Media Contact: dispatchnewsguild@gmail.com
Jordan Laird, cell: 440-787-6416
Columbus, Ohio — Newsroom employees at The Columbus Dispatch and Newark Advocate overwhelmingly voted to unionize, according to results tallied by the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday.
Ballots were counted after most of the newsroom voted on Jan. 14. By forming a union, journalists are fighting for equitable pay, protections from layoffs and the future of journalism in central Ohio. The 33-5 vote forces USA TODAY Co. to recognize the Dispatch News Guild.
“For too long, Ohio’s greatest home newspaper has hemorrhaged great journalists due to short-sighted cuts by our corporate owner,” said Jordan Laird, a Dispatch news reporter. “Now, we’re taking some power back.”
“The employees of The Dispatch are seizing this moment to fight for a work culture and the job benefits that we deserve,” said Adam Cairns, a Dispatch photojournalist who celebrated 20 years with the company last month. “We can no longer afford to sit back and wait for these changes to happen on their own.”
Workers are calling on the USA TODAY Co., formerly called Gannett, to immediately begin bargaining with the union. They are also demanding their employer cease blocking two of their colleagues from joining the union.
USA TODAY Co. leadership and their attorney have argued that a grant-funded reporter and the newsroom assistant should not be allowed to join the union. These two women are valued members of the newsroom and members of the Dispatch News Guild will fight for their colleagues’ inclusion.
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About the Dispatch News Guild
The Dispatch News Guild represents newsroom employees of the USA TODAY Co. at The Columbus Dispatch and Newark Advocate, including digital producers, reporters and photographers. Formed in 2025, the union is part of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild Local 1 of The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents more than 27,000 journalists, media workers, and nonprofit employees across the U.S. and Canada. The NewsGuild is one of six sectors under Communications Workers of America (CWA), which has 350,000 members across the U.S. and Canada.