Undeterred by a blizzard that crippled air traffic across the U.S. and Canada, virtually every registered Guild delegate managed to straggle into Orlando, Florida at the beginning of February for TNG-CWA’s last annual sector conference, following last year’s approval of a biennial conference schedule. There they heard a forceful call for sweeping changes, approved a wide-ranging set of initiatives—and returned home to a resurgent labor movement nationwide and a parallel explosion of reformist uprisings in northern Africa.

In addition, delegates elected and re-elected the union’s top officers and executive council by acclamation, with only one contested position emerging. Re-elected as president and secretary-treasurer to four-year terms were Bernie Lunzer and Carol Rothman, respectively, while Martha Waggoner, an Associated Press reporter and member of the News Media Guild executive board, was elected international chair. Waggoner succeeds Connie Knox, who told the conference that after 20 years as an executive board member she was ready for a change.

Also elected by acclamation as vice presidents were board newcomers Kevin Flowers, succeeding Lillian Covarrubias in Region 3; Randye Gilliam, succeeding Deborah Zabarenko in Region 5; and Jennifer Towery, succeeding Karolynn DeLucca in Region 6. Returning to the board will be Sheila Lindsay, Region 2; Michael Cabanatuan, Region 4; Barbara Saxberg, Canada East; and Scott Edmonds, Canada West. Edmonds had announced last year that he would be stepping down but changed his mind.

The only contested seat is for vice president for Region 1—comprising New England, Delaware and parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey—currently held by Donna Marks. Guild members in that region will be choosing between John Hill and Carl Younger (see page 8) in an election this spring that for the first time will be administered from TNG-CWA headquarters, rather than by each local. The Sector Election and Referendum Committee, whose members also were elected at the conference, has scheduled a six-day voting period May 2 through May 7.

All TNG-CWA officers will be sworn in and begin their terms at the CWA Convention, July 11-12 in Las Vegas.

Conference delegates, warned by their leadership that the union’s ranks have been decimated and encouraged to engage in “open and frank discussions,” met for two days in off-the-record committee sessions to examine a smorgasbord of possible changes and initiatives. The resulting proposals, as approved by the full sector conference Feb. 5 (see pages 2-6 for complete reports), include the following:

• Use of an electronic reporting system of dues payments by all locals, enabling the Guild to better track income;

• Conduct a feasibility study of the cost-savings that might be realized by merging TNG-CWA’s and NABET’s national offices;

• Encourage merger of locals and creation of “power centers” to consolidate resources;

• Create an advanced “train-the-trainer” course and set up regional workshops to educate Guild members in union practices;

• Strengthen the collective bargaining program and require greater coordination by locals with national headquarters;

• Establish Facebook and Twitter accounts to better disseminate Guild news, and have the redesigned Guild website online by early April;

• Create an editorial board, with members appointed by each district council, to determine editorial policy and to weigh in on editorial disputes;

• Form a media council, with participation of NABET and other CWA media workers encouraged, to create position papers on media and labor issues;

• Strengthen the Guild’s activities on behalf of equity, diversity and inclusion;

• Create a directory of organizing resources for distribution to all locals;

• Create units of freelance workers;

• Reach out to NABET to establish joint organizing committees where the unions have neighboring locals;

• Work with all locals to establish retiree chapters.