1199 Magazine

The Metro New York Labor Communications Council presented the awards for its yearly journalism competition at the organization’s annual convention June 7 in New York City. 1199SEIU’s publication, Our Life And Times, received six awards in the contest. A brochure created for last year’s SEIU Convention in Denver, CO also garnered a prize. 1199SEIU’s awards in the contest were:

• A first place award for best illustration for artist Milton Glaser’s illustration “Healthcare Workers Are The 99%,” which appeared on the back cover of the March/April issue. Contest judges said Glaser’s work “stood out as being completely powerful, bold and beautiful and absolutely inspiring, so much so that it seemed to deserve its own category.”

• First place in the best art work category for artist Luba Lukova’s illustration for “When Lemons Fall From The Sky,” also in the March/April edition.

• Second Place in the best editorial category for 1199SEIU President. George Gresham’s column about NYC’s stop-and-frisk policy, “Discrimination By Another Name,” which appeared in the May/June magazine.

• Second place in the unique performance category for the brochure. “The Road We Have Traveled: A History of 1199SEIU,” which was created for last year’s SEIU convention by designers Jason Wong and Thencasti Quaglia.

• Third place in general excellence for Our Life And Times. Judges called the magazine’s design “elegant” and reserved special praise for the work of Director of Photography Jim Tynan and Photographer Belinda Gallegos, noting that “the colorful photos often show real action or emotion – and even rarer, they depict people actually working (as opposed to posing in the workplace) in jobs that are sometimes hard to visualize.”

• Third prize for in the best headline category for retired editor JJ Johnson’s story, Fukushima on the Hudson, about the dangers of the Indian Point nuclear reactor in New York’s Westchester County. The story appeared in the May/ June issue.

• A special mention in the feature writing category for “Grief Will Not Silence Her,” Our Life And Times’ acting editor Patricia Kenney’s piece about the NYPD shooting of Bronx teenager Ramarley Graham and his mother Constance Malcolm’s fight for justice. The story appeared in the May/June issue.

In addition to the awards presentation, the Metro convention included a vibrant panel discussion about the role of the labor media in the recent Chicago teachers’ strike and the fight against school closures there, a workshop --Telling Stories with Photographs – and the presentation of the Labor Communicator of the Year Award to best-selling author and broadcaster Laura Flanders.

The Metro New York Labor Communications Council was founded in 1974 to give labor communicators the opportunity to come together to share ideas, exchange information and discuss the challenges facing the labor movement. Metro’s membership includes writers, photographers, designers, and digital media specialists. In addition to its annual convention the organization hosts skills building workshops and panel discussions for members. For more information about Metro log onto www.metrolabornyc.org

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