Guild General Membership Meeting January 25, 2018
Ice Cream!!!
Guild Members,
Now that I have your attention, I’d also like just a few minutes of your time Thursday afternoon.
I along with 9 other of your colleagues will take the oath of office to serve on the Guild executive board this year. We would be honored to have you with us, since our service is all about you. For the convenience of most,
we will meet at 801 Market St. (Sorry SPP and Cherry Hill, and DFM & ROC Units, but we promise road trips this year.)
Also on the agenda is a proposal for a name change for our union to better reflect what our industry is today. We are asking you to vote in favor of The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia becoming The NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia.
And then, yes, there will be ice cream!!
See you at 801 Market, in the public room, Thursday, Jan. 25, at noon. I’ll bring the spoons,
In solidarity and humility,
Diane
President TNG-CWA Local 38010
AGENDA:
Installation of 2018 Executive Board
Voting on new By-Laws
We want to begin the new year with renewed commitment and dedication to protecting our members’ interests, providing them a loud and clear voice to obtain fair and equitable wages and benefits, and improved working conditions. As part
of those efforts, the Executive Committee over the past several months has agreed to propose the following changes to our By-Laws for adoption by the General Membership. These changes have been approved by the News Guild International Executive Board assuring
that there are no conflicts with TNG’s Constitution.
Below is a summary of the proposed changes, the most significant being a name change.
Article I – Title, Area and Structure – name change from The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia to The NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia. Obviously, a lot has changed since our Local was chartered by the Guild, over 80 years
ago. News, which was always at the core of the Guild’s mission, is still very much alive, but most of the newspapers that were around when we first chartered are gone, and the circulations of those that survive peaked years ago. Most of the growth in
today’s news business is in digital-based organizations. For the Guild to best position itself to organize and represent journalists in the online world, we need to shed its vestige of the 20th century. Several other Guild locals
have already dropped “newspaper” from their names and in January 2015 our Washington-based parent union also dropped “paper” from its name to become The News Guild-CWA. We are one of the largest Guild locals and we’re surrounded by digital start-ups. It’s
time we did the same. (No matter what our name is, we will remain Local 38010 of the Communications Workers of America.)
Article II – Local Officers – reduction of two Vice Presidents and the modification of the role of Treasurer. The “one newsroom” concept eliminates the need for these two positions.
Article III – Executive Committee – elimination of Representative Assembly. Its role as it related to the Executive Committee will be assumed by the General Membership. This elimination will create a more direct line of communication
to all members.
Article IV – Representative Assembly – eliminated in its entirety. As the name suggests, a select group of members represented the membership.
Today, our size makes it more collaborative to involve the entire membership when considering issues.
Article VII – Meetings – Elimination of all Representative Assembly meetings. Executive Committee is empowered to convene general and special membership meetings.
Article VIII – Quorums – Modified to reflect that four (4) shall constitute a quorum of the Local’s Executive Committee.
Article X – Dues and Assessments – Modified to only describe the Executive Committee’s roles and responsibilities in defining and complying with TNG-CWA’s Constitution relating to the scheduling and collection of dues, establishment
of initiation fees, assessments, enforcement of payment of delinquent dues and penalties. Initiation fee increased to $10.00. Please direct any dues questions to the Guild office.
Article XI – Committees – Standing committees modified to include only: Admissions and Membership, Constitution and Rules, Finance, Human Rights, Community Service, Health and Safety, Pay Equity, Women’s Committee and one (1) Contract
Negotiating Committee and one (1) Grievance Committee. If you are interested in serving on any of these committees, please contact the Guild office.
Article XIII – Publicity – Modified to include Executive Director with the power to speak publicly or issue press statements for the Guild. This currently is the practice and this change will allow the By-Laws to reflect the Executive
Director’s authority to do so.
Please take the time to review the By-Laws and plan to attend the next General Membership meeting scheduled for:
12:00 Noon on January 25, 2018 in PMN’s Public Room, located on the 3rd Floor,
801 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA. It is at this meeting that we will conduct a vote on the adoption of the proposed changes to the By-Laws. If you are unable to attend, please cast your vote via e-mail on or before
January 25, 2018. To vote by email, simply send an email to
guildbulletin@local-10.com indicating a Yes vote to approve or a No vote to reject the By-Law changes. A copy of the current By-Laws can be found on our website:
www.local-10.com
Diane Mastrull President TNG-CWA Local 38010
Bill Ross Executive Director TNG-CWA Local 38010
The Executive Board TNG-CWA Local 38010
