The 10 reporters that make up the Bucks County Courier Times and Intelligencer voted Thursday to unionize with the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia in a resounding 8—1 vote.
In a newsroom where over half of reporters work second jobs and no reporters under 40 can afford to leave family homes, workers look forward to negotiating with management — which has acknowledged the low wages— in order to live and raise families in the communities we serve.
“The Courier/Intell has talented reporters and editors, and is the main local news source that Bucks Countians have turned to for 222 years, since the Intell first published,” said JD Mullane, a 39-year veteran of the Courier Times. “It’s a wonderful place to work. It will be even better after we negotiate a fair and equitable contract this year.”
The Bucks County Courier Times and Intelligencer are owned by USA Today Co., formerly Gannett, and were acquired during the 2019 merger of Gatehouse Media and Gannett, creating the largest newspaper chain in the United States.
Journalists in Bucks County followed the Columbus Dispatch, also owned by USA Today Co., who voted to unionize earlier this year. This is the 23rd newsroom to vote to unionize at the company in the last decade, and part of a wave of organizing at The NewsGuild-CWA. More than 12,400 workers have unionized with the Guild from more than 280 workplaces in the past decade.
Bucks County journalists voted to join the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia which represents workers at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pottstown Mercury, the News Journal, LancasterOnline, AccessMatters and many other workplaces.