Tribute to Roger Stonebanks

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Roger Stonebanks, a long-standing Union activist with the Victoria- Vancouver Island Newspaper Guild, died on Thurs. Jan. 15, 2026.

Roger was the Joint Council of Newspaper Unions Co – Chairperson at the Times Colonist for many years and was deeply respected and trusted by the other Union’s leaders. In his role he led a cohesive group to achieve common language and monetary gains for all the members of the respective Unions at the Times Colonist

Roger retired in the fall of 2000 but remained engaged and followed the ongoing issues at the Times Colonist up until the summer of 2025.

Roger was instrumental in the Guild securing the sacred work jurisdiction/ contracting out language (Article 1, Section 4) in the Sept. 6, 2001 Nicholas Glass Arbitration award, when Roger gave undisputed evidence of the history of the language tracing back to the 6-month 1974 strike. Roger explained the intent of the language was both an internal protection that current and future Guild work was to be performed by Guild members only. Also, the language was created to protect current and future Guild work from leaving the building to be performed by other than Guild members.

This, along with the Company attempt to gut our jurisdictional language resulting in a 9-week strike (Sept. 3, 2002 – Nov. 5, 2002) by all the members of the Joint Council of Newspaper Unions, saw the language remain in the Victoria-Vancouver Island Newspaper Guild Collective agreement, thereby ensuring Guild members ongoing employment at the Times Colonist.

Guild members past and current owe Roger an incredible debt of gratitude for his unwavering dedication to Union activism.

Beirne Scholarships Awarded

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Beirne Scholarships Awarded for 2024-2025

The CWA Joe Beirne Foundation was established in October 1974 by the CWA Executive Board to honor the name and memory of the founding President of CWA, who served for more than 30 years.

Sixteen partial college scholarships of $4,000 each are being awarded for the 2024–2025 school year. Winners, selected in a lottery drawing, will also receive second-year scholarships of the same amount, contingent upon satisfactory academic accomplishment. Part-time students taking fewer than 12 credits will receive half of the scholarship amount.

Eligible for the awards are CWA members and their spouses, children, and grandchildren, including those of retired or deceased members.

2024-2025 Winners:

Toemars Levell, son of Tasha Graham, CWA Local 1101
Nailah Thomas, CWA Local 1037
Chelsea Walsh, daughter of Timothy Walsh, CWA Local 1103
Alex Glynn, son of Sandra Tan, TNG-CWA Local 31026
Alejandro Boxx, son of Jeffrey Boxx, CWA Local 1170
Amberleigh Fretwell, daughter of Ian Thomas, CWA Local 2222
Paris Iqbal, daughter of Victoria Muñoz, CWA Local 3640
Brayden Degueyter, son of Nicholas Degueyter, CWA Local 3406
Branden Haywood, son of Willie Webb, CWA Local 4320
Jordyn Zittle, daughter of Jason Zittle, CWA Local 4302
Natalie Anderson, daughter of Joe Anderson, CWA Local 6012
Holden Guilfoyle, son of Timothy Guilfoyle, CWA Local 6410
Reina Lujan, CWA Local 7076
Jayleen Ramirez, daughter of Fernando Ramirez, CWA Local 9333
Charles D. Cease, son of Editha Cease, CWA Local 9003
Elisabeth Coppard-Reuten, daughter of Pat Coppard, CWA|SCA Canada Local 30223

Click here to learn more about the Joe Beirne Scholarship Program.

CWA Joe Beirne Foundation’s 2024-2025 Scholarship

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About the Scholarship

Sixteen partial college scholarships of $4,000 each are being offered for the 2024-2025 school year. Winners, selected in a lottery drawing, also will receive second-year scholarships of the same amount contingent upon satisfactory academic accomplishment. Part-time students, less than 12 credits, will receive half of the scholarship monies.

Eligible for the awards are CWA members and their spouses, children and grandchildren, including those of retired or deceased members.

Apply here
http://cwa-union.org/beirne-application

Carmel Smyth wins race to lead CWA Canada

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23.06.23

Carmel Smyth has been declared winner of the national election to determine the next leader of CWA Canada.

She garnered 469 votes while 349 went to challenger Meredith Martin, in the contest to replace outgoing President Martin O’Hanlon.

Lois Kirkup, who was acclaimed, continues in the post of vice-president for another four-year term. She is a longtime member and president of the Ottawa Newspaper Guild.

Said a victorious Smyth: “As we know, the media industry faces many challenges, and we have to be vigilant about having our voices and lived experiences included in the conversation. I will work hard to deserve your support.”

Smyth and Kirkup will be sworn in at the CWA Convention July 10-12 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Matt Skube, Hayley Juhl and Nigel Sones form the National Elections Committee, which conducted the country-wide vote, with Locals choosing the method, either in-plant, electronic or mail-in ballot.

The committee reported that it received at least one vote from every Local across the country. Two Locals conducted their vote electronically, one did an on-site vote and the others used mail-in ballots, none of which was spoiled.

Smyth, a journalist with 25 years of experience in private and public broadcasting, was president of the Canadian Media Guild (Local 30213) for nine years.

Martin, a producer/journalist with 20 years of experience at Ontario’s public broadcaster, was recently elected president of the Canadian Media Guild’s TVO branch.

Kirkup and O’Hanlon were first elected to the two top positions in a national vote in 2011.

O’Hanlon has been in the leadership ranks since the union’s inception as TNG Canada/CWA in 1995.

Nominations are open for the Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award

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Dear Local Leaders,
Nominations are open for the Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award, which recognizes the outstanding contributions of a worker with a disability who has made a significant and lasting impact in their union and/or the community by promoting and defending the rights of persons with disabilities.

Attached is the nomination form. You can also submit the form on the CLC website, linked here.

Please share this message with your members and consider nominating an activist from your Local. Any union member or organization may nominate a candidate.

All nominations must be received by Nov. 5, 2021. Complete nominations must be submitted via the CLC website or by email to: human-rights@clcctc.ca.

In solidarity,

Martin

 

Martin O’Hanlon
President, CWA Canada
The Media Union