Our public-outreach campaign is gaining steam after several successful days at the Illinois State Fair, where our members collected scores of signatures on cards inside the Labor Pavilion. Click on the link to our Facebook page (in the far right-hand column) to see some photos of the fun and camaraderie.
Look for members of the SJ-R Newspaper Guild wearing our beautiful, very visible, fluorescent-green T-shirts while marching Sept. 2 in Springfield’s Labor Day Parade. Please cheer us on! We will collect more signatures later that day, so if a civic, labor or religious organization would like us to stop by their picnic or gathering with cards to sign, please contact us.
Unit chairman Dean Olsen described our public campaign on WMAY’s Jim Leach show Aug. 8. A podcast of the interview is available. Olsen also talked with WTAX’s Ray Lytle about the status of negotiations in mid-July (go to 32:55 in the podcast to catch the interview).
Thanks so much to the many AFSCME members of Springfield-area locals who have signed cards in support of our effort to negotiate fair wages and benefits with GateHouse Media.
Among those joining us in solidarity in recent days have been our union brothers and sisters with AFSCME Local 2481 (Hope Institute workers), Local 370 (SIU School of Medicine), Local 3776 (ChristianCounty), Local 1964 and Local 1964 and Local 1019. Also thanks to AFSCME leaders Erik Hostetter, Michael Dillon, Jeff Bigelow and Yolanda Woods. Please forgive us if we’ve left anyone out, but we so appreciate AFSCME Council 31’s support in our quest for a contract that protects jobs and journalism at The State Journal-Journal Register in Springfield, Ill.
We will be at the bargaining table again with GateHouse on Tuesday (Aug. 20) and Wednesday (Aug. 21). We’re making some progress but have a long way to go.
Springfield Unit, United Media Guild 