Every two years the Communications Workers of America Convention recognizes locals that have organized at least 100 new members with award plaques along with $1,000 prizes.
This year’s weeklong meeting took place last month at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, and several of the winning locals used the award to pay it forward, donating the money to help with the longest current strike in America — that of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh.
Those units and others decided to support striking Pittsburgh workers and their fight to win a fair contract from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that has been going on for two years and nearly 11 months.
Diane Mastrull, president of the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, painted the background of her unit’s generosity by saying that “it wasn’t a question,” and that she and Executive Director Bill Ross got together and made it happen.
“A union is one big family, and when one unit suffers, we all suffer and need to pitch in,” she said. “We were honored by the award, but we also knew the money was needed more in Pittsburgh.”
The Philadelphia unit also helped manage the Pittsburgh strikers fund in the early days of the dispute.
Mastrull said she was able to attend the oral arguments at the Third District Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in the National Labor Relations Board’s case on behalf of the Pittsburgh strikers, which remains in those judges’ hands.
One final note was personal for her. “[PG Executive Editor] Stan Wischnowski once worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer,” and “the thought that he would lead the company in a strike against workers was so offensive.”
Pacific Media Workers Guild #39521 was another NewsGuild-CWA local to lend the Pittsburgh unit a hand. The organization is based in San Francisco and also represents Northern California and Hawaii.
“We have been able to grow our guild recently by organizing quite a few nonprofit organizations and newsrooms like the Public Library of Science,” said its president, Annie Sciacca.
She said that her executive board understands that in a nearly three-year fight like the Pittsburgh workers are involved in, everyone is interested and willing to help at first, but then attention tends to fade.
However, the Pacific Media Workers not only came through at this year’s Pittsburgh convention, but also it donated its winnings from the same Organization Award two years ago to the Pittsburgh strikers during the St. Louis CWA convention.
The Pacific Media Workers executive board voted unanimously to send the award check again to the Pittsburgh strikers as a show of union solidarity.
“We understand that it has been a long fight for sure,” said Sciacca, “but we recognize and honor the effort to be still in the fight after such a long time.”
Dan Gabor is the president of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild #32035, which also donated its $1,000 check to the Pittsburgh strikers.
“We have supported Pittsburgh from the beginning. We are one union, and we need to support our siblings in Pittsburgh until they win their fight,” he said.
“We have seen employers across the board, not just in journalism, pushing the limits of contracts and demands. Bosses never give workers anything without a strong union being involved,” he added.
The Washington-Baltimore News Guild also gave a $1,000 prize check to the Pittsburgh striking workers after the CWA convention in St. Louis.
The generosity at this year’s CWA convention also included a $1,000 organizing prize donation from the NewsGuild of New York, which also donated that prize money in St. Louis. President Susan DeCarava was thanked during the convention for an earlier donation, just one of many ways, big and small, that New York has supported Pittsburgh.
She said that her guild feels a special kinship with Pittsburgh’s and “have felt keenly the sacrifice you’ve made. … You were put in an impossible situation, and you’ve held the line.
“You’ll always be top of mind for us.”
The solidarity extended beyond organizing awards. One small, 12-person TNG-CWA local in upstate New York, Kingston Newspaper Guild 31180, which represents the rank-and-file employees of the Daily Freeman newspaper, pitched in $1,000 of its own money just because, well, it’s about family.
President and veteran news reporter Patricia Doxsey said her once much larger local voted unanimously to give the gift back in July, and she presented it when she was here for the convention. “We thought that rather than have it sit in the bank, we would do some good for some of our union brothers and sisters. You are they.”
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh First Vice President Ed Blazina was extra touched that the small unit apologized that it couldn’t give more. “Such tremendous generosity makes you want to make it be worthwhile and then pay it forward.”
Blazina said that it makes him remember a phrase he once heard: Solidarity is a verb not a noun. “You have to do something to make it happen and these people are doing just that.”
CWA Organization Awards, such as the President’s “Hat” Award and the Organizing Award, recognize members and locals for outstanding achievements in union organizing and growth.
Other prominent CWA awards include the Morton Bahr CWA STRONG Award, honoring locals for their enduring efforts, and the Paul Wellstone Award for using political action to achieve the union’s goals.
These awards are presented to celebrate successes in the past year and to encourage continued dedication to building worker power.
The Pittsburgh strikers are also grateful for thousands of dollars donated by individual workers and union staffers during the convention.
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh President Zack Tanner said, “I believe that the generosity of so many, and our ability to keep going for three years, shows employers everywhere that they are not just dealing with one local. They are dealing with the entire [NewsGuild] and CWA.
“When we stand together, we show companies that unions can stand up for basic workers rights and win.”
Joe Knupsky
Joe is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jknupsky@gmail.com.