I spent a while this morning digging out copies of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild’s reports filed annually with the federal Department of Labor.
The LM-2 reports disclose overall finances and union membership.
Statewide, Guild membership was stable from 2002-2006 at 573 or 574, but by September 2009 had dropped 23.8% to 437.
The number of Guild members at the Honolulu Advertiser fell by 27% since September 2006, according to the reports. Star-Bulletin membership was down 20.5% in the same period.
![[text]](http://ilind.net/misc /2010/guild/table.jpg)
The Guild reported total assets of $703,009 in September 2000, but that fell to $357,215 in September 2009, a decline of 49%.
Total union dues collected from Guild members fell less than 2%, from $362,257 in 2000 to $355,589 in 2009.
Here’s an overview from the Department of Labor web site. You can click for a larger version.
![[text]](http://ilind.net/misc /2010/guild/table2.jpg)
The Guild’s annual reports can be viewed at the Department of Labor web site. Enter the organization’s file number (038-990) in the search criteria.
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Those text boxes are blank, Ian.
OK, now I see the text. Funny how the Maui News has more members than the Bulletin. Which is the bigger paper? I assumed that Honolulu daily papers were bigger than those on the other islands, but may be wrong.
great reporting, Ian. Something that doesn’t get much media coverage.
Are any/all of those newspapers “open shops?” i.e. Is the reduction in Guild membership an accurate measure of a reduction in workers?
There’s a separate reporting line for those who are not members but must pay agency fees.
None were reported.
The number of new hires who declined to join the union has been growing at the Tribune-Herald since I left in 2006, which, along with illegal firings, has contributed to the decline in union membership there. For some unknown reason, the union has declined to pursue the matter.
Funny, before that, I don’t believe there was ever a case in which an employee refused to join the union there.
Interesting. Why are the non-member workers not reported separately as Ian described? Is HT-H the only unit not reporting those data?
Very good question, Doug.
The lack of comments on the Black Press-Gannett deal is conspicuous. Especially since the revelation that Gannett is financing its paper’s own takeover. The silence is deafening. What gives?