Wonder Why you have no MAIL or e-mail From The USPA? LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR MAILING OR E-MAIL ADDRESS

WAYSWAYS 10 To To ImproveImprove Your Writing SkillsYour Writing Skills

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Omit on before a day of the week and before a month and date

The accident occurred on March 25.

Don’t interchange feel, think and believe.

Use said

Make quotations count

“We will stay out for one day longer.”

Avoid talking inanimate objects

The president’s press conference will be postponed one week, the White House said today.

Don’t start the first sentence of a paragraph with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, yet)

But, he did not respond to our request.

Don’t report opinions and accusations as facts

Acne State University’s inferior science program is the main reason…

Redundant Words: Sometimes never means never. Never use together after the following words:

assemble, knit, bind, merge, mesh, mix, staple, tie weld, gather, huddle, join, combined.

Quickly identify the person being quoted (work the name into the quote)

“Our lousy trade policies,” said President Gerard, “are the reason we are losing jobs.”

Don’t repeat major words in same sentence or headline

The prosperity of the workers depends on the prosperity of the company.

Avoid according to with live sources

According to nurse Haynes,

Francisco Carrillo Local 377-01

In February, Americans celebrate Black History month. In March, many countries acknowledge International Women’s month. In April, workers who were injured or died because of job-related injury or illnesses are honored on Workers Memorial Day or Day of Mourning. There is probably an event or acknowledgement that could be made every month. Many local unions host events marking Black History, In-ternational Women’s Day, etc. The number of people who actually attend an event is startling. Quite often organizers are disappointed. They know they have support for these issues but cannot understand why the turnout is low. Communicators can be pro-active by adding stories or arti-cles to their publications prior to events. Increasing aware-ness will create activism. Support information is readily available. An internet search of commemorative months or dates will yield much more information than most editors could use. These web articles contain facts, figures and timelines marking the events.

On April 28, unions around the globe will remember fallen workers with Workers Memorial Day in the U.S. or Day of Mourning in Canada. The theme, this year is “Good Jobs, Safe Jobs, It’s Time.” The USPA will assist the AFL-CIO·CLC by providing material on our web site to assist in getting out the word. The AFL-CIO web site and the CLC web site will have various items available to help activists, such as buttons, stickers, fact sheets, poems and tributes. If any USPA member wishes to submit articles or graphics for others to use, please send the material to jcoleman@usw.org and to be posted on a special sec-tion of the web site. Remember, the key to a

successful event is to plan ahead.

I f you open any local union publication, you will probably find articles and pictures of past events such as minutes of member-

ship meetings, changes to contracts and bene-fits, or what occurred at the local’s last picnic or outing. Many experienced editors though, take time to plan ahead to highlight future events or issues with an article prior to an occasion or event.

For one week in March, 22 aspiring communicators from District 1 came to Pittsburgh to take part in the “Getting Started” workshop for new editors. The event was sponsored by District 1 and hosted by the United Steelworkers Press Association (USPA). The United Steelworkers (USW) provided a tal-ented group of instructors and trainers from the International’s Communica-tions Department. The Getting Started Workshop takes editors through three days of writing and editing techniques then leads into the basic principles of layout and de-sign. Participants then use these newly acquired skills to put a newsletter to-gether as they learn a desktop publish-ing program in a computer lab. To fin-ish the workshop, editors learn various methods to reduce mailing and distribu-tion costs, and are given basic legal

principles to follow for publishing a newsletter. The course was re-designed this year by Marco Trbovich, USW Director of Communications and his staff to en-hance various areas of the training. Revving Up on Day One After the initial introductions and proto-cols, the participants were launched into an “editorial firestorm.”

Gerald Dickey, a former editor of Steelabor, had participants examine the communication needs of their locals to determine what they hoped to accom-plish. He led the class through an exer-cise on how to choose lead stories. Then, it was back to the early days of layout and design of using cut and paste techniques. USW multimedia graphic designer, Aaron Hudson, led the group through an exercise on designing the main page of a newsletter. Hudson then

District 1 Communicators Develop Skills District 1 Communicators Develop Skills “Through education and communication, we will empower our brothers and sisters”

went through each design to highlight the good and not-so-good points of each. To bring it all together, he had the class view a PowerPoint mock-up of how he would design the main page of USW@Work using the same materials as the participants. “The Bag Lady Arrives” One of the more colorful instructors was Barbara White Stack, a new arrival to the USW Communications Depart-ment from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Her demanding but non-imposing style of instruction was not only refreshing but also humorous. Leading the class through a course in “writing headlines,” Stack’s insistence on participation and, “I’m coming right back to you for an answer” kept all the participants on their toes and scram-bling to finish each project. Stack’s most ominous weapon was her right arm as she reached into a bag of treats and chocolate bars, tossing them to those who completed their task or answered questions correctly. Continuing the next day, she led the class through a session on organizing a

story and then had participants practice those skills. USPA President, Van Tenpenny directed the class on things to watch when taking photos. This part of the course revealed how a good photo can enhance an article and also revealed how bad many of us are when snapping a shot.

There was no shortage of help when Stack and Dickey were joined by USW technician, Wayne Ranick and Jim McKay, editor of USW@Work to assist participants in writing a lead story. Most, if not all, of the course evalua-tions expressed their appreciation for the one-on-one attention received by the class members. A good part of the next day was spent with Stack getting the class to focus their attention on editing the articles written the day before, as well as vari-ous other articles.

In preparation for the computer class, Jim Coleman, USPA Secretary Treas-urer led the attendees through a quick class on basic layout and design princi-ples to watch for when designing a newsletter. “Computerphobia” Fear of Computers Day four would prove to be quite a test for participants. Not only were they going to put all of their material to-gether and design their first newsletter, but at the same time, would be learning a new computer program in desktop publishing. With the help of Hudson, Tenpenny, Coleman and Jeff Furher — USPA District 1 Communications Coordinator the group (including four participants who had never used a computer) moved remarkably well through the various elements and designed a few pages for an initial newsletter. The final day, the group discussed vari-ous methods of mailing, printing and distributing their publications and how to save costs. Some basic legal tips were discussed, including where to get proper advice.

Prior to a farewell luncheon, seven new members signed up for USPA on behalf of their locals and six members re-newed their memberships.

While many members expressed their appreciation for conducting this work-shop, a letter from Chris Tunney to District 1 Director Dave McCall, summed up the feelings of the group: “Thanks for your consistent passion for continuous education in our district. Under your watchful leadership, we have been allowed to embrace many opportunities to better ourselves, and our membership. We are all stronger, because of your vision and dedication.”

Lisa Straka Local 5644

Steve Carter Local 7697

Van Tenpenny USPA President

Chris Tunney Local 1123

Kathy Boyd Local 1123

“The agenda was diverse, challenging, and very

educational.” Chris Tunney

“Thanks for your consistent passion for continuous

education in our district.” Chris Tunney

“My eyes have been opened to a whole new world and I can’t wait to get started.”

Christine Zapata

Barbara White Stack USW Communications

Jim McKay Editor USW@Work

Cathy Wallace

Local 730

Diane Walsh Local 87L

Marco Trbovich Assistant to the

President Terry

Mullins Local 7697

and USW Director of Communications