This morning, the CWA Executive Board voted to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. The decision is based on the results of an online poll open to all CWA members in recent weeks. As is the Guild’s tradition, President Bernie Lunzer abstained from the vote. “We do so on behalf of our many members who cover politics and government. The NewsGuild-CWA takes seriously their need to function with full objectivity. We respect and protect that principle,” the Guild said in a statement. The full statement is here:

Since The Newspaper Guild joined the CWA in 1995, the Guild president, who is also a CWA vice president, has abstained from Executive Board votes on U.S. presidential endorsements.

 

We do so on behalf of our many members who cover politics and government. The NewsGuild-CWA takes seriously their need to function with full objectivity. We respect and protect that principle.

 

Abstaining from making an endorsement does not mean that we won’t be urging those members who can and should be involved to be active and support a candidate who shares our labor and social justice values. We will be asking them to help register people to vote, get out the vote and educate fellow members.

 

The message from the leadership of The NewsGuild-CWA is that everyone can play a role in the fight for social justice. Nobody gets a pass. We also stress that all journalists have the constitutional right to cast a vote, and we believe they should exercise that right.

 

Lastly, we remind everyone that the First Amendment protects freedom of association and freedom of speech. The right to unionize is an essential part of the freedom of association. It is critical that we all act to reverse the many years of hostile attacks that have weakened U.S. labor law and contributed, catastrophically, to the fall of America’s middle class.