Both Papers Are Owned By GateHouse Media
Following on the heels of a vote in Lakeland, journalists at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune voted by a margin of 22–16 to become the second Florida paper to become members of The NewsGuild-CWA. Both papers are owned by GateHouse Media.
Sarasota, as well as Lakeland, were purchased by GateHouse Media in January 2015. The Guild represents 16 GateHouse papers in the Midwest, Northeast, and, now, in the South. NewsGuild President Bernie Lunzer said members of the Herald-Tribune’s newsroom staff “understood they would have better control over their future with a union than without.”
Bargaining at Sarasota and Lakeland is just beginning.
The Guild represents almost 600 employees in the advertising; business; circulation; editorial, including online; nancial; and maintenance departments at GateHouse properties. The circulation for the 16 papers comprise more than a third of the total daily circulation for GateHouse.