Deborah Zabarenko
Wins Keenan Service Award
The New York Guild’s Administrative Committee has selected Deborah Zabarenko of the Reuters unit as winner of the Newspaper Guild of New York Tom Keenan Service Award for 2006. Deborah, a correspondent in the Reuters Washington Bureau, serves as both a shop steward for that bureau and as a Vice Chairperson of the Guild unit. She is the tenth person to win the award since it was created.
The annual Keenan Award was established by our Local Executive Committee to recognize individuals who have, during the previous year, “performed above and beyond the call of duty in service to the New York Local, and best exemplify the ideals of a true labor leader in the spirit of Tom Keenan.” The prize honors Keenan, a former Chairperson of the New York Times Guild unit, who died in 2000. He had served in that capacity longer than anyone else.
In 2005, as Local and unit leaders struggled in record long negotiations with Reuters management, Debby stepped forward to lead a rank-and-file effort that played a vital role in winning a decent contract.
Debby was chosen last spring by Reuters Unit Chairperson Peter Szekely to lead a six-member committee of stewards and rank-and-file activists, known as the Guild Action Team, or GAT, whose mission was to keep Reuters members mobilized for workplace actions, keeping them informed, and relaying their opinions to Guild bargainers.
Meeting on their own time in conference calls that were usually held at 9 p.m., Eastern Time, team members from across the country planned picketing, coordinated coffee and RSI breaks, standups, weekly wearing of red t-shirts, byline strikes, and other actions. They then worked with stewards and other activists to make sure the plans were carried out.
The team’s actions worked well when management resorted to a classic divide-and-conquer tactic, trying to force its contract onto the workers. Management’s efforts failed, when the Guild put Reuters’ offer to a membership’s vote, calling on the shop to reject it. The workers did, in a 258-4 No vote.
What made the rejection all the more remarkable is the fact that our 450 Reuters members are scattered across the country, complicating efforts to keep them mobilized and informed. Remarkably, the issues in dispute were important to only a minority of our members, including older staffers. Yet a huge majority voted against their personal wishes for a quicker settlement with backpay, in order to support the interests of the minority. The vote sent a strong message to management and gave union negotiators an unmistakable mandate to go back to the table and get a better contract, which they did.
New York Guild President Barry Lipton and Secretary-Treasurer Bill O’Meara lauded Debby for an “outstanding job.” “Without Debby’s leadership and the dedication of her committee, it would not have been possible to reach the settlement we were able to win at Reuters,” they agreed.
Debby will receive her award at a Guild General Membership meeting to be scheduled later this year.
Fernando Ariza Elected to Local’s Executive Committee
Fernando Ariza, a Vice Chairperson of the New York Times unit and Shop Steward for the picture desk, is the newest member of our Local’s Executive Committee (EC).
Filling the EC vacancy created when Anthony Napoli (Times) left the newspaper to join our staff of Local Representatives, Ariza was declared elected to the seat April 23, when no opposing contestants had been nominated via Guild-member petition.
He had been the April 18, unopposed, nominee of our Representative Assembly and had there been a contest, Fernando would have run as the candidate of The Democratic Coalition Slate.
From 1995 until 1997, Ariza was the Times unit’s Grievance Committee Chair. He served on two of the shop’s contract bargaining teams and was a delegate from the New York Local to one convention of The Newspaper Guild, in Boston. He also serves as Chairperson of the unit’s Health and Safety Committee.
# # # # #
5/1/06