FOR NOMINATION OF DELEGATES

TO THE TNG SECTOR CONFERENCE AND CWA CONVENTION

We will accept nominations for up to (4) delegates for TNG Sector Conference and (2) of these four will be nominated to stay for CWA Convention.  This year’s Sector Conference and CWA Convention will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, April 19-20 (TNG) and CWA, April 21-23, 2013.

Any member in good standing is eligible to be nominated for these conferences.  The member nominated must accept nomination no later than 12 Noon the day following nomination.

If more than four TNG delegates are nominated for the Sector Conference (or more than two for the CWA Convention), there will be an immediate mail ballot election.

Travel Expenses and Fees will be paid by the local.

Members will not be paid by the local for lost time.

DATE OF NOMINATION MEETING: February 27^th, 2013

TIME:         12 p.m. and 6 p.m.

PLACE:      Guild Office

1015 Locust, Suite 735

Members that cannot make it to the Guild office may call and nominate someone 314-241-7046.

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

The “Holiday Party with an Attitude!”

Dec 10, 2012 by Shannon

This Thursday, scores of union members, activists, progressives and people who just like to party will gather at IBEW Local 1 to participate in Jobs with Justice’s Annual “Scrooge of the Year” Party.

Voting (it’s a fundraiser – one dollar per vote) takes place as sponsoring organizations make their case (some do it with a song, others with skits, others still with employee testimony) for why their “candidate” should get your vote for “Scrooge of the Year.”  To get a feel for what goes on at a Scrooge party, think of the worse boss you’ve ever had.  Then add a dash of corporate greed, mix in some political cronyism and you’ve got a recipe for what Jobs with Justice calls “The Holiday Party with an Attitude.”

Some winners in the past have received their award in an ambush-style presentation worthy of 60 Minutes (it really just depends on what the winning organization wants to do). Here for your perusal is a list of some past winners (make sure you check out 2003).

• 2000 – Then-Mayor Clarence Harmon for his efforts to kill Living Wage, Nominating organization was the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
• 2001 – Contract Cleaners Association for fighting efforts by area janitors to earn a living wage with decent health care benefits for their families, Nominating organization, Service Employees  International Union Local 50
• 2002 – Wal Mart for more reasons than we can list, but chief among them are driving down working conditions in the retail sector, robbing communities of their tax base through abuse of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), buying products made with sweatshop labor, and more….  Nominating organizations were UFCW Locals 88 and 655 and the National Organization for Women
• 2003 – Post Dispatch Publisher Terry Egger for stonewalling negotiations with the St. Louis Newspaper Guild.  Nominating organization was the St. Louis Newspaper Guild
• 2004 – Governor Matt Blunt for running on an anti-worker agenda that promised devastation for Missouri’s working families.  Nominating organizations were AFSCME District Council 72 and CWA Missouri State Workers Union
• 2005 – Lohr Distributing for breaking the backs, and the union, of its beer delivery drivers.  Nominating organization was Teamsters Local 600
• 2006 – Valley Park Board of Aldermen for creating new ordinances that would punish any citizen from selling or renting property to undocumented immigrants. Nominating Organization was the Immigration Rights Action Task Force
• 2007 – Illinois Distributing Company – for taking measures to gut the union contract which had been in place for over 40 years.  Measures included:  eliminating a guaranteed 40 hour work week, a 40-60% reduction in retirement benefits, and cutting health benefits just to name a few   Nominating Organization was Teamsters Local 50.

This year’s Scrooge candidates come from a variety of areas and online voting has already begun.  But why vote online when you can show up and join in the fun?  You’ll know lots of people – our local’s executive committee has purchased a table and will be out in full force.  Come on out and join us!

(He doesn’t know it yet but) David Carson is buying!

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

Nominations for 21st Annual Terry Hughes Award

Dec 6, 2012 by admin

Terry Hughes was 36 when she died of breast cancer on July 22, 1991.  A columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, her writing was clear, witty and descriptive, with a flair for portraying society’s underdogs.  Some of her columns chronicled the bouts with cancer that she and others faced.  One column was credited with helping persuade the Missouri Legislature to approve a bill forcing insurers to pay for mammograms.

One of the many readers who wrote to the newspaper after her death described her work this way: “Her columns were full of real life stories that touched us all and even changed our way of thinking or even our lives.”

The United Media Guild has established a writing award in the name of Ms. Hughes.  The award is intended to honor a journalist whose writing shows the talent that she displayed.

Any journalist in the metropolitan St. Louis area who has written for a daily or weekly newspaper or for a magazine is eligible.  Online publications are eligible as well.

Single articles of extraordinary merit will be considered.  Preference will be given to entries of between three and ten articles that display the writer’s range of talent.

Articles must have been published in 2012.  There are no formal applications.  Anyone may submit a nomination by sending copies of articles to:

The Terry Hughes Award Committee

United Media Guild

1015 Locust St.

Suite 735

St. Louis, Mo.  63101

The deadline for applications is Monday, January 7, 2013.  The award will be presented at the United Media Guild’s Annual Dinner in late January.

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

Executive Committee Nominations

Oct 25, 2012 by Shannon

Thursday, November 8, Local 36047 will have two local nomination meetings – at noon and 6:00 p.m. – in the Guild office (1015 Locust St, suite 735) for all Executive Committee positions.  The positions are three-year terms and will run from January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2015.

It is easy to place one’s name in nomination.  Simply show up and nominate someone.  If they’re not there to accept the nomination, have their signed acceptance with you.  Or, if you can’t make it over, just call the office during the meeting (314-241-7046) and we’ll have someone do it for you (we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to participate; however, we’ll then also have to check with the nominee to confirm that he or she is interested in running).

Once nominations are closed, if there are more nominees than positions, the local will conduct an election by mail in the month of December.  Officers will be sworn in at our Annual Dinner Meeting in January.

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

State Journal-Register “overwhelmingly” votes Guild

Oct 13, 2012 by Shannon

By a vote of 26 to 4, newsroom employees at the Springfield, IL State Journal-Register sent a strong message to their management while forging a new direction for their newspaper.  Six weeks previously, the United Media Guild submitted signed authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board which triggered a representation election at the GateHouse-owned property.  In the time leading up to the election, SJ-R employees stood firm as the paper mailed letters to their homes which were designed to dissuade them from voting for a union and then called them, in small groups, into the publisher’s office for captive audience meetings where unions, again, were the subject of the day.  However, management’s tactics fell far short of their target, as evidenced by today’s election result .

“I’m terribly proud of my coworkers,” said Dean Olsen, the longtime healthcare reporter, who helped lead the organizing effort.  “We wanted a formal voice in determining the future of journalism in Springfield and our group overwhelmingly supported that effort.  This is a great day.”

Afterwards, as the workers gathered at a nearby watering hole for celebratory beverages, many were laughing and talking excitedly about what comes next.  Olsen, watching it, stood off to the side with a grin, “I haven’t seen these guys smile like this in a long time,” he said.

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

Facts about retiree settlement checks

Oct 11, 2012 by admin

Please note that your settlement check envelope, which should be arriving any minute, looks EXACTLY like your pension check stub envelope.  DON’T THROW IT AWAY – there’s a check inside!

Also, contrary to what we had been told, Lee did NOT mail out two separate checks; taxable and nontaxable amounts were combined in one check.  There is, however, a breakdown on the stub that denotes the amount that was taxed and non-taxed.

Finally, as discussed at the retiree meetings, the portion of your settlement that is NOT reimbursement for medical expenses, is treated as payroll earnings for tax withholding purposes.   The company is legally obligated to withhold these taxes from any portion that is not a reimbursement.

We hope this information is helpful.

Related Posts

Tags

Share This