FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
TexasTribuneGuild@gmail.com
AUSTIN — Unionized journalists and employees of the award-winning nonprofit newsroom The Texas Tribune ratified their first contract, which features unit-wide raises, new salary minimums, a new sick leave policy and guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence.
“We entered negotiations two years ago as our newsroom and the media industry faced financial challenges and economic uncertainty,” Alejandro Serrano, the chair of the Texas Tribune Guild said. “But thanks to our strength as an engaged and united Guild and with support from the Media Guild of the West, we secured many wins in this contract that will ensure The Texas Tribune continues to be a great workplace.”
The Texas Tribune Guild is a wall-to-wall union that represents more than 50 staff members, including reporters, photographers, designers, engineers, accountants, and editors, along with members of the events, development, product and revenue teams. It also includes staff from The Waco Bridge and Austin Current, local newsrooms supported by The Texas Tribune.
More than 90% of union eligible members participated in the contract ratification vote, which resulted in unanimous approval of the inaugural contract. Under the new agreement, most Guild employees will receive a 3% raise this year and all Guild employees will receive at least a 1% raise in 2027 and 2028. The contract also codified several of The Texas Tribune’s benefits, locking in current coverage rates for insurance premiums and the organization’s retirement match.
The contract also adds:
- Salary minimums of $62,000 for starting reporters, newsroom and business staff;
- 2% retention raises for every three years spent at The Tribune;
- 10 sick days and 10 days of bereavement leave, in addition to 20 PTO days;
- Layoff protections, including for inverse seniority;
- A commitment to not lay off journalists to replace their news-gathering and reporting work with Al;
- An additional 8 weeks of severance pay for non-journalists laid off solely for the purpose of implementing Al;
- Guidelines on newsroom and employee use of Al;
- Worker protections around field work safety, mental health and secondary trauma and immigration and work permit processes.
“We are excited to continue producing impactful journalism for Texans under a contract that reflects and rewards our staff’s contributions with pay and policies that are more transparent and fair,” Serrano said.
Background:
The Texas Tribune was founded in 2009 as a nonpartisan nonprofit news organization, covering politics and public policy. Its mission is to inform and engage with Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Over the last 15 years, the Tribune has been a national leader in nonprofit news, helping inspire the creation of dozens of similar news outlets to cover state and local politics. In 2024, the Tribune was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, alongside our partners, ProPublica, and the organization has brought home an array of other awards and accolades for its best-in-class journalism and events.
After the organization’s first-ever layoffs in 2023, where 10% of our colleagues, including some of the most tenured employees, lost their jobs, workers banded together to create The Texas Tribune Guild. The guild launched formally in January 2024 with a mission to “preserve the collaborative and open culture” of the newsroom, advocate for “equitable and sustainable pay” and ensure “a workplace where all employees can build and sustain their professional careers.” The Guild was voluntarily recognized by The Tribune’s management in February of 2024.