NYSUT sent the following e-mail to members in the Albany area::
Members of the Newspaper Guild of Albany, a local union representing employees at the Times Union, are embroiled in a bitter fight with their employer. The TU is threatening layoffs without regard to seniority and is planning on outsourcing various jobs to other parts of the country. Hundreds of area jobs are at risk.
The Guild has reached out to NYSUT and asked for its support. NYSUT-- along with our SUNY higher education affiliate, United University Professions - has given the Guild authority to cancel the more than two dozen TU subscriptions that come into headquarters each day. It's the Guild's intention to show management that it has support, and that current subscribers are willing to "drop" the paper, if and when the Guild decides to do so.
NYSUT is requesting that its members who subscribe to the Times Union consider doing the same. The Guild has created two Web sites - www.cancelthetu.com and www.savethetu.com - through which subscribers can give the Guild authority to cancel their papers in a show of solidarity. The sites explain the struggles of the Newspaper Guild. Canceling will send the message that readers will not support the Times Union until the newspaper's management respects its workforce.
The Guild can be reached at: thenewspaperguild@gmail.com.
Thank you.