A new attitude

USA Today had a story last week about Generation Y in the workplace.

The (very) big picture

Jonathan Tasini has an interesting post today about the way that the AFL-CIO split is playing out at the global level. (Of special interest to Newspaper Guild members: It involves CWA Executive VP Larry Cohen.) There's a lively comment debate at the end.

Hearst thinks ahead

During nasty bargaining at the San Francisco Chronicle with the Northern California Media Workers Guild in June, the Hearst Corporation went out and bought a bunch of potential strikers' Web domains. Read the story in the East Bay Express here.

They even bought Fuckthechronicle.com. I'll bet they could get their money back selling it on eBay.

(And FYI to any Seattle P-I and Times managers out shopping for next year: www.unionrecord.com? Still ours, baby.)

Early heads-up

Every Wednesday, KUOW (NPR affiliate in Seattle) does a 20-minute Canadian news update. (Hey, don't laugh! At this point, it's giving us 20 minutes more per week of Canadian news than regular listeners of the CBC during the lockout.)

Anyway, at the end of this week's segment, they said that next week's segment will be on CBCUnplugged. You can listen to KUOW on the Web (www.kuow.org). The Canada bit is on from 10 to 10:20 a.m. PDT next Wednesday.

Quick note

Yesterday, as CBC lockout blogs seemed to spring out at me from all corners of the Web, I decided to stop putting them in individual posts, because, well, that way lies madness ...
(I'll keep adding them to the sidebar, though.)

Solidarity? Not so much...

Jonathan Tasini provides some background on the Northwest mechanics' strike.

Down in the comments, it looks like a pretty lively debate is brewing.

Drowning in CBC lockout info

More Web sites and blogs. I'll add 'em to the sidebar later. Must finish errands:

CMG Halifax
Canada Now News
CBC On the Line
Hadeel (also author of Mind the Gap)

Et ce joueb ici est en français:
EmployéJetable

Get a protest button for your Web site from a viewer named Heather.

Update: Found a few more sites while posting these to the sidebar ... just look at the sidebar, because I'm getting woozy from all the coding. I don't actually know how to code. I didn't used to know, at any rate.

Seattle newspaper war update

Here's the latest on the Seattle newspaper war. Urk.

Another CBC lockout blogger

Here's Parkdale Princess.

They're happy and they know it

I just heard on the radio about a Web site called HappyNews.com - All The News That's Fun to Print.

There are even smiley faces all over the site.

CBC lockout updates

A few things:

1. Apparently, CBC's attempt at broadcasting football without professional staff did not go well last night.

2. We've been linked to as a CBC lockout blog by John Gushue ... Dot Dot Dot, but actually we're not a CBC lockout blog. This is a links/news update blog for "The Newspaper Guild/The Next Generation" and some members (and the chair) of that group are locked out. So naturally, the rest of us are quite interested, but we're also going to have news of unions and younger workers generally.

3. I might have a TeaMakers clue: Someone from inside CBC's Ottawa office came to this blog on Friday through a Technorati search on "tea makers." Don't know whether it's Ouimet him/herself, or just someone inside that building who was curious, but there it is, for whatever it's worth.

4. Calling Steve Dondley at Communicate or Die: Have you seen the blog explosion around this lockout? I'd have e-mailed, but I couldn't find your e-mail address, and I know you check your trackbacks. Anyway, I have a fairly up-to-date list in the sidebar, but there are undoubtedly more ...

That's all I know.

Northwest strike blog

Wow. They've been on strike since last night, and they already have a blog started.

It's cool that they have a way to donate, but I think I'd wait to make sure it's legit before clicking through a donation...

The PayPal idea is good, though. Might be something to consider putting up on the official Web sites of AMFA (Northwest strikers' union) and CMG (CBC locked-out workers' union), so that it's easy for people to donate (especially for international donations).

Update: Here's another Northwest strike blog.

Northwest strike

Northwest Airlines mechanics are going out on strike.

Always connected

This column in Wired is mostly about what the writer calls "sex tech," the impact of technology on relationships and sex lives. It's not union-related, but bear with me a minute.

The writer's in her 30s, and talks to younger people about her topic, but they can't really get what she's talking about, because they take take online connections with other people for granted much more than people just 10 years older.

Here's an excerpt:

"For us, the technology is still revolutionary.

But when today's high-school and college students enter the work force and scatter across the country, they'll take for granted their ability to connect. No one will have to write 'keep in touch' in a yearbook. They'll just keep each other on their buddy lists.

They already have strong personal networks that will evolve into professional networks as they advance in their careers.

Flirting and getting to know people online and off is already part of their worldview. And they'll always know how to meet people in their new towns, wherever they go.

Think how strong a force that is going to make them as they find their voices and push for social and political change."

The future of newspapers

According to this story in Chicago Reader, Chicago Sun-Times has a couple of new sections designed to attract younger readers, called "Fluff" and "Controversy."

"Fluff" and "Controversy"? Sounds like my kinda town ...

Another CBC lockout blog

Have I linked to Curious Monkey yet? The name sounds familiar, but I don't think I've seen it before. Gah. I'm losing track. Everyone in the whole union is blogging.

Anyway, I really liked this quote:

"The CMG is made up of a pretty diverse group of people, and not everyone is 'brother and sister' union friendly. And on some issues, I'd say I'm not much of a union person either. This is different. Our future livelihood is at stake, make no mistake. If new hires are the CBC focus right now for contract work, permanent employees will be on the radar next time round.

"So let's get one thing straight: if I see one asshole crossing my line, I'm throwing something at them."

Write your MP to support locked-out CBC workers!

A locked-out friend sent me this sample letter to send to a Member of Parliament, and I thought, "But I don't have one of those."

Then I remembered (duh!) that some people reading this blog are Canadians.
So if those of you who have a Canadian MP could take a moment and do that, it'd be really nifty. Also Heritage Minister Frula, if you have another moment. Thanks!

Couple of quick items: The New York Times has a story on the lockout today. (It's by free subscription, but if you don't want to bother, go to bugmenot.com. Enter the URL of the site that requires registration, and it spits out a username and password that anyone can "share.")

Also, cmgtoronto.ca has a new batch of picket-line photos.

Hey, turn your computer off!

StatCounter is a scream! It tells me that someone in Toronto read this blog for 12 hours today!

Which ... heck, I doubt it's taken me 12 hours to even type all this ...

Between you and me, I think it's just trying to butter me up because it heard that I got rid of my previous visitor counter.

More CBC lockout blogs and photos

A few more, from a Technorati search:

The Garret Tree (Robin Rowland)
TR in Winnipeg's photos on Flickr
Angie Geworksky's lockout photos

PhylG's CBC Lockout 2005 slideshow on Flickr
Parkdale Pictures (John E. Turner)
The Matt Watts Blog
Vancouver photos

You know what was weird for me, though? I kept seeing references to this blog in the search. It was like that moment that Marty McFly of the future crosses paths with Marty McFly of the almost-future or slightly-more-future, back in the past. Or something.

Maybe a technological ourobouros...

Anyway,I guess that would explain our how we got visitors from Belgium and Texas last night.

I'll put these in the sidebar and post to the CMG Toronto board about them tomorrow. I'm tired now.

One more

Here's a blog called Secular Healing. The author's been blogging for the past couple of years, so there's other content, but he or she is locked out now.

A CBC worker's kid

This blog seems to be primarily about other stuff, so I'm not putting it into the sidebar links, but here's a really nice post about the lockout and the issues, and here's an excerpt:

"I'm very proud of the CMG and my father. They're engaged in the best form of labor action - they aren't looking out for themselves, they're looking out for us."

Read this, then go hug someone you're related to.

Two more CBC lockout bloggers

Here's John Gushue in St. John's.

Here's Gertie in Toronto.

I'll add these to the sidebar, and post them at cmgtoronto.ca, too...

BTW, here's something I didn't know before I started following CBC/CMG negotiations: In French, a strike (une greve) is feminine and a lockout (un lock-out) is masculine. Not sure why. Wonder if it has anything to do with Lysistrata?

Pumped out

Newspaper carriers are feeling the pinch of higher gas prices.

You see, they don't get a mileage reimbursement or expenses. Their costs come out of whatever the papers pay 'em:

"While many American workers see their wages adjusted yearly for the cost of living, many C.J. contractors say with the cost of gasoline approaching $3 a gallon, they're making less money today than they did five, 10, even 15 years ago."

Worth a thousand words

(From the Globe & Mail)

God loves the locked-out CBC worker

No, really: look.

Update: Father Elliott points out that my original title, "God is on the side of the locked-out CBC worker," suggested that God takes sides, so I've adjusted accordingly. (I was kinda kidding with the original title, but it's probably not very nice to kid about what God thinks...)

Be vewwy quiet ... I'm hunting wabbits...

Strange new hobby I've got: Hunting CBC lockout-related blogs...

Here's another lockout-related blog: yougeek.ca. This guy used to work at CBC and his wife is a producer there.

Another locked-out blogger

Here's jenkew in Saskatchewan.

This may turn out to be the most blogged labour disruption ever. I'll have time later this evening to consolidate these into their own section in the sidebar of this blog, so that they just don't float away into the archive.

The hits keep coming

Newspapers are being dumped by Hollywood for not being young and sexy enough. LA Weekly has this story about how, demographically speaking, we're a bunch of losers.

CBC lockout updates

CMG Toronto's Web site seems to be keeping more current than CMG national's these days.

They're producing a great newsletter. (PDF)

Also, here are a few blogs by locked-out workers:

iloveradio.org

@lager heads ...

Dan Misener likes the radio

Mind the Gap

And one by a manager:
the tea makers


Here's a link to CMG Toronto's discussion board.

Silver lining

Journalism prof Floyd McKay has a guest column in today's Seattle Times about how Western Washington could benefit from the whole newspaper swap. (Which, OK, isn't exactly a radical idea, considering that two Gannett papers are becoming Knight-Ridder papers...)

CBS goes looking for the new lost generation

The New York Observer reports that CBS execs recently picked the brains of its interns for ways to make the improve the evening news.

Tentative agreement at Qwest

Hey! They have a tentative deal at Qwest!

Here's the CWA press release.

More lockout photos

A CBC worker in Saskatoon has posted some photos from the picket line.

Qwest update

According to this story, Qwest and CWA are "very close to an agreement."

CBC lockout stories

There's plenty out there if you do a Google news search of "CBC lockout," but I particularly liked this one in the Globe and Mail. (I'd have gone with the Gaza anecdote for the lead because it's so vivid instead of Peter Mansbridge's whereabouts, but he's probably a bigger deal if you're Canadian and actually familiar with the programming and personalities.)

This story at the Macleans Web site is very detailed.

"Freedom Walk" protest

Guild members at the Washington Post have called on the paper to pull its sponsorship of the so-called "Freedom Walk." Read the Editor & Publisher story here.

Update: The Washington Post has pulled its sponsorship.

CBC lockout photos

Hey, CMG Toronto has posted photos from the first day of the lockout. Check the rest out here.

The new Guild Reporter's up

The August issue of the Guild Reporter is posted at the mothership. Looks like a good one, with stuff on labor's lack of vision, the AFL-CIO split, the absence of young workers at the AFL-CIO convention, etc.

Hey, is it my imagination, or is there a lot going on in the union this summer? Well, you know what they say: We live in such interesting times...

Update: Hey, the whole thing's good, but David Bacon's piece on vision rocks the house. Seriously, y'all. Make time to read it. And then go out and start the revoluuuuuuuuution!!!!!

Profs on the next generation of journalists

I'm trying not to be overly newsroom-centric here, but this is a pretty interesting story from PressThink:"Things I Used to Teach that I No Longer Believe." (Credit for the link: Romenesko on Poynter.org)

Predictably, some of the profs and people who left comments, say that the j-school kids today are a bunch of money-grubbing kids with an "entitlement" mentality. But one prof shares a story about a girl who turned down a $200,000 scholarship because she decided she "just can't be in such a terrible profession." Instead, she wants to go do something where she can make a difference.

CBC workers locked out

CBC workers are now locked out. I can't find any news stories on it other than the one I just saw on the CBC's own Web site, and I refuse to link to that one for obvious reasons.

I promise to link to stories as soon as they come up, though.

Update: Here's CTV's Web story. I think it's just the CP story from a few hours ago with a new lead tacked on.

The Globe and Mail has a slightly different version of that same CP story. (This one has an additional quote from CBC exec Richard Stursberg>)

We'll probably have to wait until morning for any real coverage on what's going on.

Update (10:36 p.m. PDT): The Globe and Mail has a new story, with its own reporting.

Qwest strike on hold

Apparently, bargaining's going a bit better, so CWA and Qwest will continue talking past tonight's deadline.

Read the CWA press release here.

Also, AP reports that Qwest has backed down from its proposal to increase mandatory overtime, but they're still stuck on health-care and retirement-plan proposals.

Keeping the CLCs together

AFL-CIO is considering offering "solidarity charters," which would allow locals of recently disaffiliated unions to continue to participate in their central labor councils. Check out the stories at Working Life, Workers Independent News, or the press release at the AFL-CIO site.

Update: Apparently, Change to Win doesn't like the proposal.

The not-so-great depression generation

OK, first I have to apologize for this link to those of you who may already be having a depressing enough day, but I thought this blog entry was interesting.

It talks about how Generation X seems statistically more depressed and mentally ill than other generations. Provides some context and insight, but it won't cheer you up any...

CBC lockout notice

CBC has filed a 72-hour lockout notice. The corporation can lock out workers as early as 12:01 a.m. Monday. Read the Canadian Media Guild's latest bargaining updates here.

CBC update

Liz Brown alerted us to this story from the Globe and Mail about where things stand in negotiations between the CBC and the Canadian Media Guild.

Youngstown update

The CWA Web site has a story on the Youngstown strike settlement. This story provides more context than some of the wire coverage, which didn't explain the differences between the deal that the local accepted and the ones they had rejected.

American Apparel

In These Times has a provocative piece on anti-sweatshop clothing retailer American Apparel. (Also check out the comments below the original story: They quickly disintegrate into a weird little fight, but then some of the later comments start to get rational again.)

Fun with chains

Seattle Weekly editor Chuck Taylor (former Guild member and Seattle Times reporter who was editor of the Seattle Union Record during Seattle's two-newspaper strike in 2000-2001) speculates on what the whole newspaper shuffle means for Western Washington.

Another perspective on unions

Here's a column on unions by Seattle Times columnist Bruce Ramsey.

(I am unfamiliar with the experiences that have led him to his conclusions, as Mr. Ramsey has not participated in activities of our local since the time that I became involved. He was, er ... not a participant ... in our 2000-2001 strike.)

Freedom of ... what?

Management at the York (Pa.) Daily Record has proposed new contract language that would make it a fireable offense for workers to disparage the newspaper.

Here's a quote from the E&P story (link above):

"People are horrified," said Lauri Lebo, unit chair for the York Local 38218 of the Newspaper Guild, which received the proposal earlier this month. "I actually shrieked when I read it."

Note to management: You want people to stop disparaging you? Stop trying to pull stupid sh*t like this.

News from the North

Sorry there was no post yesterday. (Some of us were out on an SEIU organizing blitz.)

Things seem to be going rather badly in the talks between CMG and CBC.

Read a bargaining update here.

More on trouble in the house of labor

Jonathan Tasini at Working Life has another update here on what Guild-represented staffers at AFL-CIO are facing. Lots of comments already posted about it.

"Union's Appeal Lost on Younger Workers"

I heard this broadcast as I lay half-awake the other day on my alarm-clock radio, and thought, "Am I now starting to hallucinate entire radio segments?"

But it's actually a real-live story on how younger workers, especially high-tech and white-collar workers, don't see labor as being relevant to them. It features our own WashTech dude, Marcus Courtney.

"Why I Don't Trust Readers"

Jack Shafer has an interesting piece in Slate about readers' attitudes toward the mainstream media.

Flash mobs

Stay Free Magazine has an interview with "Bill," the guy who invented flash mobs. They talk about social networking and making memes.

"Quoted Individuals Not Pictured"

CWA has a new Web site for members to post our first-person stories on healthcare.

OK, so you go there, and these comments scroll past, along with these nice photos of people who seem to be the ones quoted: Words from Sheila C., who refers to retiring in 25 years, are accompanied by a photo of a woman in her 40s, and there's a shot of a woman with a child next to the comment of Nicole Z., a single mom.

Then you read the little note below each photo: "Quoted Individuals Not Pictured"! Kinda makes me want to submit something just to see who they'd come up with for me. (If the people in charge of that Web site are reading: I can be bought. Promise me a pretty photo, and I'll write you a killer healthcare blurb!)

Labor celeb culture

Wondering what Harry Kelber looks like? Here's a GIANT shot of him making a speech in Chicago (along with others from the Labor Action Coalition convention and the AFL-CIO convention, if you scroll down).

Guild positions at AFL-CIO

Jonathan Tasini has a post about what's going on with Guild members who work at AFL-CIO. (Again, haven't had time to read this; props to Communicate or Die for pointing out this post.)

A word from the Wobblies

OK, I didn't have time to read this because it's long and I have stuff to do this morning, but it mentions the recent Guild agreement in San Francisco and 91-year-old CWA member (or ex-member, depending on whose version of events you believe) Harry Kelber.

(Sorry for the excessive hyperlinking. I'm just so happy to be able to make hyperlinks, that I've gone a bit, er, hyper.)

This just in

Big news in newspapers today:

1. The Detroit newspapers have been shuffled.
2. There's a tentative agreement in the Youngstown newspaper strike.

That's all I know... Hell, that's all I want to know for one day.

But wait, there's more: As part of the deal, Knight-Ridder is taking over the Gannett papers in Boise, Idaho, and (in Western Washington): Bellingham and Olympia. (Anyone here at the Times besides me starting to feel like the center square of a Tic-Tac-Toe board?)

Update #2: Strikers at the Vindicator approved their contract, 50-41.

Polls? What polls?

A Voice of America piece on the future of unions, reports this about younger workers:

"Another potential avenue for union growth is organizing America's younger workers. Public opinion surveys indicate that young people, who hold many service-sector jobs, tend to be more supportive of unions than those in their parents' generation. But Cornell University's Richard Hurd cautions that it will be difficult to turn that support into union membership."

Dying to know what polls, though...

No fraternization

This is just the craziest thing I've ever read. The NLRB upheld an employer's ban on off-duty association among co-workers.

I'm sorry; I just don't even have anything funny to say about that.

Linda Foley's fan club

Remember how certain bloggers and cable news personalities were upset with TNG International President Linda Foley's comments on the military and journalist deaths?

Well, a couple of months later, they're still at it, calling for her resignation. Since the original incident, she's even said that wasn't what she'd meant to say.

The right's concern for our welfare is touching, although I wonder whether it's motivated more by their great respect for journalists or their enormous love of unions. Discuss.

Entering the echo chamber...

OK, so now I'm going to do what blogs get criticized for: refer to a thing that refers to us referring to them, this Communicate or Die post that (I think) is our very first link from the outside world. (Squeeeee!!!)

Anyway, though, check out the AFSCME local Web site being singled out for praise. It's pretty.....

Who is this creature they call TribbleKat?

Steve Dondley asked who TribbleKat is (see comments in the post below), and I realized that a little introduction may be in order.

Sorry for the inadvertent anonymity; I have so many masks that I sometimes forget when I'm wearing one. (I'm seattleyoko (and Norma Rae, Mother Jones and alsoyoko) in the TNG/TNG forum; I have a mostly dormant ID in Second Life; plus one or two other identities, but if I told you about those, I'd have to kill you (Judy Miller, this means you, too!))

Anyway, in daylight, I'm Yoko Kuramoto-Eidsmoe, and I'm secretary of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild/CWA Local 37082. Tribble is my cat's name, and I've stolen his identity because he doesn't go online much these days (carpal-paw syndrome). That ID is attached to this blog because of a pre-existing Blogger account I had when I set this one up.

TNG/TNG is The Newspaper Guild/The Next Generation, a group of Guild members working on the problem of getting younger workers involved in the union and younger/newer members involved in the union's leadership. Others are leading the charge on a lot of the RW stuff (and I'll leave their intros up to them), but I'm kinda the groundskeeper at our virtual meeting hall.
(Not that I know what I'm doing, tech-wise; I accidentally killed 30 posts (mostly my own) from the "other links" thread on our forum the other day while trying to transfer them here.)

I deleted the "profile" section on this blog's sidebar, because this is supposed to be a blog for the group, not just me. Plus, I didn't want anyone here incriminated by being linked to my personal blog.