Workers at The Maui News to picket for a fair contract

Workers at The Maui News will hold an informational picket this month in support of securing a fair contract that protects local news coverage.

A majority of workers represented by The NewsGuild-Communication Workers of America will picket from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m., and again from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m., on Dec. 13 at and near The Maui News offices at 100 Mahalani St. in Wailuku.

Community members, including retirees of the paper and members of other unions, are expected to attend.

The picket, organized under the theme of “Keep Maui in The Maui News,” comes after several months of proposals from the paper’s West Virginia-based owners, Ogden Newspapers, that would allow for outsourcing of any job — including reporting, photography, advertising sales and customer service — to anywhere in the world.

“Executives in West Virginia believe they can dictate what this community receives from its beloved newspaper,” said sports reporter Robert Collias, a 32-year employee of The Maui News. “But the populace here is not willing to settle for anything less than local people delivering their local news.”

Wendy Isbell, who has worked in the paper’s advertising department since 1989, said: “Years and years have passed without a raise in pay for the newspaper’s award-winning staff. Rather than finally doing the right thing for the employees, the company is talking about cutting hours and outsourcing work.”

In recent weeks, Publisher Chris Minford demonstrated he’s already prepared to cut local content from the paper. After a number of Maui residents wrote letters in support of the workers, Minford informed staff that no other letters on the subject would run in the paper, changing the rules the paper applies to all other letters. His message: While decision-makers at the newspaper sign off on investigating local business behavior and covering labor issues, they will not allow themselves to be scrutinized or challenged in that same publication.

“We appreciate everyone who took the initiative to write letters," said Lila Fujimoto, a reporter who has worked for The Maui News since 1997. “And we are disappointed in the ill-conceived decision to censor these important voices in our community.”

The upcoming picket will show that workers are committed to a vibrant newspaper, and eager to continue doing the work that keeps the community engaged and informed. Simultaneously, it will demonstrate the support Maui County residents are providing those workers.

"We are fighting with all our might for the life of a 122-year-old newspaper that is woven into this island's cultural fiber," Collias said.