NEW YORK – Journalists at three newspapers in New Jersey represented by The NewsGuild of New York, have voted 98% to ratify their first contract with Gannett, lifting long-stagnant wages by over 25% on average, and averting a planned walkout.

The Record Guild, which represents 68 journalists at The Bergen Record, The Daily Record and The New Jersey Herald, ratified the deal Sunday night. 

The agreement with the nation’s largest newspaper chain is the culmination of more than three years of contentious bargaining, petitions, walkouts and rallies. The union organized in 2021 and began bargaining in January 2022. 

PITTSBURGH – The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) on Monday, requiring the company to—among other orders—restore the health care it illegally took away from editorial workers, addressing a core demand of the union workers who have struck for more than 29 months.

“It is further ordered that the Respondent, PG Publishing Co., Inc. d/b/a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall: …rescind the changes in the terms and conditions of employment related to health insurance for its unit employees that were unilaterally implemented on about July 27, 2020,” the order, written by Judge Cindy K. Chung, reads.

The PG is also required to bargain with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA Local 38061, submit bargaining progress reports to Region 6 of the National Labor Relations Board, and negotiate with the workers’ union on any changes in wages, hours, or any other terms of employment.

Editorial staff at The Bergen Record, represented by The NewsGuild of New York, are fed up with the newspaper chain’s refusal to agree to a fair contract with living wages, despite three years of bargaining.

NEW YORK – Journalists represented by The NewsGuild of New York at the Bergen Record voted overwhelmingly to walk out, a move precipitated by Gannett’s chronic union-busting and unwillingness to agree to a fair contract with livable wages.