Public Employee Press

DC 37 wins 12 labor communication awards

The DC 37 Communications Dept. received 12 awards in the most recent labor journalism competition of the International Labor Communications Association. There were hundreds of entries in the contest, which covered publications issued in 2006, Web sites and radio and TV programs. The awards were presented in November.

Eight awards for articles, graphic design, photography and illustrations went to DC 37’s Public Employee Press, which over the years has been one of the ILCA’s most honored publications, and four prizes went to the union’s Web site and its television and radio shows.

The PEP prizes included three firsts for the analytical “Bushonomics” series by Sr. Associate Editor Gregory N. Heires, Art Director Alyce Archer’s charming design of a three-page article about the Bellevue On-site Day Care Center, and artist Gene Suchma’s powerful “Blood for Oil” illustration for a story about the war in Iraq.

PEP received second awards for Archer’s dramatic front-page design for the union’s Asian Heritage celebration and for a labor history article by Heires about the time DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts was jailed for leading a strike.

An illustrated chart by Associate Art Director Elroy Dobson showing the costs of the Iraq War won a third prize, as did a Suchma cartoon calling for national health care. Photographer Clarence Elie-Rivera’s shot of members marching for health care got an honorable mention.

The DC 37 Web site, www.dc37.net, received a second prize for content and an honorable mention for general excellence. Molly Charboneau is the site’s content editor. A second award went to the union’s radio show, “It’s Your City, It’s Our Job,” which is co-hosted by Rudy Orozco of Communications and DC 37 Librarian Ken Nash. DC 37’s TV show, with Donna Silberberg as executive producer and Rudy Orozco as producer, got an honorable mention.

Zita Allen, DC 37’s new communications director, is a vice president of ILCA.