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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
LOCAL NEWSPAPER FORMS UNION — A daily newspaper and an alternative weekly in the western part of the state declared their intent to unionize yesterday, the latest papers to organize in a growing national trend among print publications.
Employees of the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Valley Advocate, which share a building and an owner in Northampton, asked Newspapers of New England to recognize workers as the Pioneer Valley NewsGuild on Monday afternoon. (Disclosure: I worked for the Gazette as an intern, reporter and freelancer from 2016 to 2017).
The Gazette is one of several newspapers that have recently opted to unionize. The Los Angeles Times voted to unionize in January, and the Chicago Tribune's employee union was recognized by Tribune Publishing, then known as Tronc, in May. The New Yorker staff unionized in June.
"The cue we took from them is seeing that this is possible and seeing this is a way, really, for those who write the news and print the news and distribute the news and sell ads for the news to have a say in how their news organizations are run in a time where there is an uncertain future," Gazette reporter Dusty Christensen told me. Closer to home, the Boston Globe's employee union represents some 600 employees.
This reemergence of organized labor comes as public sector unions took a hit this summer when the Supreme Court issued its Janus v. AFSCME ruling. If NNE does not voluntarily recognize the union, the 72-person group will request ballots for a company-wide election from the National Union Relations Board, an independent federal agency.
The Gazette and Advocate employees started organizing last year around gender pay disparity, which came to a head when the paper's then-executive editor Jeff Good publicly said he was fired for advocating for equal pay, although the publisher and some former staffers dispute that claim. Since then, publisher Michael Rifanburg announced several staff cuts and the company folded the Advocate into the Gazette's features department, saying the paper is "feeling the pinch" of a decline in print readership and a tariff on Canadian newsprint. The Gazette also named Brooke Hauser editor in chief in August.
"Hopefully they'll let the process unfold in a democratic way," state Rep. Jim O'Day, a vocal union supporter, told me on Monday night. "I think whenever workers can come together ... Whether it's for better working conditions, greater wages, better hours, you name it, I think that is beneficial to those workers and to their families."
The Pioneer Valley NewsGuild consulted with the national NewsGuild-CWA. Newspapers of New England owns several other publications, including the Concord Monitor, the Greenfield Recorder and the Athol Daily News, among others.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Celtics players and members of the military pack Thanksgiving groceries with United Way volunteers in Boston. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attends an event where the Painter and Glazier Contractors' Association of New England and IUPAT District Council 35 present a $10,000 donation to the upkeep of the New England Holocaust Memorial.
Boston Globe deputy Washington bureau chief Annie Linskey and Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership Director David Gergen talk about the midterms at the UMass Club. The Local Government Advisory Commission meets. Boston City Councilor Kim Janey holds a hearing on gentrification in Roxbury. Treasurer Deborah Goldberg attends a celebration hosted by Emerge Massachusetts.
AJC New England honors Colette Phillips Communications CEO Colette Phillips at its 2018 Co-Existence Awards. The Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus hosts a conversation about the future of state politics moderated by state Rep. Joan Meschino, with newly-elected lawmakers Nika Elugardo and Tram Nguyen, Republican candidate Allison Werder, and commentary from yours truly.
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 | FROM THE HUB |
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- "The first Massachusetts marijuana retail shops are finally opening; Here's what you should know," by Gintautas Dumcius, MassLive.com: "More than two years after Bay State voters approved a ballot question broadly legalizing recreational marijuana, state regulators have provided final sign-offs to the stores, and all that's left is the "commence operations" notice. The specific opening dates are still unclear. It's a milestone for a new industry, as well as a state that once put a captain in the public stocks for kissing his wife on a Sunday."
- "Plans for two towers above the Mass. Pike move forward," by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: "A complicated project that could reshape a key stretch of Massachusetts Avenue in the Back Bay will soon undergo city review. Developers have filed detailed plans for a pair of towers — 575,000 square feet of space in all — along Mass. Ave. above the Massachusetts Turnpike."
- "Caller threatens two Boston gay bars," by Brooks Sutherland, Boston Herald: "Two gay bars in the city received threatening phone calls this weekend at about the same time on consecutive nights, prompting police investigations into both."
- "After a prisoner's death, renewed calls for change at MCI-Norfolk," by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: "A Boston woman is calling for the state to address unsafe conditions inside its largest prison after her uncle died last month as a result, she says, of exposure to a hazardous chemical there and a failure by the Department of Correction to provide appropriate medical care."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "John Kerry, Fox News host trade barbs on Twitter on Veterans Day weekend," by Steve Annear, Boston Globe: " The long-simmering spat between former Secretary of State John F. Kerry and conservative commentators broke out anew this weekend. The latest round took place on social media Saturday — and spilled into Sunday — between Kerry and a Fox News host, after Kerry admonished President Trump for canceling an appearance at a cemetery in France for US soldiers killed in World War I due to poor weather conditions."
- "Citing safety concerns, anti-Trump groups end protests," by Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: "Two local anti-Trump groups have suspended weekly organized rallies, citing safety concerns. 'As the political climate has become uglier, the rhetoric from the president has encouraged violence, exacerbated recently by pipe bombs and the Synagogue (mass shootings),' said Paul Rifkin, co-founder of 'Move to Remove,' a group that has protested at the Falmouth Village Green on Saturday mornings for the past 15 months."
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| THE CLARK CAUCUS |
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- "In key campaign role, Katherine Clark helped Democrats regain House," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "Through persistence, encouragement, and support, Clark — vice chairwoman of recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, and later cochairwoman of its effort to flip key seats from "red to blue" — played an instrumental role in helping Democrats gain control of the House in l ast week's midterm elections."
- "From Speaker on down, here's who's in the Hill leadership hunt," by Lindsay McPherson, Roll Call: "With the midterms — mostly — behind us, attention has shifted to the intraparty leadership elections on Capitol Hill for the House and Senate. Here's a look at the various positions that members of both parties and chambers will be voting on in the coming weeks."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Seth Moulton claims 'silent majority' against Nancy Pelosi," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-6th) says he has a "silent majority" of Democrats on his side in trying to prevent House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house — but political observers say it's unclear who else would lead the party, or even if there are enough votes for change."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "Meet the New House Democrats: They May Not Toe the Party Line," by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times: "When these and other newly elected House Democrats arrive in Washington for their orientation this week, they will reflect the most diverse, most female freshman class in history — a group of political neophytes, savvy veterans of the Obama and Clinton administrations, as well as the first Muslim women and Native American women ever elected to Congress."
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| WAY OUT WEST |
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- "WiredWest retools to advance last-mile broadband plans," by Larry Parnass, Berkshire Eagle: "Over the next year, small towns across the region will build their own fiber-optic networks, after demanding the right to decide their digital futures. Standing in the wings is a familiar champion of that cause. It's been a long wait, but WiredWest remains ready to help run new networks, though not as it first imagined, when the nonprofit collaborative helped expose Western Massachusetts' digital divide at the start of this decade."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "STALLING ON TAKEOFF," — Globe: "Bishops told to delay vote on accountability," "N. Korean missile promises ring empty," "Do we really need a little Christmas now?" |
| DATELINE MERRIMACK VALLEY |
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- "A century before Columbus, a knight explored Massachusetts?" by Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe: "Nearly a century before Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World, a Scottish nobleman and his armed explorers sailed up the Merrimack River, meandered up a tributary, and climbed Prospect Hill here to take a look around. They even left a mark, a mysterious image from medieval times that has somehow survived to this day."
- "Columbia Gas sets locations for Thanksgiving meals," by Lisa Kashinsky, The Eagle-Tribune: "Columbia Gas has announced the locations where it plans to serve some 20,000 Thanksgiving meals to residents still affected by the Sept. 13 natural gas disaster. Officials said last week the utility company would be providing Thanksgiving meals in an effort to restore a sense of normalcy as thousands of residents are expected to remain without gas through the holiday."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "After Election Day, will Rockland officials vote to remove their town administrator?" by Jacqueline Tempera, MassLive.com:"The Rockland Board of Selectman is full for the first time since July and can act on whether to reinstate Town Administrator Allan Chiocca. ... Chiocca has been on paid leave since May, when former Deidre Hall, a former board member, accused him behaving inappropriately with her during an after-hours sexual encounter at town hall."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Gov. Charlie Baker, who is 62; NECN and Bay Windows' own Sue O'Connell, Sudbury state Rep. Carmine Gentile, and POLITICO alum Jonathan Topaz, now a Skadden Fellow staff attorney for the ACLU Voting Rights Project.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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