North Bay Newspaper Guild | CWA Canada
Local 30241
The overhauled executive of the North
Bay, ON, Local is entering 2008 with several new faces
and a reinvigorated agenda.
Dave Dale, acclaimed President of the Local following
the retirement of Dan Seguin, says there is "a
high level of interest among the membership" and
a healthy number of people involved.
The elections on Feb. 24, he says,
drew "one of the best turnouts we've ever had" at
the Local, which has about 85 members, all of whom are
employed at The Nugget.
The only contest was for the position of Vice-President
Production, won on the first ballot by Richard Turcott,
who works in pre-press. In addition to members in his
department, he will be representing inserters and press
operators.
Brandi Cramer, a reporter and Member at Large on the
executive who has previous bargaining experience, was
acclaimed to the position of Vice-President Non-Production.
P.J. Wilson, a night wire desk editor who has been
active in the Local since its inception 20 years ago,
is the new Member at Large.
Dale, 42, a reporter/columnist who has been at The
Nugget for eight years, served as VP Non-Production
for the last year and was a Member at Large before
that. He was also involved in two rounds of collective
bargaining.
Dale notes that Seguin, who put a lot of time and
effort into running the Local, didn't have a lot of
support. His departure made the membership sit up and
take notice, he says.
Dale says one of his key priorities for this year
is developing a solid strategy that meets the needs
of the full production unit at the daily newspaper
where all departments are unionized. With the current
contract having been settled in the fall, the Local
has 18 months to gear up for the next round of bargaining.
Before then, the "expert communicator" says
he plans to establish a website for the Local and to
post contracts and other information of use to the
membership.