Washington Post Guild leaders endorse Jon

In February 2019, The Washington Post Newspaper Guild elected a new slate of unit leaders.

We were energized, excited and brimming with ideas — even though many of us had never before run a union.

But we’re journalists, and when journalists want to understand how something works, we’re trained to report it out. We got to work interviewing our colleagues about what they needed from their union; we formed committees about equal pay and diversity and updated our recruiting materials; we tried, from the bottom up, to create and maintain a database so that we could properly and modernly communicate with our members.

Quickly, we found success.

But we also soon realized that the challenges we were facing within our own massive open shop were reflective of the leadership shortcomings at the very top of our parent union. There was no transparency, no 21st century technology and no coordinated network with which to trade tips and secrets.

Once again, we reported it out — and we found an answer in Jon Schleuss.

At first, we did not know Jon. But we were more than familiar with the historic union drive taking place in his newsroom, the Los Angeles Times. We’d been admiring their wit, determination and creative organizing tactics for months, modeling our own efforts on their example.

We related to their vision.

Like us, they were energized, excited and brimming with ideas.

Once our reporting brought us to Jon, he went to work reporting on us. He listened with interest to our challenges and needs, quickly becoming an invaluable resource, crucial sounding board and treasured friend.

When our company eliminated Post Express and laid off 21 people, Jon immediately reached out to brainstorm response strategies. When Post management announced it was going to begin offering new parents 20 weeks paid leave, an issue the union had been pushing for years, Jon enthusiastically offered congrats. When we grew frustrated with the lack of support from current NewsGuild leadership, Jon activated his network across the country and helped us find practical solutions.

Because of this, we — members and leaders in The Washington Post Newspaper Guild — are thrilled to enthusiastically, confidently and proudly endorse Jon Schleuss for NewsGuild president.

Like us, he represents the future of our union.

Warmly,

Katie Mettler, co-chair for news and WBNG Local 32035 executive board member
Justin Moyer, vice chair for news and WBNG Local 32035 treasurer
Sarah Kaplan, chief steward
Alice Li, equity and diversity co-chair
Armand Emamdjomeh, Post Guild member and steward
Sophie Ho, equity and diversity co-chair
Maggie Penman, Post Guild member and steward
Hau Chu, secretary and WBNG Local 32035 executive board member
Anthony Rivera, Post Guild member and steward
Frederick Kunkle, chair emeritus and WBNG Local 32035 executive board member
Razzan Nakhlawi, Post Guild member
Tom Jackman, WBNG Local 32035 executive board member
Marissa Lang, WBNG Local 32035 executive board member
Joe Fox, Post Guild member and steward