The journalists of InvestigateWest, a nonprofit investigative publication in the Pacific Northwest, announced plans this week to organize together as a union, the InvestigateWest Guild.
The newsroom’s reporters signaled our unanimous desire to form a union by signing a mission statement for the Guild that was sent to leadership last week, before our public announcement on Thursday. InvestigateWest executive director Jacob Fries signed an agreement for voluntary recognition Friday afternoon.
In the mission statement, we said our intention with the Guild is to preserve the impactful investigative reporting we do every day and create a fair and secure workplace for current and future reporters. We hope to achieve that by having a seat at the table.
“It’s been a great ride so far at InvestigateWest. I’m thankful for the meaningful work I get to do in my job and it’s been incredibly heartening to see our newsroom grow through intentional leadership and community investment,” said Kaylee Tornay, Oregon-based investigative reporter at InvestigateWest since 2022. “This union is a natural part of that growth. My colleagues and I love what we do, we understand the importance of our work and we want to do our part to sustain it by advocating for ourselves in an organized and thoughtful way.”
The InvestigateWest Guild will be represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, the Seattle-based local of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.
We are excited to work alongside newsroom leadership to ensure our organization continues to foster a sustainable workplace where all employees can thrive.
“I have never worked at a more supportive and collaborative newsroom, and I have cherished my time at InvestigateWest,” said Moe K. Clark, an investigative reporter based in Washington. “For me, the formation of this union is proactive, instead of reactive. Each of us knows intimately the challenges our industry faces, challenges that are likely only to get worse. I believe our newsroom will come out stronger with reporters having a more formalized seat at the table and I’m excited for our newsroom’s future.”
With the voluntary recognition agreement, we will not need to hold a ballot election to formalize our Guild. We plan to initiate bargaining for our first contract in the coming months.
“This is a big step for our small newsroom,” said Fries, “and we look forward to a fair and constructive bargaining process with the Guild.”