Union workers at the San Francisco Chronicle and their supporters — numbering close to 200 — rallied on Oct. 25 to protest the Hearst corporation’s attempts to kill off the union members’ healthcare plan during contract negotiations. The union is Pacific Media Workers Guild, CWA Lo. 39521, encompassing almost 300 reporters, editors, graphic artists, office personnel, mailroom and other workers. Hearst cites economic problems for its demands of economic concessions from the union members, but its cuts do not extend to management nor non-union employees.
The union has already accepted drastic concessions in the contract renewals of 2005 and 2009. This time around, the mood of the workers is for a fightback. During the noontime rally, many members came out from the Chronicle to hold a picket sign, along with many supporters of other unions like UNITE, S.F. Firefighters, Operating Engineers Local 3, AFT 2121 teachers, Teamsters, National Writers Union UAW, CWA Local 9410, CWA District 9 organizers, and the union’s Retirees Club. The ANSWER Coalition also mobilized for the rally and provided sound and logistical help as well. Tim Paulson, executive officer of the 87,000-strong S.F. Labor Council praised the strength of the rally and pledged the council’s support for the union’s struggle to maintain the Chronicle workers’ current healthcare plans. PMWG executive officer Carl Hall told the crowd, “We are not going to sacrifice the right to quality, affordable healthcare. Hearst has gone too far.”
Hearst, a billion-dollar empire, is one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, with 15 dailies, 38 weekly newspapers, 300 magazines, 39 television stations through Hearst Television, Inc. The union’s struggle is a formidable challenge, but the solidarity and unity displayed outside the Chronicle shows the way to beating back the corporate attack.
Gloria La Riva, a 31-year employee at the S.F. Chronicle, is president of the Typographical Sector of the PMWG Lo. 39521.
