Union's Legal Hammer
Pounds at Grievances

Unions can always be stronger but here's proof that the Guild is working to protect your rights and benefits.

Remember that laundry list of problems in Circulation, about 17 separate grievances?

Now, there's only one.

All but one of the Circulation grievances has been settled, each one short of arbitration and not a single settlement that hurts the Guild.

A lot of the credit can be traced to The Newspaper Guild-CWA new Legal Services Program, operated out of Washington D.C. It promised to oversee and pay for many of the 17 grievances if they required arbitration.

By relying on this program, local Guild leaders could seriously threaten arbitration with the knowledge that TNG-CWA's "deep pockets" would cover the cost.

In September 1998, a grievance was filed by Twana Williams, a Classified Advertising employee, against The News for discrimination based on her race. The Guild and The News have had two meetings over the issue with no settlement. Therefore, pursuant to approval from the membership at the October meeting, the Guild intends to pursue arbitration to reach a settlement for Williams.

The Guild will continue to update the membership throughout the course of the month on the progress of the pending grievances from department to department.