Dinner was on us. Dallas News Guild travels to Fort Worth in support of striking Star-Telegram journalists.
Editor & Publisher and D magazines both reported last week that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram strike by Fort Worth NewsGuild represents “a major moment” in this new era of Texas newspaper unionization.
It’s the first known strike by a Texas newspaper newsroom in recorded history. Texas is, after all, a right-to-work state, an anti-union sentiment first created by a Dallas Morning News editorial writer in a 1941 Labor Day editorial.
Several Dallas News Guild members traveled to landmark restaurant Joe T. Garcia’s in Fort Worth last Tuesday in support of the strikers. Their destination was the annual holiday dinner hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists/Fort Worth chapter.
Members of SPJ and the Dallas News Guild paid for the meal for the almost 20 strikers who attended the event. They also treated the S-T strikers with gift raffle tickets for the event, knowing that they can’t afford frills like that in their ongoing battle with McClatchy.
Among those Dallas News Guild members or alumni in attendance were former DNG organizers Cassandra Jaramillo and Dom DiFurio. Also attending were Frank Christlieb, Linda Stallard Johnson (a member of DNG’s bargaining unit), and DMN’er Dave Lieber, who served as emcee.
Lieber praised the strikers for their courage, saying: “It's hard. What you did was show courage, man. It's the kind of courage that most of us never really have to face in our life. Anne Frank said whoever is happy will make others happy too, and he who has courage and faith will never perish in misery, and that's how I feel about you."
As Frank Christlieb reported in his heart-felt blog A Life of Words, “In an overflowing room at Joe T. Garcia's La Puertita venue across the street from the beloved landmark restaurant, we dined on cheese enchiladas, cheese tostadas, refried beans, chips and salsa, and the best guacamole you've ever tasted. And naturally, there were plenty of beers and margaritas to go with the delicious meal.”
Frank continued, ”But I'm quite sure everyone in attendance, many of whom, like me, will always feel part of the S-T family, was there to support nearly two dozen current Star-Telegram journalists embroiled in the fight of their young careers.
“It's a highly worthy one in which the opponent — their employer, McClatchy, now owned by hedge fund Chatham Asset Management — is fighting unfairly, with no compassion or concern for the well-being of the journalists who dedicate themselves 24/7/365 to the newspaper and the community with every interview they do and every story they write.
“Two tables in our midst were filled with S-T newsroom union members who went on strike Nov. 28 in a show of solidarity after two years of fruitless bargaining with management over pocketbook issues like wages and severance pay as well as sick leave. Rightfully, they received a supportive ovation from us, a crowd of approving, impressed and appreciative mostly older folks, many of whom are retired but could see themselves walking the same talk if they were a few decades younger.
“Of the newsroom's 23 union members, 21 are striking after the guild filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint in August. Reporter Kaley Johnson, the Fort Worth NewsGuild's vice president who spoke Tuesday night, says the strike won't end until a fair contract has been reached.
“Regarding salaries, the union has proposed a $57,500 starting wage, while McClatchy has proposed a measly $45,000, about what I was making when I left the S-T for The Dallas Morning News in early 2000. On the first day of the strike, one journalist held a sign that read, "My last raise was in 2016."
“What's worse, the company suspended participating Star-Telegram journalists' health care and other benefits three days after the action began, and also posted their jobs to be filled during the strike.”
Johnson thanked the hosts: “It means a lot to us. It really does. We’ve had a lot of community support.”
She told the audience that she feared the deterioration of the legendary newspaper.
“That has to end.”
She added, “This fight is no longer about us. .... This industry is struggling across the country, specifically because of for-profit companies that don’t care about local news.”
Bargaining chair Emily Brindley said the strikers are looking for living wages so they can afford rent. The Star-Telegram doesn’t offer any parental leave.
A favorite of ours is this photo of Star-Telegram journalist Megan Cardona. She reminds management, her peers and the community the slogan that legendary Star-Telegram publisher Amon G. Carter Sr. lived by:
“A man cannot live off his community, he must live with it.”
The strikers have a GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fort-worth-newsguild-strike-fund?qid=31c3e946a3befe06d351893d1301da25
The Dallas Morning News is part of the oldest continuously operated business in Texas and the state’s leading newspaper. Proudly, we are the first major newspaper newsroom in the state to unionize in the modern era.
The Dallas News Guild covers the DMN and Al Dia, which includes more than 130 journalists across all departments of the newsroom, including reporters, columnists, data journalists, copy editors, librarians, web producers, audio producers, page designers, photographers and videographers. Eligible newsroom workers voted in October 2021 by a margin of over 75% to form a union.
Keep up with our bargaining efforts on Instagram and Twitter — @DallasNewsGuild — and at the NEWS tab at DallasNewsGuild.org.
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