Help DKG Solidarity Group celebrate Valentine's Day! This story is part of a series of I ❤️ DK Guild posts written by Community members to show their support for the writing, activism and site services work of DK Guild members. All of us together make Daily Kos the most vibrant progressive community on the net. Let's do everything we can to keep it that way!
I became a member of the Chicago Newspaper Guild as a teenager—at age 18—when I was hired as a part-time copy clerk at the Chicago Sun-Times shortly after I received a two-semester suspension from the University of Chicago for taking part in a sit-in.
I am now a retired member of the News Media Guild, Local 31222 of the Newspaper Guild–Communications Workers of America, which represents workers at The Associated Press, The Guardian US, United Press International, the Spanish EFE News Service, Oxford University Press, and Democracy Works.
And while I was working, I served as a shop steward and for several years was a member of our local’s governing Representative Assembly.
The News Media Guild’s mission statement reads:
A labor union dedicated to quality journalism through fair working conditions for the men and women who provide the news. These are hard times for journalists. Our jobs are being cut, our standards compromised. It doesn’t have to be that way. Together, the members of the News Media Guild are working to bring the best of the past into the future.
We went through difficult contract negotiations, made painful concessions, and dealt with layoffs (including my own). But the bottom line is that journalists fare better with Guild representation than without it. And management also fares better because it can attract and retain skilled professionals because of better workplace morale.
And It’s from that perspective that I feel a kinship with DK Guild members whom I’ve gotten to know and greatly respect for their talents and dedication as journalists and activists. I also have high regard for DK management for persevering in keeping this invaluable progressive platform going for more than 20 years.
There’s also a bigger picture. Labor unions have been a pillar of the Democratic Party, raising funds for candidates and providing campaign volunteers. And that’s why Republican politicians and judges have worked for decades to undermine the ability of unions to serve as a counterweight to corporate greed.
So I offer my heartfelt wishes for the DK Guild to have success in averting as many layoffs as possible and then moving on to negotiate a fair Collective Bargaining Agreement.
And I look forward to the day when the DK Guild, DK management, and the entire DK Community can work together to come up with creative ideas to raise funds and increase revenue so that this platform can remain a vibrant voice in the struggle to preserve and improve our democracy.
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