WBNG Collective Bargaining Update

With the staff of the Georgia AFL-CIO having recently signed a three-year agreement, the Washington-Baltimore News Guild now has 30 shops on its roster. The Peach State’s labor federation contract will expire March 30, 2020.

In other local action:

The 35-member unit at the Center for Popular Democracy, which ratified its first Guild contract the first of the year, is under the leadership of Michele Kilpatrick and Art Reyes. According to Local Representative Rick Ehrmann, the two are serving as “acting co-chairs” until unit elections are held.

To prepare for talks over a contract that expires June 30, the Guild staff (25 workers in the unit) at the headquarters of the National Association of Social Workers have elected a bargaining committee that includes Dina Kastner, Rochelle Wilder, and Helen Williams.

The Advancement Project, a 15-member shop organized in January, has begun bargaining with a team comprising Andrew Ambrogi, Danielle Davis, Carolyn Steptoe, and local rep Ehrmann.

Also working on its first Guild contract is the 20-member unit at the FP Group, which publishes Foreign Policy magazine and associated web newsletters. The shop was organized last summer as the result of a 16-to-1 vote in favor of WBNG representation. The bargaining team consists of Dan De Luce, Elias Groll, Molly O’Toole, Ben Soloway, Reid Standish, and Local Representative Paul Reilly.

Currently negotiating successor contracts that have expired but remain in effect are the 62-member unit at UFCW headquarters and the 17-member unit at Jobs with Justice.