Guild Leader at the AFL-CIO endorses Jon for President
When I signed my union card and became a member of The NewsGuild, I didn’t know what my union did, i didn’t know where my money was going, what it was benefitting, or who it was serving. I signed my card under a simple premise - unions are good and they provide power and a voice to workers; at the time, that was good enough for me.
Dan Gabor
Two years later, having just been elected as Unit Chair of the AFL-CIO Unit of the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild, I faced a challenging task - preparing my members to honor the pending strike of our sister union, OPEIU Local 2, which represents the administrative and janitorial staff at our employer.
I knew that having their back was the right thing to do; but, as a new leader, I was not all too excited about keeping people on a picket line after they started missing paychecks. I pushed ahead, and relied on the advice of my members to leverage our power - the power of 160 people between our two units, to avert a strike. Not once did I think of asking for help from The NewsGuild.
That’s a problem. As a dues paying Member of a 20,000 member union, The NewsGuild should and can be our resource to exercise a greater collective power than any of us have on our own!
Something needs to change. We need to get stronger, more organized, more mobilized, and more engaged with the fights facing our co-members across the globe.
It’s for that reason that I proudly endorse Jon Schleuss for President of The NewsGuild. I am confident that Jon will bring new ideas and new energy to a union whose potential is yet to be fully realized.
We are at a turning point, and experience trying the same failed tactics and methods of years and decades past will not change our future - Jon’s forward looking judgement and commitment to engaging our entire membership will.
Please join me in voting for Jon Schleuss for NewsGuild President and let’s take stand together to move our union forward.
Today, I’m contributing toward Jon’s election. Spending money on a union election seems strange; but, I truly believe that providing Jon with the resources to reach NewsGuild members and engage them in a discussion on what we should be fighting for is worth my personal investment.
Join our reform movement today and contribute to elect Jon as our President!
Let’s reclaim the potential of the NewsGuild as a union of the people and for the people and remember that our power, together, is greater than any employer. Let’s elect Jon Schleuss as President.
In solidarity,
Dan Gabor
Unit Chair, AFL-CIO
Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild (TNG-CWA 32035)