The Madison Newspaper Guild (MNG) was chartered in 1934, as Local No. 64 of the American Newspaper Guild (ANG), to represent reporters, photographers, copy editors, librarians, artists, and copy assistants at both the Wisconsin State Journal and the Capital Times.
Documentation relating to the Madison Newspaper Guild's early years is very sparse, and even as late as 1970 many of its activities are undocumented in the organizational records. Oral tradition suggests that the local was organized in 1934 in response to a newspaper column by Heywood Broun that called for a union to represent newspaper men and women. The Madison Guild was launched at an informal meeting at the home of Ernest L. Meyer, a Capital Times columnist who later worked for the New York Post. Among the newsmen present were Lawrence Fitzpatrick, D. D. Mich, later editorial director of Look; Cedric Parker, George R. Stephenson, and Morris Rubin. Parker later recalled that many who joined initially may have thought the guild was to be a professional organization, not a union. Improvements in benefits and working conditions were slow to come, although a contract was signed on September 14, 1934.
In 1947, citing the radicalism of the American Newspaper Guild, the Wisconsin State Journal employees ceased their affiliation and formed their own organization, the Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Association. The Madison Newspaper Guild continued to represent Capital Times employees, as well as staff members of United Press International and the Associated Press.
The decade of the 1970s was characterized by increasing guild activism and numerous grievances and confrontations with management. Some of the more notable cases involve the dismissal and subsequent reinstatement of sportswriter Francis “Bonnie” Ryan; the refusal of Dave Wagner to cross a MULO picket line to cover an opera; and a management-imposed ethics code. This 1974 case banned the acceptance of so-called “freebies” such as tickets to performances, sports events, or social galas even if the review of such events was part of a reporter's job. The code also required reporters to provide documentation of every meeting paid for by a source. Management's concern was that such “freebies” and payments might sway reporters from their responsibility to provide impartial and objective coverage. The guild's objection was that the code was imposed by management, not the product of bargaining. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) initially decided in the guild's favor, but in 1976 reversed its decision. In the 1977 unit clarification case, management attempted to reclassify certain employees as supervisors, thus making them ineligible for guild membership. Among these reclassified employees was the guild president, Diane Woodstock. The NLRB ruled in the guild's favor, and Woodstock remained in her position as president. An additional indicator of the times was a representation election in which a majority of the WSJEA, but less than the required percentage, voted to reaffiliate with the Newspaper Guild.
At the same time, the guild felt that negotiations and overall working conditions were increasingly influenced by Lee Enterprises, the parent company of the Wisconsin State Journal and thus part-owner of Madison Newspapers, Inc. In 1974 the guild came close to striking in support of the demands of the printers' union. Ultimately, such concerns over the implementation of technology and resulting job losses at Madison Newspapers, the inability of some unions to negotiate contract renewals, and concerns that Lee Enterprises was attempting to destroy the unions led to a strike. In October 1977 International Typographical Union Local 23 and the Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Association struck the Wisconsin State Journal and Madison Newspapers, Inc.; Madison Newspaper Guild Local 64, the International Mailers Union, and Pressmen's Local 208 walked out in support.
In anticipation of the strike, in April 1977 these five unions had formed a Unity Committee. The committee remained active throughout the strike, publishing a weekly newsletter, “On the Line,” and assisting in the formation of the Press Connection newspaper. Guild members were active in many of the efforts of the Unity Committee and the Press Connection. The strike lasted two years, though neither the Wisconsin State Journal nor the Capital Times missed a day of publication. Both papers eventually hired permanent replacements for the striking workers and only a few workers from the guild were rehired when the strike was settled. Settlement of the strike resulted in the virtual dissolution of the guild because Local 64 was declared inactive for a period of one year as part of the agreement.
