MERGER UPDATE

California Guild Executive Committee endorses merger outline

Media Workers local would combine with CWA 9415 and Hawaii Guild

24 Jun 2010

California Media Workers Guild

Members of the Executive Committee of the Media Workers Guild endorsed a merger outline Saturday that could create a powerhouse communications local in the West, uniting the San Francisco-based Guild, the Hawaii Newspaper Guild and Oakland-based CWA Local 9415.

The tentative outline suggests the merged local be called the Pacific Communications and Media Guild. It would be a diverse alliance, one of the largest in the CWA, with more than 5,000 members drawn from industries including newspapers, language services, broadcasting, cable TV and regional,  long-distance and cellular telephone service.

The merger plan will take the approval of members of all three merging locals in order to take effect. Saturday's vote authorizes creation of membership working committees to draft a detailed plan, which ultimately would include a new set of bylaws to govern the combined local. Previously, the Executive Committee and Representative Assembly approved a "Stratgic Review" resolution that led to the drafting of the merger plan.

Other CWA locals in the Bay Area have considered joining in the innovative alliance. For now, however, the plan calls for a merger only of the two Guild locals and CWA 9415, which already includes members spread through the Bay Area as well as in Hawaii, Nevada and Southern California.

All individual bargaining units and contracts would be unchanged. No unit mergers are being proposed. Instead, the plan anticipates creating a new regional structure that would allow local resources to be pooled and shared more efficiently across a wider group of bargaining units.

Already, officers and staff of the three locals are collaborating with the international Guild and CWA District 9 to help the Hawaii Guild cope with the closure of the Honolulu Advertiser. Members of the Guild's Bay Area News Group-East Bay hold their unit meetings at CWA 9415 headquarters in Oakland.

One of the main goals of the merger would be to enhance organizing prospects in emerging communications industries. Leaders also propose to collaborate in such areas as communications and administrative infrastructure.

The unanimous vote Saturday by the Executive Committee endorsed principles contained in the following outline, which already has been accepted by leaders of the Hawaii and CWA locals:

Proposed Merger Outline
June 11, 2010

Note: Here are some ideas and suggestions for merging, offered as starting points for discussion, following the principles contained in the Strategic Review Resolution approved by Media Workers Guild, Hawaii Newspaper Guild and CWA Local 9415.

Broad framework: A three-local merger of Hawaii Guild, California Media Workers Guild and CWA Local 9415 (Oakland). Additional locals could be added now or in future through a process to be agreed, with voting rights to be determined.

1. Name: Pacific Communications and Media Guild, CWA Local XXXX.

2. Merger Transition Committee: Principal Officers of each merging local.

3. Bylaws: To be drafted by the Merger Transition Committee or its appointees, with counsel. Or defer to post-merger bylaws committee for referendum of combined membership by date certain.

4. Merger Agreement/Process: To be drafted by Merger Transition Committee or its appointees, with counsel. Discuss approval/referendum process (two-step voting of merger in concept, followed by vote on bylaws? All-at-once?)

5. Structure: (proposed, to be determined by same arrangement)

Divisions: May be some value in a tiered structure based on geography, industry or history. Benefits might include staffing, dues processing, representation. But we also should avoid unnecessary divisions that undermine solidarity and the new local’s cohesion overall.

Units: List all bargaining units and discuss ways of grouping units to determine representation (see No.9 below), encourage organizing, foster good communications and build bargaining power.

   Examples: Hawaii Newspapers (three bargaining units), Hearst (San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate), MediaNews Group (three bargaining units), McClatchy Newspapers (three bargaining units), California Federation of Interpreters (four regions), Printing Trades (multiple units), Guild Freelancers, New Media (online news and nonprofits), Radio and TV (KPFA), Cable Communications (Comcast), Telephone (Bell legacy), Long-Distance (AT&T), Mobile Communications, Manufacturing, etc. 

6. Executive Committee (meets monthly or at call of the President)

            President

            Executive Vice President

            Vice Presidents (One each per merging local or major unit.)

            Recording Secretary

            Treasurer

            All the above would be elected, rank-and-file positions.

7. Principal Officer: Executive Officer is a full-time staff position, appointed by the Executive Committee and serving on EC in non-voting capacity at the pleasure of the EC. Note: CMWG elects its Executive Officer, one of three TNG locals with this feature.

8. Staff: Hired and managed by the Executive Officer, with compensation and major hiring/firing decisions subject to ratification by a personnel committee (the EC could itself serve as the Personnel Committee).

9. Executive Board: (meets quarterly or at call of the President)

            Membership: Executive Committee plus delegates.

            Each Unit would have its own unit chair serve as a delegate, plus more delegates by a formula based on size of unit (1 per 50 now in the Guild.) This would be the policy-setting and budget-approving rank and file leadership entity. The Executive Committee and Executive Officer, and staff, would implement policies and meet monthly to review issues as appropriate.

            Consider below with modifications…

            1. Contractual units with 100 members to 750 members shall have one (1) Contractual Vice President and one (1) Alternate. Units with 751 to 1500 members shall have two (2) Contractual Vice Presidents and two (2) Alternates. Units with 1501 to 2500 members shall have three (3) Contractual Vice Presidents and three (3) Alternates.

            2. Contractual Vice Presidents and Alternates shall be elected as per Article XI from each contractual unit with one hundred (100) or more members.

            3. Those contractual units with less than one hundred (100) members shall be combined and treated as one contractual unit called the Communications Systems Industry Unit.

            4. Contractual units shall be defined as follows:

            a.            Single employer with a single contract

            b.            Single employer with multiple contracts

            c.            Multiple employers sharing a single contract

            d.            Community of Interest employers as determined by the Local Executive Board.           

10. Choosing initial slate: All elected positions would be filled initially by appointment through the Merger Transition Committee until the Executive Committee is formed, to serve as provisional officers until an election could be held within 90 days (too soon?) of the merger effective date (or the normal CWA local election cycle). The first vice president would be from a CWA local if the president is from a Guild local, and vice versa. So the No.1 and No. 2 positions could not both be from any one division or local.

11. TNG and CWA sectors: The local would belong to appropriate CWA and TNG sectors, and would participate through delegates chosen per CWA constitution from the relevant division/sector. Per caps would be divided in line with membership strength.

12. Dues: Processing and tracking systems would be centralized and harmonized where possible. We should recognize the need to take due care in this area, and perhaps seek technical assistance and some time to achieve best result given the different systems now used. No dues increased by merger.

13. Employees: Staff would be maintained at current strength or even expanded initially, but ultimately reduced through attrition. CWA resources and assistance would be sought while officers determine how staff best deployed, trained, and compensated, in line with unit needs and agreements. A key goal of the merger would be to find ways to improve quality servicing for all members while keeping costs down.

14. Communications: Given the type of work our members do, the diversity of the locals we would be combining, and the wide geographic reach of the merged local, effective communications will be essential. We would want to plan for an ambitious platform of websites and social networks, running from an active central hub staffed and maintained by professional standards. Printed newsletters as desired.

15. Organizing: Active and expanded organizing (including mobilizing and member recruitment in open shops) would be a major priority and staffed with 75/25 CWA assistance, drawing from ranks and with our own regional organizing institute to train rank and file organizers.

16. Assets: Offices and other assets would be managed by the Executive Committee and Executive Officer. No immediate closure or sales of offices anticipated, but this would be a long-term goal as efficiencies emerge.

17. Legal and Other Services: There will need to be an organized process to identify best vendors for insurance, legal and other local-wide vendors.

18. Backout: Discuss plan to respect local assets for a reasonable transition (backout) period for any merging entity. This may best be handled by a statement of assets for each participating local (kind of like a pre-nup) which could be used to divide assets in the event of any future split. That kind of protection lasts essentially forever as opposed to a dissolution process written into a merger agreement.

19. Cultures: This merger brings diverse organizations into a dynamic collaboration. This raises exciting possibilities and also highlights critical differences. Journalists, for instance, value professional neutrality. Court interpreters share that ethic, but as public-sector employees have an active lobbying presence in Sacramento. CWA has a long tradition of political engagement for worker interests. The challenge will be to create strength from this diversity, respecting differences and building unity.