Contact: press@newsguild.org
NEW YORK – The Schneps Media Union overwhelmingly won their union election, with 90 percent of ballots cast in favor of joining the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE), Local 1096 of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.
Workers held an in-person ballot election with the National Labor Relations Board on July 24 at both their Brooklyn and Long Island offices. The formation of the unit marks an important step forward toward better pay and news standards for community papers in the greater New York City area.
In recent years, Schneps has continued to increase its share of New York City and Long Island’s local publications. The publisher’s New York City footprint extends through five boroughs including amNY, amNY Law, Brooklyn Paper, The Bronx Times, Brownstoner, QNS, Noticias, New York Family, Staten Island Parent and Caribbean Life. On Long Island, its outlets include the Long Island Press and Dan’s Papers.
Schneps Media Union workers will soon begin bargaining for their first union contract.
“We, the reporters of Schneps Media, are elated to finally have won a seat at the table to negotiate for livable wages, affordable health care, and stronger editorial guardrails. After a year and a half of worker-led organizing and a robust public campaign, Schneps reporters voted overwhelmingly today in favor of securing improved working conditions,” said amNew York reporter and organizing committee member Ethan Stark-Miller. “Our campaign also overcame a concerted anti-union effort from management, including an onslaught of emails, calls, and one-on-one meetings aimed at swaying us to vote no. But today we came together to loudly say YES to unionization!”
“IAPE is thrilled with the monumental win of the Schneps Media Union and looks forward to negotiating with the company to create a fair contract that protects worker rights, ensures fair treatment of workers and guarantees employees are paid what they deserve for the great work that they do,” says IAPE Local President Jodi Green.
Follow the workers on their website, Instagram, Twitter and Bluesky. A full mission statement and additional information about the Schneps Media Union is available here. IAPE, a NewsGuild local, has more than 1,300 members in several locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its members hold a wide range of jobs—we represent reporters, software developers, computer technicians and programmers, sales professionals, customer service personnel and dozens of other titles. The NewsGuild is a sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents workers in telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, and other fields.