Guild Service Award
Dan de Souza Memorial Award for Member of the Year

Nomination Letter for Bill Salganik

March 10, 2009

It’s a good thing that Washington-Baltimore Guild leaders don’t follow General Douglas MacArthur’s philosophy about old soldiers never dying – “they just fade away.”

After a long history at the Baltimore Sun – including some years spent as a benevolent manager – Bill Salganik was one of those workers who was offered, and accepted, a buyout in late winter last year. Even though he left the Sun’s employ last March, he has continued to serve the local with distinction.

As president of the local – a post he held since 2002 -- he offered to travel to our numerous and far-flung bargaining units – and followed through on his pledge.

Also as president of the local, he laid the groundwork necessary for the local to engage in its current phase of strategic planning.

And, when his onetime employer, Tribune Co., declared bankruptcy in December, Bill helped marshal the necessary details to equip a Newspaper Guild-funded attorney to represent WBNG at the first-day bankruptcy hearing in Delaware . It was that speed and savvy that enabled the local to get a seat on the bankruptcy creditors’ committee – with Bill serving on a pro-bono basis for WBNG. Our local’s experience in working under an employer in Chapter 11 has served as a model for other Guild locals for how to prepare themselves should their employer declare bankruptcy – the Guild is one of two unions with seats on the creditors’ committee for the owners of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune – and it spurred Newspaper Guild headquarters to apply for $1 million in CWA Strategic Industry Fund money to assist locals dealing with employers in financial distress.

While Bill could have just packed it in and cut his retirement cake a year ago, he has still paid his Guild dues, and he continues to serve on the local’s Executive Council, just under different circumstances: as one of six delegates from the Small Units and Members group, which includes at-large members like himself.

It’s for these reasons, and many more, that I am proud to nominate my predecessor as local president, Bill Salganik, for the Guild Service Award’s Dan de Souza Memorial Award for Member of the Year.

– Mark Pattison (Catholic News Service), president
Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild