NewsGuild-CWA Members Join ACLU in Lawsuit Over Worker Safety

Members of The NewsGuild-CWA’s Pacific Media Workers Guild (TNG-CWA Local 39521) have joined in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Northern California on March 25 against the City of Modesto, Calif., over its unconstitutional ordinance banning masks and personal safety gear at public demonstrations.

From a media release issued by the ACLU, the measure “remains too broad and too vague. It stifles free speech and free expression and infringes on journalists’ constitutionally protected right to report on protests.”

NewsGuild-CWA members fear the measure could lead to selective enforcement, increase uncertainty about what is lawful and what is prohibited, and endanger journalists attempting to perform their jobs. The ordinance prohibits personal protective gear including bike helmets, bandanas, and padded vests. Without reasonable and specific language, the measure could be used to target journalists, protesters, and legal observers and chill peaceful dissent.

“Many journalists, myself included, have been hit by crowd-control weapons or affected by tear gas while covering protests. For the Guild’s members, gas masks, helmets, and goggles constitute basic safety gear necessary to safely document protests in our communities,” said Annie Sciacca, president of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. “State law allows journalists to stay at a protest after an unlawful assembly is declared, but by stripping journalists of necessary safety gear, the ordinance puts us in harm’s way.”

Click here to read more about the lawsuit.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.