Chris Lisinski – Media Nation

Just a day after CommonWealth Beacon employees announced they were forming a union, the board of MassINC — the nonprofit that publishes CommonWealth — has voted in favor of recognition.

“We respect the rights of members of the newsroom to unionize and we look forward to working with the CommonWealth Beacon Guild and the entire CommonWealth Beacon team to build an impactful and sustainable public service news organization,” according to a statement by Joe Kriesberg, MassINC’s CEO, who serves as CommonWealth’s publisher.

CommonWealth Beacon is a nonprofit digital news outlet that was launched in 1996 as a quarterly print magazine and that now publishes news about state politics and public policy on a daily basis.

“This is the exact outcome for which we were hoping,” according to Chris Lisinski, a senior reporter at CommonWealth Beacon, who was quoted in a release issued by the union. “We’re honored that MassINC recognizes the hard work of our newsroom and our desire to collectively bargain to make it an even better place, both for ourselves and for all future employees.”

Continue reading “MassINC’s board votes to recognize CommonWealth Beacon’s new union”

Employees of CommonWealth Beacon, a digital nonprofit news organization that covers statewide politics and public policy, has announced a union organizing drive, according to a statement that hit my inbox a short time ago. CommonWealth is part of MassINC (the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth), a nonprofit policy organization.

“Every single eligible staff member enthusiastically supports forming a union,” says the statement, adding: “Should management force us to go through a formal National Labor Relations Board election, we are certain the outcome will be unanimous support.”

Disclosure: I’m a member of the CommonWealth editorial advisory board, which was recently reorganized to assist with fundraising ideas. In light of that, I’ll leave this here and go right to the announcement. And of course I’ll add a statement from management should I receive one. (And now I have. Please take a look.)

Continue reading “CommonWealth Beacon employees announce a union organizing effort”