A RESOUNDING VICTORY!
Dear Friends,
We have glorious news that all of us should rejoice over.
By a definitive and message-sending vote, journalists at LancasterOnline and WITF public media station voted Monday in favor of joining the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia.
I cannot be prouder of this group and Guild Executive Director Bill Ross, all of whom achieved this successful unionization vote in the face of pushback from the company that bordered on intimidation and even targeted Bill and office manager Pam Jackson, an outrageous tactic.
But our comrades at LancasterOnline and WITF stood strong, a demonstration of what we in the union movement say again and again: There truly is strength in numbers.
In their numbers are reporters just out of college and journalists who have been in the newsroom for nearly four decades.
“While we all brought different things to the table, we have been united in our belief that joining the NewsGuild is the very best way to ensure the future of news in Lancaster and central Pennsylvania for years to come,” said Brett Sholtis, an investigative reporter at LNP | LancasterOnline.
This brave action was born of a desire for better working conditions and to create a workplace that better values its journalists. And it should come as no surprise to Guild members that Bill Ross devoted exhaustive effort days, nights and weekends shepherding this to the conclusion we all now celebrate.
Let Brett tell you: “That signaled to our group, from the beginning, that this Guild is really special. So then, when it became my turn to make the case to my colleagues, it was really easy to tell them that this isn’t just any union. It’s a vital organization that will go to bat for its members.”
Indeed we will.
Please join me in welcoming these valued new members to our family. And let us all be ready to provide support as they work to secure a collective bargaining agreement that adequately compensates these superb journalists.
When we fight, we win!
In solidarity,
Diane