NEW YORK – Unionized staff at investigative nonprofit newsroom ProPublica walked off the job Wednesday in a one-day strike, setting up picket lines outside the company’s New York City headquarters, as well as in Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The New York City picket line will begin at 9 a.m. ET and continue through 5 p.m. with a rally scheduled at 12:30 p.m. ProPublica Guild members, along with leaders from The NewsGuild-CWA and city labor, are scheduled to speak.
ProPublica Guild members are asking readers and supporters to not visit ProPublica’s website or click on any company’s content on other platforms during the course of the one-day strike.
“Our members are standing together to demand that management agree to very basic, very standard union protections,” said Jeff Ernsthausen, a senior data reporter and secretary of the ProPublica Guild. “We care deeply about our work, so we call on management to understand the gravity of this walkout and to come to the table ready to take our concerns seriously.”
The ProPublica Guild represents journalists, communications staff, developers, reporting fellows, copy editors and other workers and is a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York. The union won voluntary recognition in August 2023 and began bargaining in December 2023. In March, the unit authorized the strike, with 92% voting “yes” and 99% of the union participating in the vote.
During more than two years of active bargaining, ProPublica management has:
- Rejected any restrictions on replacing jobs with AI.
- Refused to agree to standard job security protections and seniority provisions in layoffs.
- Denied workers wage increases that keep up with the rising cost of living.
The work stoppage comes two days after the ProPublica Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the company’s unilateral implementation of an AI policy. The company failed to first bargain with the union as required by labor law.
Yesterday, TNG-CWA President Jon Schleuss wrote to the company, urging them to agree to fair contract language around AI usage.
“Our members at ProPublica are key to the company’s reputation for excellence,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “Today, they have walked off the job to remind management of their value and demonstrate their commitment to accomplishing a fair contract.”
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ABOUT THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK
The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, is a labor union representing nearly 6,000 media professionals and other employees at New York area news organizations, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Reuters, ProPublica, The Nation, TIME, PEOPLE, Wirecutter, and The Daily Beast. The NewsGuild of New York advocates for journalists to have a voice in the newsroom, for press freedom, for inclusive and diverse workplaces, and for just cause, no exceptions, for all workers.