Press Release
November 29th, 2007



CT News To Become Vermont’s First Union Affiliated Media

Where: Langdon Street Café, Langdon Street, Montpelier, VT
When: Saturday, December 1st, 2007, 3:00PM
What: CT News Joins Teamsters
Contact: David Van Deusen, News Editor, (802)522-5812,
email: davidoct (at) chek.com
Dan Brush, Lithographers Local 1L-Teamsters (802)272-6420

On Saturday, December 1st, 2007, Catamount Tavern News will sign a letter of intent with the Lithographers Local 1L-Teamsters, making CT News the first union affiliated media source in the State of Vermont.

Catamount Tavern News (established in the winter of 2003) is a quarterly statewide publication covering news, politics, and counterculture for the working Vermonter. The paper, based out of Montpelier, has a current circulation of 1200, and has distribution centers in over 25 Vermont towns including Newport, St.Johnsbury, Hardwick, Burlington, Winooski, Montpelier, Barre, White River Junction, Springfield, Bennington, and Brattleboro. CT News, which is worker-owned, presently has a staff of 7 and is proud to regularly publish freelance articles from such outstanding writers and community organizers as Brian Tokar and James Haslam.

The tentative agreement reached between CT News and the Teamsters will establish a fair and transparent grievance procedure, allow members to access to the union’s generous pension plan, and (upon request) will make the paper available (for free) to unions across the state. The agreement covers all of CT News’ staff members including writers, photographers, delivery drivers, and production personnel. The agreement also covers more than a dozen freelancers who write or perform other labor for the paper.

“We understand our affiliation with the Teamsters as an important event in the history of news & media in Vermont. Catamount Tavern News is fortunate in that we are worker-owned and controlled and therefore do not have many of the problems that traditionally managed publications often experience. However, by joining the Teamsters we hope to serve as an example to workers at other Vermont newspapers who are in serious need of union protection,” said News Editor David Van Deusen.

The Latest issue of CT News (Fall-Winter 2007, #18) includes an a candid interview with Anthony Pollina, as well as articles on global warming, the VT AFL-CIO’s attempts to bring the anti-war movement to the shop floor, the proposed FairPoint-Verizon deal, Hunting in Vermont, and Gogol Bordello.

This issue is available at many locations including the following: Burlington-Muddy Waters, Hardwick-Buffalo Mountain Co-op, Newport-Natural Foods, St.Johnsbury-The Co-op, Montpelier-Langdon Street Café, Barre-Dente’s, Rutland-The Co-op, Bennington-South Street Café, Brattleboro-The Indian Grocery & Mocha Joe’s.