July 20, 2007
TNG, CWA and IAPE
As directed by the IAPE board at its meeting in May, IAPE sent a two-member delegation to The Newspaper Guild Sector Conference and the annual convention of the Communications Workers of America held July 12-17, 2007 in Toronto, Canada, where IAPE was singled out for special praise by the parent unions.
In addition to the routine TNG business on Friday and Saturday, Union President Steve Yount attended a membership meeting for IAPE represented folks in the Toronto bureau on Friday, fielding a variety of questions about bargaining and the News Corp. offer for Dow Jones & Company and then participated in a TNG workshop on mobilization and organizing, explaining how IAPE has managed to energize the membership in both the contract battle and in the organizing efforts at MarketWatch and Harborside.
IAPE Treasurer Olivia James attended Friday and Saturday CWA sessions on changes in union financial reporting standards and separate discussions on CWA/TNG initiatives on diversity.
The Newspaper Guild unanimously adopted a resolution supporting IAPE's efforts to provide the Bancroft Family with alternatives to the News Corp bid for Dow Jones & Company. Both TNG and CWA recognized IAPE's organizing success at MarketWatch and Harborside with CWA awarding IAPE $1,000 as one of just a half-a-dozen locals to organize more than a hundred new members in the past year.
In addition, IAPE was recognized with what CWA President Larry Cohen described as the union's highest honor, The President's Award, for IAPE's total efforts over the past year. IAPE is the first Newspaper Guild local to win the award.
The two major issues at the meetings were a debate over diversity and the future of the CWA locals in Canada. The convention delegates approved the creation of four at-large seats on the CWA board of directors designed to represent women and people of color and then endorsed a new agreement granting greater independence to Canadian locals with the creation of a CWA Canadian Region.
The next meeting of The Newspaper Guild Sector Conference will be in Providence, Rhode Island in February 2008. The next meeting of the Communications Workers of America is scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada in the summer of 2008.