A supermajority of journalists from The Desert Sun, Arizona Republic, and 12 newsrooms in New Jersey and New York including the Record, Asbury Park Press and The Journal News are walking off of the job today in protest of Gannett’s austerity measures which are devastating local news around the country. 

This is the biggest coordinated action from union employees after Gannett laid off 3% of its staff in August, announced more cost-cutting measures in October, and follows a day after the release of their Q3 earnings report 

NATIONAL – Over 200 union journalists across 14 Gannett owned-newsrooms from New York and New Jersey to Arizona and Southern California collectively walked off the job for a one-day strike today. Hundreds more across various other Gannett newsrooms in Austin, Florida, Ohio, Milwaukee and elsewhere are taking a coordinated lunch-time walkout or staging visible pickets in their city in solidarity with their colleagues who are out on strike. 

This action is in response to the company laying off 400 employees and cutting another 400 open positions in August, which represented 3% of staff, followed by additional cost-cutting austerity measures announced in October which included furloughs and cuts to the 401k plan. These devastating cuts to local newsrooms come on the heels of Gannett  announcing a $100M stock buyback program for shareholders in February, directing critical funding away from local newsrooms and to rich shareholders.

Last month, the Economic Policy Institute reported that CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,460% since 1978 and the average CEO is paid hundreds of times as much as a typical worker in 2021. Gannett is no exception. Gannett CEO Mike Reed receives an $8 million annual salary—160 times the median salary of a Gannett worker.

All the while, Gannett has been stalling on bargaining at various tables across the unionized newsrooms, and not bargaining in good faith around demands for family-wage salaries, adequate staffing, and diverse newsrooms. 

Workers taking the one day walkout will be publishing news on Gannett Union Press (gannettunions.org), a strike paper created to continue coverage of important events that the community depends on, like local sports. Additionally, Gannett media workers have launched a GoFundMe to support strikers facing financial hardship due to the strike and their employer’s poverty wages. Many reporters have reported needing to rely on food stamps and housing assistance to get by.

“Rochester’s newsroom has a proud union legacy that dates back to 1935. Some of our predecessors’ contract fights have gone on for well over a decade. Our most recent contract expired in 2019 and we don’t intend to go down that long of a road again,” said Tracy Schuhmacher, Food and Drink Reporter, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “We are excited to be joining forces with Gannett’s newest unions and we’re ready to fight for equitable, living wages at Gannett.”

This one day strike follows in the footsteps of other national collective action by unionized Gannett workers in recent months including a coordinated “lunch-out” in early August where hundreds of workers rallied during lunch time in protest of layoffs, and a “Rally to Save Local News” Town Hall where non-union members, labor and elected leaders, including Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and New York State Senator James Skoufis, as well as musician and activist Billy Bragg attended. The NewsGuild-CWA currently represents around 50 Gannett-owned newsrooms all across the country.

“We have consistently reported about growing prices and cost of living becoming untenable in places like Phoenix, and at the same time Gannett has only made it more expensive through attempting to cut our benefits, making our already pitiful insurance plan more expensive, and refusing to give cost of living increases,” said Joseph Darius Jaafari, Investigative Reporter, The Arizona Republic. “It’s clear that Gannett isn’t in the business of making sure newspapers and democracy thrives; the company, its executives, and their shareholders would rather stuff their pockets before ever assuring a well-educated public. This walkout should show them we’re serious, and that they need to move fast, because three years to negotiate a contract is an embarrassment.”

“Gannett is actively sabotaging our democracy by attacking its own journalists,” said Jon Schleuss, President, NewsGuild-CWA. “The company has the money to invest in journalists and it should start doing that immediately instead of fighting them.” 

“Gannett has no news to print, no stories to publish online, no photos, no content to share without the hard work and dedication of our members,” said Susan DeCarava, President, NewsGuild of New York. “Gannett executives have been robbing journalists and the communities they serve by decimating newsrooms and underpaying workers while lavishing company executives  with extravagant pay, outrageous bonuses and artificially inflating the value of stocks with buyback schemes. We have had enough.” 

“Local journalists are sick and tired of getting jerked around by Gannett, where corporate bosses have dragged their feet for years to avoid reaching fair contracts with their own employees,” said Matt Pearce, President, Media Guild of the West. 

In Gannett Co.’s Q3 Quarterly Earnings Report released yesterday, the company cited as among the factors that could affect its bottom line: “Our ability to recruit and retain key personnel.” Adequately staffed newsrooms that are as  diverse as the communities they serve has been a core union demand at Gannett . 

“The earnings report issued by Gannett yesterday once again shows that Mike Reed’s solutions to the problems facing the company revolve around punishing employees: cutting jobs and cutting compensation is not the pathway to sustainable journalism,” said Tony Daley, Economist, CWA. “The announcement of a reduction of 400 jobs and another 400 vacancies that will not be filled along with furloughs and retirement cuts show a monumental lack of imagination. As much as Reed touts the company’s commitment to journalism, the cutbacks tell the real story: cut newsrooms and the result is the delivery of less news to the communities we serve. Reed’s corporate double-speak needs to be sanctioned by stakeholders. We need leadership that worries less about stock prices and their salaries than about where this company will be in 5, 10, or 20 years.”

Striking Gannett workers as well as colleagues from other unionized and non-unionized newsrooms and the wider community are gathering for a Zoom rally at 1 pm ET to hear about why this action is important and why this is an unfortunate but necessary step forward.

Last month a federal judge ruled that Starbucks Workers United, a union supporting the organizing of thousands of Starbucks workers across the U.S., must turn over private messages between workers and journalists covering the massive organizing wave at the coffee chain. This ruling has serious implications for media coverage of unionization efforts and could chill workers from talking to journalists. It also inhibits the ability of the public’s long-standing right to know about labor disputes and potential labor violations.

Given the high profile of the Starbucks union fight, dozens of workers could have their conversations with journalists exposed. It is clear that the company’s intent is to chill free speech and intimidate workers from exercising their right to discuss their working conditions and organize. Starbucks Workers United plans to challenge the decision.

“Starbucks is out of line and actively violating state law, the First Amendment and the National Labor Relations Act,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “Communications among workers and journalists have long been protected by law in our democracy.”

“Workers have a federally-protected right to speak publicly about their wages, benefits and working conditions, including to the press. It is a fundamental American value,” Schleuss said.

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from spying or surveilling employees’ union activities. Thirty-nine states, including New York, have shield laws protecting members of the media from subpoenas for their sources. 

These union-busting tactics must end, and journalists’ communications with sources must be protected. Starbucks has already committed over 200 violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Starbucks Workers United members in Buffalo plans to challenge Judge Sinatra’s ruling, and we look forward to this dangerous decision being rescinded. 

“The organizing campaign at Starbucks has inspired not just other Starbucks workers, but workers at Apple and other retail stores. Starbucks’ action shows that corporations are desperate to stop this wave of organizing by stopping the spread of information. We have seen that companies have no hesitation about violating the National Labor Relations Act. Now Starbucks is taking it to a new level by violating our Constitutionally protected freedoms,” said Communications Workers of America Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens, a former journalist who was fired after organizing her newsroom.

In April Starbucks blocked Schleuss on Twitter after he tweeted “Today is a Good Day to start a union!” quoting a corporate tweet.

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On Thursday The NewsGuild-CWA responded to hedge fund Standard General’s attacks on the largest union of media workers in North America. 

The filing was made at the invitation of the FCC, supplementing the unions’ June petition opposing approval for the hedge fund to take over TEGNA’s local TV news stations. The $5.4 billion deal was announced in February and The NewsGuild-CWA started asking questions in April. Standard General is seeking FCC approval to take over TEGNA, a local news broadcaster with 64 stations in 51 U.S. markets.

“Standard General has waded into the mud because it has no more justifications for its takeover of TEGNA,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “Their latest personal attacks on American journalists is just another reason the FCC should deny this takeover.”

Standard General has repeatedly insisted to the FCC, the American people and TEGNA’s employees that it does not intend to reduce station-level staffing. However, in files provided to the FCC and Guild counsel, there are numerous documents indicating that Standard General plans to cut jobs to help finance the multi-billion dollar deal.

“As the FCC reviews our filings and these documents it will be clear: this deal is already dead,” Schleuss said.

The NewsGuild-CWA laid out numerous new findings in its FCC filing that speak directly to jobs and whether Standard General has been forthcoming to the Commission. It said in its filing:  

Rather than alleviate concerns that TNG-CWA/NABET-CWA have about planned station-level job cuts, newly filed confidential documents reviewed by outside counsel show that the unions’ concerns are very well founded. These findings leave Standard General’s repeated assertion that it “does not intend” to cut station-level jobs, and its subsequent explanations for those repeated assertions, sinking in quicksand. The more Standard General tries to explain away its statements to the Commission and the public about job cuts, the more its assertions collapse under the weight of the record.

The deal includes the sale of Apollo’s Boston TV station to Standard General in a way that would permit it to exploit a contractual loophole. This would jack up revenues from retransmission consent fees for every TEGNA station across the country, the costs of which would be passed on to hardworking consumers. This financial manipulation is nothing more than sophisticated and collusive price-fixing, and absolutely should not be permitted.

The NewsGuild-CWA has fought hedge funds for years as they attempt to take over newsrooms all across America. Guild members have fought Alden Global Capital, Chatham Asset Management and have taken a stand against chains like Gannett and Lee Enterprises. The Guild’s fight is one that thousands of media workers have joined in the last five years.

Standard General’s CEO Soo Kim has complained that he hasn’t been able to connect with Schleuss to discuss possible conditions to secure support for the deal.

“There are no conditions under which we will support this deal,” Schleuss said. “But if Kim still wants to talk, he can meet me on the picket line in Pittsburgh.”

The NewsGuild-CWA is on strike with workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where journalists are fighting a company that has violated federal labor law and has mistreated its workers. Read more about the strike at unionprogress.com.

About The NewsGuild-CWA

The NewsGuild is the largest union of journalists and media workers in North America, representing about 27,000 workers in media, the public sector at nonprofits and other labor unions. The Guild is one of the fastest growing unions on the continent and is a sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents workers in telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, health care, public service and education, manufacturing and other fields.

NewsGuild-CWA members have a long tradition of developing their own publications while they’re out on the picket line. This week, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh along with other CWA and Teamsters members are contributing to that storied tradition with the Pittsburgh Union Progress (affectionately called “the PUP”), a brand new site where you can hear directly from the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about why they walked off the job,what it’s like on the picket line and ways the Pittsburgh and larger labor community can support them as their campaign heats up. 

The publication is intended to cover the labor dispute and serve as a voice for the people of Pittsburgh. This publication will be shut down at the resolution of the labor disputes.

Be sure to follow and support PUP on social media: @ThePUPNews on Twitter and @pghunionprogress on Instagram. Let’s make it loud and amplify their demands. And if you’re local, join the striking workers on the picket line! We are all in this together. 

You can support the striking workers right now by contributing to the striker fund.

Employees of Gannett’s Midwest Digital Optimization Team (DOT) announced on Thursday that they have formed a union – the Midwest Digital Guild. The new unit will include approximately 15 digital journalists of varied backgrounds and career experience, all of whom serve a key role in producing and managing digital content across Gannett properties in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. They will be part of the Indianapolis NewsGuild, TNG-CWA Local 34070.

“If you’ve read a story online from the IndyStar, Louisville Courier Journal or one of the many other publications across Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois, it found its way to you because of the work and influence of a Midwest DOT Digital Producer,” said Jenny Porter Tilley, lead Indiana producer.

The Midwest DOT is the second Midwestern Gannett property to unionize in 2022, following the Courier Journal Guild announcement on August 30. NLRB election results for the Courier Journal staff are anticipated on November 18.

“We couldn’t do what we do at the Courier Journal without the help of the Midwest DOT,” said Courier Journal food writer Dahlia Ghabour. “We are constantly told by Gannett leadership we are a digital-first organization, which means the Digital Optimization Team is extremely valuable. They deserve to be paid like they’re valuable too.” 

Guild members at the Midwest DOT have demanded that Gannett answer for dismally low, uncompetitive wages for digital producers, repeated cuts to benefits (like those announced just last week), and understaffing, among other issues. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gannett restructured its digital production workforce, creating fully remote Digital Optimization Teams that separated producers from their home newsrooms. Some Midwest DOT producers were invited to reapply for jobs they had held for years, while others were furloughed – with no additional resources given to those few remaining staff left with an untenable workload.

“Gannett has proven time and time again that we are on our own as employees,” Rosalind Bowling, a Midwest DOT digital producer, said. “We will not back down, and we will continue working tirelessly to protect each other. Gannett has given us rage, and now it’s time we use it.”

Midwest Digital Guild members are fighting for the future of journalism. Per the Guild’s mission statement: “Our members shouldn’t be working multiple jobs to support ourselves. We should be focused on the critical work we do connecting our communities with the vital news they need.”

The Midwest Digital Guild and The Courier Journal Guild are just two of the many Gannett properties to unionize in the latest wave of media organizing. Members at other Gannett unions have been organizing together to demand accountability from Gannett as the company continues to chip away at morale and working conditions in newsrooms across the country.

Jenna Watson, IndyStar staff member and president of the Indianapolis News Guild, lauded the Midwest DOT team for rejecting Gannett’s narrative and demanding a seat at the table. 

“This isn’t just about our lives at work,” Watson said. “It’s about pushing our parent company to invest in its journalism at the local level, so we can keep serving our communities the way they deserve. We must save local journalism.”

Midwest Digital Guild members and their union siblings at other Gannett properties are calling on community allies to stand in support of fair pay and dignity at work for digital producers and journalists across Gannett.
Follow them on Twitter @MidwestDOTGuild

The newsroom workers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, voted on Monday to authorize an unfair labor practice strike against the company.

On Monday, the Guild sent a notice to Post-Gazette management to demand that the company end its illegally declared impasse to contract negotiations, lift the unilaterally imposed working conditions and reinstate the terms of the previous collectively bargained contract, and return to the contract bargaining table to reach a fair contract with the 101 journalists the Guild represents.

If the Post-Gazette fails to meet those demands, Guild journalists will commence a strike at noon Tuesday.

“The workers who produce the Post-Gazette are taking a stand against the hostile and illegal treatment at the hands of John and Allan Block,” said Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh President Zack Tanner. “We, the workers, are standing together today, ready to fight to win back our contract and work toward signing a new collective bargaining agreement that preserves the Post-Gazette for the Pittsburgh region.”

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh has been in negotiations for a contract with PG management since 2017. The PG’s union-busting attorneys bargained in bad faith for 3½ years. On July 27, 2020, the PG unlawfully declared an impasse to negotiations, despite the Guild’s bargaining committee noting that negotiations were not even close to an impasse and that the Guild was willing to continue discussions to reach an agreement.

But despite that, the PG illegally and unilaterally imposed new working conditions on the journalists of the Newspaper Guild, cutting their wages, taking vacation time away from veteran workers, farming out their work to non-Guild workers and forcing them onto a health insurance plan that offers less coverage at a higher price.

The Newspaper Guild subsequently filed unfair labor practice charges against the Post-Gazette over these violations of their workers’ rights. Over five days in September and October, these unfair labor practice charges were argued by the National Labor Relations board in front of an administrative law judge. The PG newsroom workers are taking this action while anticipating a major victory coming out of this hearing.

The owners of the Post-Gazette, Block Communications Inc., led by twin brothers John and Allan Block, have spent millions of dollars to try to bust their workers’ unions rather than attempting to reach a fair contract with the writers, editors, photographers, artists, designers and other journalists whose hard work has provided the Pittsburgh community with award-winning journalism since the late 1700s.

If the Guild workers’ demands to restore their contract are not met, then journalists will strike, joining a picket line alongside their co-workers from the production, distribution and advertising unions, who are already out on their own unfair labor practice strike against the PG. The Blocks, as they did during negotiations with the Newspaper Guild, chose to bargain in bad faith with the production, distribution and advertising unions, and they chose to strip those workers of their health care plan rather than reach a deal.

“These journalists are just trying to do their jobs in service of the people of Pittsburgh,” said NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss. “It’s despicable for the Blocks to fight their own workers and disrespect their rights to have a union. They need to bargain in good faith now.”

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh calls on readers, advertisers, business and labor leaders, politicians and other members of the community to contact the publisher of the Post-Gazette, John Block, at johnrblock@theblade.com and impress upon him the importance of ending the labor strife at his newspaper by reaching a fair contract with the Guild.

Updated October 11

We hosted a virtual rally with Gannett journalists from around the country speaking about what they’ve gained from unionizing with The NewsGuild and what they’re fighting for at the bargaining table. We were joined by Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, New York State Senator James Skoufis and musician Billy Bragg.

Gannett workers are unionizing in droves, and they need your support in the fight for better wages, fully staffed newsrooms, and stronger benefits at work. This is how we will restore local news.