All posts by Jeff

Rockford/Freeport election set for Friday

Journalists at the Rockford Register Star and Freeport Journal-Standard will decide whether to join the United Media Guild. The National Labor Relations Board will supervise the election, which will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the second...

Extra benefits of union membership

Employees vote in the Guild because they want a collective voice in the workplace. That has enormous value during these challenging times in the media industry. The Guild is acutely aware of the financial challenges facing workers today. Our leaders...

The case for Guild representation in Rockford

Newspaper Guild representation has been extremely valuable to journalists caught in the historic upheaval in the media industry. Journalists in Rockford and Freeport should compare their experiences to what happened down south at the Peoria Journal Star and Pekin Daily...

Organized labor protests Koch Brothers’ Tribune Co. bid

Elsewhere around the county, organized labor is protesting the potential sale of the Tribune Co. newspapers to the Koch Brothers. Labor activists fear this sale would compromise the journalistic integrity of major newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune...

Rockford newsroom to vote on Guild representation

Newsroom employees at the Rockford Register Star and Freeport Journal-Standard are getting their chance to vote for Guild representation. The National Labor Relations Board will supervise a representation election June 21 in the second floor conference room at Register Star...

GateHouse shifts design house amid Register Star organizing

Shortly after employees at the Rockford Register Star signed authorization cards seeking representation from the United Media Guild, GateHouse Media announced plans to move its design house from Rockford's building (upstairs from the newsroom) to a yet-to-be-determined location next year....

Rockford journalists request representation

The vast majority of newsroom employees in the Rockford Register Star newsroom signed authorization cards last week seeking representation from the United Media Guild. The UMG asked Register Star to recognize our union and begin collective bargaining. We expect GateHouse...