Guild sends support for Maui local, bargaining scholarship

The Buffalo Newspaper Guild has provided financial support for fellow Guild members covering the devastating wildfires in Hawaii.

The Guild’s Executive Committee earlier this month approved a $200 donation to Local 39521, Pacific Media Workers, at The Maui News, who are covering the disaster on the ground.

Some members of the local have been personally affected by the fires.

The Executive Committee also approved a $500 donation to the new Bruce Nelson Collective Bargaining Scholarship, which will provide training for NewsGuild leaders.

The scholarship was created in memory of Bruce R. Nelson, a NewsGuild staff representative for three decades who died Jan 10. Nelson was a dues-paying union member for more than five decades, including twice in the Albany Guild.

Nelson was known for, among other things, playing a key role in a training program for newly elected local Guild officers. His family committed $10,000 to start the scholarship.

Training will be conducted through the Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations school.