Public Employee Press

Video wins top prize as PEP gets seven awards

PEP Photographer Clarence Elie- Rivera won a special prize in the annual journalism competition of the Metro New York Labor Communications Council as DC 37's Public Employee Press received seven awards this year.

PEP was highly honored with the second place award for overall excellence among the largest circulation union newspapers published in New York. The contest judges praised PEP's "great focus on members in their jobs," its "lively, attractive, accessible" presentation and its inclusion of articles in Spanish. Metro presented the awards for work done in 2009 at its June 11 convention.

Elie-Rivera received the Doherty/Wells Award for Excellence in Broadcast Media, Metro's top honor in that field, for his short video about Sewage Treatment Workers Local 1320's eight-year battle for a fair contract. Many viewers saw the video on YouTube, and Local 1320 President Jim Tucciarelli said it helped the local win an excellent pay package. The judges said the video helped viewers "feel connected to the workers' struggle."

A video about Local 1501's campaign against layoffs at city zoos won a prize in the Best New Media category for Elie-Rivera and Sr. Associate Editor Gregory N. Heires.

Heires and Associate Editor Diane S. Williams shared first place in the Best Reporting competition for articles explaining DC 37's fight against layoffs and their terrible impact on members, and Heires took another prize for a column supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

PEP's coverage of Black History Month 2009, designed by Art Director Alyce Archer, was honored in the Graphic Design category for its "rich and well balanced" layout with "strong impact." A series on DC 37's history, published during the union's 65th anniversary year, took a prize for its Unique Performance. The articles by PEP writers Alfredo Alvarado, Jane LaTour, Heires and Williams won praise from the judges as "thorough and honest" accounts of the union's struggles - including the ups and downs - without apology."