Public Employee Press

PEP wins national labor journalism honors

The International Labor Communications Association recently named District Council 37's Public Employee Press number 2 nationwide among union newspapers in its category as PEP received nine awards in the group's 2012 labor journalism competition.

Staff of the DC 37 Communications Dept. received three awards for an email newsletter and the "State of the Union" cable television show hosted by DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, and Ed Fund Librarian Ken Nash was honored for the "Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report" radio show he co-produces with Mimi Rosenberg. Hundreds of 2011 printed and electronic publications were judged in the annual contest.

PEP Senior Associate Editor Gregory N. Heires received four awards for articles answering lies about members' pensions, slamming right-wing attacks on the American Dream and supporting union organizing. Also honored were Associate Editor Diane S. Williams for her feature on school employees feeding needy Staten Island families and former Associate Editor Jane LaTour for her series on how the recession has hurt working families. Associate Art Director Elroy J. Dobson won prizes for a photo and the design of a PEP front page.

Associate Producer Rudy Orozco and Executive Producer Zita Allen were honored for the TV show and Assistant Director Molly Charboneau for the "Action Alerts and News" newsletter.

Editor Bill Schleicher said the award for general excellence was a tribute to PEP's strong support from Roberts and the DC 37 Executive Board and the dedication of its entire staff, including Editorial Assistant Joe Lopez, Associate Editor Alfredo Alvarado, Art Director Alyce Archer and Typesetter Mike Lee as well as those who won individual awards. The ILCA awards come on top of the honors PEP received earlier last year from the organization's Metro New York branch.