Journalists at the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and the Bradenton Herald held a one-day work stoppage on April 1 to demand a fair contract and to insist that McClatchy, the publications’ parent company, respect unionized journalists.
“For more than two years, journalists at McClatchy’s three Florida newspapers have worked to continue to produce quality journalism through crisis and conflict, as the company has refused to complete a fair contract, repeatedly asking its staff to do more with less,’’ said Mary Ellen Klas, co-unit chair for One Herald Guild.
A lunchtime rally on Zoom with supporters from around the country was exuberant, with messages of support from journalists at other McClatchy-owned publications and other NewsGuild members. Workers attended an afternoon bargaining session in big numbers, decked out in union T-shirts.
Two years after Herald journalists in Miami formed the One Herald Guild union, McClatchy still refuses to address basic issues like pay equity between English and Spanish-language journalists, experience-based salary floors, protections against outsourcing and improvements to their retirement plan. Bradenton journalists formed the Bradenton Herald NewsGuild in May 2020 and have since worked side-by-side with their Miami colleagues, asserting similar contract demands.
Severe disparities in pay between English-language journalists and Spanish-language journalists have existed for decades, said Aaron Leibowitz, a reporter for the Miami Herald. “It was one of the main reasons we organized the union.”
Low pay is a concern for journalists of both languages. Michael Butler, a real estate reporter, was the first in his family to go to college. His family and friends consider his job glamorous, he said, but he can’t afford to live on his own on the salary McClatchy pays him. Devoun Cetoute and Ana Chacin also said it was impossible to live independently in Miami on their annual pay of $40,000.
Benefits that One Herald Guild and the Bradenton Herald NewsGuild are fighting for have been offered to non-union workers, but have been withheld from unionized workers across the news chain. The withheld benefits include paid parental leave, minimum salaries and mileage reimbursement at the IRS standard rate. Management admitted during negotiations that it was withholding the benefits as a “bargaining chip,” said Sarah Blaskey, an investigative reporter at the Miami Herald.
Many great journalists have left the Heralds due to low pay, Blaskey said. “This is really about saving local news.”
Stopping work even for even a single day is difficult for journalists who care deeply about their work and their communities, workers said, but they felt it is necessary in order to secure a better future for journalists across the company and to ensure that they can continue to produce the quality journalism their communities depend on.
They are asking community members to support them by donating to a GoFundMe account to cover pay the company withheld as a result of the walkout.
Follow One Herald Guild on Twitter @oneheraldguild. Follow the Bradenton NewsGuild @BHnewsguild.
Photo at top: Members of One Herald Guild rally at the Torch of Friendship in downtown Miami as they await the start of bargaining during a one-day work stoppage on Friday, April 1.