TUCSON, Ariz. – Journalists at the Arizona Daily Star announced Thursday, Oct. 15, their intention to form a union with The NewsGuild-CWA and are calling on USA TODAY Co. to voluntarily recognize their union.
The announcement follows USA TODAY Co.’s September 2026 acquisition of the Arizona Daily Star from Lee Enterprises, ending the companies’ longstanding joint operating agreement.
As the newspaper begins a new chapter under USA TODAY Co.’s ownership, the Star’s reporters, photographers and copy editors are calling on their new parent company to demonstrate its stated commitment to local journalism by respecting employees’ collective voice and voluntarily recognizing their union.
Members of the organizing committee presented local management with a request for voluntary recognition and their mission statement Thursday, after 95% of eligible journalists signed cards signaling their desire to be represented by The News Guild-CWA.
“We’re asking for a seat at the table,” said Emily Bregel, the Star’s border reporter and the Arizona Press Club’s 2025 Virg Hill Journalist of the Year, in a tie. She’s been on staff or a freelancer at the Star since 2013.
“We care deeply about our community and the sustainability of Tucson’s daily newspaper. That’s why we’re fighting to have a say in the future of our newsroom,” she said.
The union will cover 20 reporters, copy editors and photographers as a unit of the Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild, the nation’s largest union for journalists and other media workers.
The Star has a 149-year history in Tucson and is a vital source of information to the community. The staff are advocating for better working conditions and a livable wage, and the resources necessary to provide Tucson and Southern Arizona with the level of coverage our readers deserve.
In a mission statement distributed by the newsroom, the Star’s unionizing journalists wrote:
“Communities need journalists to inform civic discourse, to connect readers to their hometown and to hold the powerful accountable to the public. We are advocating for our ability to do just that, by unionizing as the Arizona Daily Star News Guild.”
More from the Arizona Daily Star News Guild’s mission statement:
“While the Star is locally profitable, averaging $8.5 million in annual net income over the past decade, our staff has suffered from stagnant or declining wages and repeated layoffs that have shrunk our newsroom to a skeleton crew.
“Today, the Star newsroom has 20 reporters and photographers to cover a metro area of more than 1 million people. Many of us have not gotten raises for years, not even to keep up with inflation.
“We are organizing to join the dozens of USA Today-owned newsrooms, and more than 900 workers, who have already unionized to ensure we have a voice in the future of our newsroom.
“The Star’s journalists live in Tucson. Some of us have worked for the Star for decades; others are launching their careers here. We care deeply about our community, and we want to ensure the Star’s readers have a hometown newspaper that’s truly local and has the resources needed to cover Tucson and Southern Arizona.
“We are advocating for a living wage and cost-of-living raises; an end to indiscriminate layoffs; clear evidence of local financial distress to justify any proposed staff reductions; affordable health insurance; protection of the resources necessary for news gathering, such as travel budgets and equipment; and assurances that Star journalists won’t be forced to use A.I. and will have a say in our newsroom A.I. policy.”
You can follow the Arizona Daily Star Guild on social media at @adsnewsguild.
Media contact: azdailystarng@gmail.com