Support for Selina
/Your last chance to sign our petition!
On July 17, 2024 Selina Cheng was terminated by The Wall Street Journal after she refused her supervisor’s request to withdraw from an election in Hong Kong’s leading media professional group.
Cheng was told she was fired because of restructuring, but believes that the real reason was her election as chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, a trade union for journalists that advocates for press freedom.
Cheng has issued a statement claiming her WSJ supervisor told her that employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong.
If true, we find this behavior unconscionable.
The Wall Street Journal should fight for press freedom and stand with journalists, as it did by fighting the unjust imprisonment of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia.
In the United States and in Canada it is illegal to discriminate or terminate an employee for showing support for a union. Unfortunately because Cheng is overseas, she can’t be represented by the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, a local union of The NewsGuild-CWA. However, IAPE and NewsGuild members stand with Selina Cheng.
Join the support for Selina by signing our petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/wsj-stand-for-press-freedom-reinstate-selina
Steward Training: Contract Enforcement
Last week’s IAPE steward training session was a blast, so we’re doing it again next week. On Tuesday. Aug. 13, at 7:00 p.m. EDT, join us for Contract Enforcement and Education.
This training will focus on the role of stewards in educating their fellow members about their rights under the contract and how to enforce those standards and protections. We’ll discuss how to listen and learn from fellow members, as well as ways of keeping folks connected and informed. Register for this Zoom event: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkceGurDgjGdc3HyxkRAx1J9jAbqeOIMrq
Didn’t have a chance to attend last week’s class? No problem, IAPE steward training sessions are open for all members to attend! See upcoming classes on the IAPE Events page.
Labor Notes Union Ed
And we have even more union training opportunities! Labor Notes is hosting a series of continuing union education courses throughout the month of August. On Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 7:00 p.m. EDT, organizers from our parent union, The NewsGuild-CWA, will lead Learn, Do, Teach, a workshop covering how to get more people involved and expand the capacity of your union.
On Aug. 15, 22 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, Labor Notes will present Race and Labor, a look at how class and race are inextricably linked, tracing back the origins of “race” as an invention of the ruling class to divide workers. Participants will talk about how to move to strategies of unity.
Finally, on Aug. 12, 19 and 26 at 8:00 p.m., be sure to catch Secrets of a Successful Organizer, Labor Notes' core organizing training, in three sessions full of lively participatory exercises.
For more details about these classes, including registration information, click the links above or visit labornotes.org/events.