Public Employee Press

PEP and Communications win national labor media awards

District Council 37's Public Employee Press has been ranked second-best nationwide among publications of its type by the International Labor Communications Association.

PEP won five other awards in ILCA's 2010 labor journalism contest, the Communications Dept. received one and a display created for DC 37's 65th anniversary celebration got an award.

"These prizes are a tribute to the fighting spirit of DC 37 and its strong belief in keeping members informed and mobilized through quality publications," said PEP Editor Bill Schleicher.

In honoring PEP for General Excellence, the contest judges called DC 37's official newspaper "fantastic" and praised its coverage of politics and African American history and the inclusion of articles in Spanish.

Three of PEP's six awards went to Sr. Associate Editor Gregory N. Heires:

First prize for Best News Story for the very moving article, "Layoffs tear the heart out of children's services."

Second for Labor History for an article on how DC 37 helped save the city from bankruptcy in 1975, part of PEP's 65th anniversary series, "Turning points in DC 37 history." The contest judges called this a "realistic portrayal" that showed how well the union "cushioned the blows to members even if they could not avoid all harm."

Third for Best Series for his articles on the waste in contracting out. The judges said the series showed how "contracting out rarely saves money."

PEP Photographer Clarence Elie-Rivera received a second prize for his photo essay about members of Marine Workers Local 2906, "Sludge boat sailors keep our rivers clean," and Cartoonist Gene Suchma took a second for "Banksters win, workers lose," which accompanied an article on the bank bailouts.

The Communications Dept. was honored with a first award for DC 37's subway ad campaign against contracting out, which the AD Lubow advertising agency produced for the union, and James McCray (working with Program Director Frances M. Curtis) won first prize in the Informational Graphics category for the 65th anniversary lobby display.

Unions entered hundreds of examples of work published in 2009 in the contest. The ILCA presented the honors Nov. 19 at its annual meeting in Washington. The AFSCME Works magazine, edited by Lisa Kelly for DC 37's national union, received a first-place award for design, and the Unionist, which the late Martin Fishgold edited for DC 37's SSEU Local 371, took second in its category for general excellence.

"The strong support of DC 37 local leaders, staff and DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts has been vital, and PEP staffers who didn't receive individual awards contributed mightily to the paper's overall excellence," said Schleicher.