Guild Election Heats Up As Conference Looms This Weekend

By: Joe Strupp They may not have the national attention of the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton nomination fight, but to members of The Newspaper Guild, presidential candidates Linda Foley and Bernie Lunzer are waging a war of words, grassroots campaigning, and even music videos that rivals anything in the union's recent history.

With incumbent Foley facing her first challenge since 1995, and the Guild preparing for its first contested election since then, members are engaged in the unusual prospect of having more than one choice for president at a time when the industry is in the throes of cutbacks, buyouts and layoffs, and an unclear future.

"I believe firmly that elections are healthy for the organization," says Tim Schick, administrator of the Providence (R.I.) Newspaper Guild and a Lunzer campaign co-chair. "The election process has in many ways reconnected the rank and file with leadership."

It has also created something of a new dilemma for the Guild's 30,000 members, who have not even been asked to cast votes since 1995, when Foley and Lunzer, currently secretary-treasurer, ran as a team. In the three elections since 1995, Foley and Lunzer were the only nominees at the annual sector conference, for president and secretary-treasurer, so a member vote was not even taken.

As delegates head to the 2008 sector conference this weekend to pick nominees for the top three offices, including president, they are expected to exit the four-day event with two presidential nominees: Foley and Lunzer. Each is also running with a secretary-treasurer running mate, sparking a likely contest for that post.

"There hasn't been a referendum since 1995, there has been no contest," Lunzer, 50, told E&P about his decision to challenge Foley, his long-time running mate. "I think for a time we complemented each other and that is no longer the case."

Under guild rules, some 150 delegates from each of the union's 85 locals will convene at the sector conference this weekend in Providence. Any delegate may nominate a candidate and if more than two are nominated, a run-off among them is held at the conference, with the top two candidates facing election sometime in April or May.

The guild presidency pays about $140,000 annually, while secretary-treasurer has a salary of about $119,000, according to Lunzer.

Guild leaders estimate the voting will cost about $25,000, with each local using either mail ballots or, in some cases, polling locations. "It is damaging," says Steve Yount, co-chair of Foley's campaign and president of the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, a guild local that represents Dow Jones & Co. employees. "It comes down to the inconvenience of democracy."

Foley, a former secretary-treasurer and longtime Guild official, has said that the contested election is a negative for the union at a time when it needs to focus on the industry's problems. "Because I am being challenged, there is going to be more politics and the politics will take up more time," she says about the sector conference, set for Feb. 28 to March 2. "You are going to have political considerations that wouldn't otherwise be."

Foley, 52, says she has already had to spend time campaigning, noting she spent time last week in Ohio and has recently campaigned in New England and Puerto Rico, in between business trips, such as one to Honolulu for a recent strike vote at the Honolulu Advertiser.

"It is very expensive, but the real expensive part is coming up," Foley says. "Thousands of dollars, and no union money can be spent on the campaign. It has to be raised and spent."

Foley also claims she has done a good job as president, stating that the national membership has dipped only slightly, from 31,000 when she took office, despite massive job cuts within the business. She also cites her success in adding some 4,000 members through new guild locals in California and Canada. "The only way he can win is to paint me as a bad leader and I haven?t been a bad leader," Foley said.

Foley also has objected to Lunzer's launching a campaign as far back as March 2007, with a Web site up in June 2007. "A time will come when I have to spend 100% of my time campaigning," she predicts. "I am the president and I can't ignore the problems that people have."

Lunzer says he had to start early to get the momentum and attention needed to battle a longtime incumbent. "You've got to get your message out and really broadcast it," Lunzer said. "If we are going to have this dialogue, how else do we get the word out? I came into this for a reason, it is not just a job, it is a calling. I have been unhappy with the current situation. I do want some serious changes."

Along with their respective Web sites, both candidates have also put out election videos in the past month, posted on their sites as well as Youtube.com.

Lunzer's video, at www.astrongerguild.org, talks about having a guild with "real inclusion from the bottom up."

Foley, who has created three videos since December, has them at her site, www.teamguild.org, as well as on YouTube.com. All three have her sitting at a table, in a guild jacket, speaking about "membership and community outreach" and working to "revitalize the guild."

But both sides have also taken to musical expressions. Lunzer supporters at the York (Pa.) Newspaper Guild, who have resorted to YouTube videos to promote their side during past contract negotiations, launched an Elvis Presley impersonator singing "Bernie Lunzer" to the tune of Presley's "Burnin' Love." That can be seen at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAimjzERgQ.

Foley's campaign counters with a pro-Foley song by the Ohio-based Nan O'Malley Group, which includes two guild members. Recorded in a local nightspot, the song declares "Vote for Foley and [running mate Scott] Stephens?for the good 'ole TNG." Not yet on the Web, Foley promises it will be on her site this week.

With Lunzer choosing not to run again for secretary-treasurer, and Foley facing the prospect of losing her seat, one of the two will be out of the guild leadership after the vote is counted. "Members are getting the same gut feeling you get as if mom and dad went through a divorce," says Yount. "Because they love them both."