News to close or merge four weekly Sun papers, three Guild members laid off
Saturday, January 9, 2021 by The Guild
The Guild has been informed that The Buffalo News will shut down two weekly Sun papers, and merge two others, resulting in the layoff of two part-time Guild reporters and one full-time Guild page designer.
One Sun editor will also be laid off. Two other Guild Sun reporters also recently resigned.
Both the Twin Cities Sun and Lancaster-Depew Sun papers will fold on Jan. 22. In addition, the West Seneca Sun and Orchard Park Sun papers will be combined into a single weekly paper.
The Hamburg Sun will continue unchanged.
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 by The Guild
A version of this letter by President Sandy Tan was previously emailed to Guild members and summarizes the many accomplishments of the Guild over the past year as we look back on 2020.
At a time when we’ve all been working under some of the most stressful conditions we’ve ever endured, the Buffalo Newspaper Guild has helped make it possible for us to continue to do great work while safeguarding members’ livelihoods and working conditions. continue»
Saturday, December 5, 2020 by The Guild
A year into his tenure as a reporter at The Buffalo News, a columnist approached Phil Fairbanks and asked if he would be interested in working with the Buffalo Newspaper Guild.
At the time, Fairbanks was covering business and labor, and was taking classes at Cornell’s ILR School, which specialized in labor relations and union organizing. But Ray Hill, the News’ longtime columnist, insisted that Fairbanks join the Guild’s bargaining team in 1987. Fairbanks’ role became vital as the Guild negotiated its next contract with management — Fairbanks coordinated posters and handed out buttons to fellow Guild members throughout the process of negotiations. Those tokens reminded the Guild and News employees what they were fighting for.
“The News wanted us to pay 20 percent of our health insurance premium, and that’s when other employers were going after that, and that was when the News was making money, hand over fist, a million dollars a week,” Fairbanks said. “When most workers were paying for their health care, we weren’t.
“But that’s what I’m most proud of, that first mobilization campaign. That’s when you see the solidarity of the union, and now, that makes me feel good about what I’m leaving behind.” continue»
Monday, June 8, 2020 by The Guild
At the same time the owners of The Buffalo News pushed to have every member of the Buffalo Newspaper Guild take two weeks of furlough, newsroom management found one way to cover for having fewer workers around.
They got some freelancers to do more.
While Guild members were forced to stay home from work and give up paychecks, at least two digital freelancers increased how much they wrote for the News, according to the Guild’s research.
This is occurring even though Guild leaders shared concerns with management, just prior to the scheduling of furloughs, about the increased use of freelancers during this difficult time. In response, management assured us they did not intend to expand the use of freelancers and were looking to scale back freelance usage during the furlough period.
Yet what some freelancers have written has steadily continued to encroach on the type of work Guild members have done or are doing.
More News
- Tentative agreement for Guild furloughs in Prepress unanimously approved
- Guild members approve agreement to allow furloughs
- A message from the Buffalo Newspaper Guild
- Bracing for change
- Winter 2019/2020 Frontier Reporter
- Statement on the sale of The Buffalo News to Lee Enterprises
- Holiday party closes out 2019 with cheer
- Guild Executive Committee approves Buffalo-Niagara Typographical Union merger
- Buffalo-Niagara Typographical Union votes to merge with the Buffalo Newspaper Guild
- NewsGuild re-running presidential election Nov. 12
- Guild members march in Labor Day Parade
- Guild, News team up to promote Labor Day subscription deal
- Election committee orders re-run of election for NewsGuild president
- Guild rep attends NewsGuild’s New Local Officers Seminar
- Guild members volunteer for annual Shoreline Sweep
- Guild members participate in annual Kids Day
- Guild rebounds from buyout losses with new Editorial hires, growth of Suns
- Sun paper expansion results in more hiring, raises for Sun-based Guild members
- Guild members reel from 17 buyouts, honor colleagues and look ahead
- Guild statement on freedom of the press
- Targeted buyouts in Editorial follow first-quarter losses from The News
- Vince “Jim” Ippolito
- Guild members vote to ratify tentative agreement
- Guild reaches tentative agreement on 3-year contract with no concessions or cuts to wages, benefits
- Members protest The News’ overreliance on freelance writers
- Guild members march in Labor Day Parade
- Guild gains editorial jurisdiction at The Hamburg Sun
- Two-year Guild contract secured after 10 months of negotiations
- Guild to host NewsGuild Multi-District Council meeting in June
- Guild members approve new contract
- Guild schedules contract vote for April 20
- Company updates employees on State of the News
- Tan succeeds Davis as Guild president
- Guild executive committee meeting minutes: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021
- Guild executive committee meeting minutes: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020
- Guild executive committee meeting minutes: Monday, Nov. 16, 2020
- Guild general meeting minutes: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020
- Sponsored content and The News — and what you need to know about it
- Guild general meeting minutes: Tuesday, September 29, 2020
- Guild executive committee meetings: Monday, September 28, 2020