Clear It with Sidney | Hillman Foundation

Clear It With Sidney

The best of the week’s news by Lindsay Beyerstein

Clear It with Sidney

2023 Hillman Prize Call for Entries: On Now Through Jan 30

The Sidney Hillman Foundation is now accepting entries for the 2023 Hillman Prizes honoring excellence in investigative journalism and commentary in service of the common good.

The Hillman Prizes celebrate investigative reporting and deep storytelling that exposes social and economic injustice and leads to meaningful public policy change. 

The 2023 Hillman Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:

  • Book (nonfiction)
  • Newspaper Reporting (print/online)
  • Magazine Reporting (print/online)
  • Broadcast Journalism (story/series/documentary, with at least 20 minutes in total package length)
  • Web Journalism (story, series or multimedia project, which appeared online and may include text, photo, video, graphics); and
  • Opinion and Analysis Journalism (commentary and analysis in any medium)

Eligibility: 

Entries must have been published/broadcast in 2022 and have been made widely available to a U.S audience. Your material and a cover letter explaining how the entry meets the requirements can be submitted hereThere is no fee to enter

Hillman Prize winners will be awarded a $5,000 honorarium and a certificate at an event to be held in person, in New York City, on May 9, 2023. 

Judges: 

The Hillman Prize judges are Jamelle Bouie, columnist, The New York Times; Maria Carrillo, former enterprise editor Tampa Bay Times/Houston Chronicle; Ta-Nehisi Coates, bestselling author and former national correspondent, The Atlantic; Alix Freedman, global editor, Ethics and Standards, Reuters; Harold Meyerson, editor at large, The American Prospect; and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher, The Nation.

“The Hillman Prizes go to watchdog journalists who bring us the stories of the marginalized and voiceless and hold power to account,” said Alexandra Lescaze, executive director of the Sidney Hillman Foundation. “Investigative journalism is a cornerstone of a well-functioning democracy and has the potential to initiate the public policy changes that move societies forward. The Hillman Prize is an acknowledgment and a token of gratitude for their essential work.”

Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honored journalists, writers and public figures who pursue investigative journalism and public policy for the common good. Sidney Hillman was the founding president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, a predecessor of Workers United, SEIU. An architect of the New Deal, Hillman fought to build a vibrant union movement extending beyond the shop floor to all aspects of working people’s lives.
 

Call for Entries: 2023 Canadian Hillman Prize for Journalism

Toronto, Ont. (Nov 15, 2022) - The Sidney Hillman Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Canadian Hillman Prize honouring excellence in investigative journalism in service of the common good.

The Hillman Prize celebrates print, digital and broadcast reporting that exposes social and economic injustice and leads to meaningful public policy change. 

Eligibility: Entries must have been published or broadcast in 2022 and made widely available to a Canadian audience. Nominated material and a cover letter explaining how the entry meets the requirements can be submitted hereThere is no fee to enter.

The Canadian Hillman Prize winner(s) will be awarded a $5,000 honorarium and a certificate at our celebration in Toronto to be held on March 30th as well as travel to New York City to be a guest at the U.S Hillman Prize ceremony. Honourable mentions will also be awarded.

Previous Canadian Hillman Prize winners include The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, the Crackdown podcast, CBC’s fifth estate, the Toronto Star, the Hamilton Spectator, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, CBC/Radio-Canada and TVO

Judges:

This year’s Canadian judges are: Neil Docherty - internationally acclaimed documentary maker; Garvia Bailey - arts journalist, broadcaster and producerand Bonnie Brown - documentary and news producer, CBC Radio and Television.

Timeline:

January 15, 2023 - Deadline for entry

Mid-March, 2023 – Winner(s) announced

March 30, 2023 – Winner(s) honoured at Canadian Hillman Prize ceremony - Toronto 

May 9, 2023 – Winner(s) honoured at U.S. Hillman Prize ceremony - New York City

“The Sidney Hillman Foundation is proud to recognize the exceptional work of journalists who hold those in positions of power to account and encourage public discourse,” said Canadian board member, Alex Dagg. “Journalism is a cornerstone of a well-functioning democracy and has the potential to initiate the public policy changes that move societies forward. The Hillman Prize is not only an acknowledgement but also a token of gratitude for the essential work of journalists in their pursuit of truth.” 

Since 1950, in the United States, and 2011 in Canada, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honoured journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good. Sidney Hillman was the founding president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union of America, a predecessor union of Workers United, SEIU. An architect of the New Deal, Hillman fought to build a vibrant union movement extending beyond the shop floor to all aspects of working people’s lives. 

For entry or event questions, please contact: 

Alexandra Lescaze

alex@hillmanfoundation.org or 917-696-2494

For more information about the Hillman Prize, please visit hillmanfoundation.org.

Sidney's Picks: NYC's Food Stamp Program in Disarray; Chipotle "Threw Away" Workers

Photo credit: 

A plaque memorializing the Haymarket Martyrs, executed on this day in 1887. KirbyfestCreative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News:

  • New York City failed to promptly process 40% of food stamp applications. (CityLimits)
     
  • Immigrant workers say Chipotle fired them for organizing. (Documented)
  • Harper Collins workers strike for a living wage. (Guardian)
     
  • Michigan’s “right to work law” in the crosshairs as Democrats regain control of the state legislature. (Bridge)
     
  • Teamsters seek to organize the Woodford Reserve bourbon distillery. (WKYT)

Sidney's Picks: Chipotle Illegally Shut Down Store to Thwart Union Effort

Photo credit: 

Mike Mozart, Creative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News:

  • Chipotle illegally shut down store to thwart union effort, officials say. Immigrant organizers say the fresh Mex chain fired them for organizing. (HuffPo, Documented NY)
     
  • Apple’s first unionized retail outlet has filed an unfair labor practice complaint, accusing management of withholding benefits. (Apple Insider)
     
  • Why sick leave is a huge issue for America’s rail workers. (NYT)
     
  • World’s richest man poised to light $44 billion on fire at Twitter. (WaPo)

Sidney's Picks: Starbucks negotiating team walks out; the first HBCU is still fighting for a fair deal

The Best of the Week’s News:

  • Starbucks corporate negotiators walk out of talks over Zoom issue. (Vice)
     
  • After 185 years, the nation’s oldest HBCU is still fighting for a fair deal. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
     
  • Sysco Teamsters in MA win a new contract with the help of a mass picket line. (Labor Notes) 
     
  • Speaker Pelosi’s husband was hospitalized after an intruder attacked him in their San Francisco home. (NYT)
     
  • Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy flouted labor law with remarks on unionsNLRB alleges. (CNBC)

Sidney's Picks: Amazon's Crushing Productivity

Photo credit: 

Allegorical image (1868), Internet Book ArchiveCreative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News:

Sidney's Picks: Biden Helps Gig Workers; Cannabis Industry Exploits Workers

Photo credit: 

SpurekarCreative Commons.

Sidney’s Picks:

  • Gig workers would get federal minimum wage and other protections under a proposed rule by Biden’s Labor Department. (TAP)
     
  • Meat industry giants start tracking workers like cattle using new body-worn app. (Investigate Midwest) 
     
  • Unlicensed cannabis farms in Oregon are exploiting undocumented workers. (Politico)
     
  • Investigators confirm that a Nevada gold mining company broke safety rules, contributing to miner’s fatal fall. (High Country News)
     
  • Buffalo Starbucks organizers allege that the company sabotaged service to turn customers against striking workers. (Newsweek)

Sidney's Picks: Newsom Signs Farmworker Card-Check Bill

Photo credit: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Creative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News:

  • California governor Gavin Newsom relents, signs card-check bill for farmworkers after big push from the UFW, the California Federation of Labor, and Joe Biden. (Cal Matters)
     
  • As union drive picks up steam, GEICO urges workers to call the police on union canvassers. (Labor Notes)
     
  • Veteran Nintendo game tester says she was fired for asking about a union. (Axios)
     
  • Digital sleuths make a breakthrough in the search for origins of the QAnon cult. (QOrigins)

Sidney's Picks: Philly's Black Labor History; Project Veritas Defeat

Photo credit: 

Philadelphia, Matthew Colo, Wikimedia Commons

The best of the Week’s News:

  • The Philadelphia Inquirer examines the roots of systemic racism through institutions founded in Philadelphia, including itself.  
     
  • Dirty tricksters of Project Veritas lose in court, jury awards $120,000 to victims. (NYT)
     
  • Independent labor unions flourished because big unions weren’t meeting workers’ needs for organizing. (ITT)
     
  • Union officials say they will request a union vote for 3000 JetBlue flight service workers. (NBC)

Sidney's Picks: U.S. Open Workers Get Paid; Clean Water Restored to Jackson

Photo credit: 

Jeremy BrooksCreative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News:

  • Clean water restored to Jackson, MS, but the fate of the water system remains uncertain. (MS Today)
     
  • U.S. Open workers finally get paid after Documented blows the whistle on wage theft. (DocumentedNY)
     
  • Biden averts rail strike by brokering a tentative last-minute deal, now it’s up to the rank-and-file to vote on it. (NYT, NP Bulletin, Trains)
     
  • Clearwater Confidential: How Scientology basically killed an affordable house project in Florida. (TB Times)
     
  • Over 5000 minor league baseball players voted to unionize after a lightening organizing campaign that took just 17 days. (Marketwatch) 

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