Journalists at the Everett Herald ratified a historic first contract, winning stronger job protections, fair raises and improved working conditions.
The newsroom was first organized under Sound Publishing, which once dominated Washington’s local news market. Midway through bargaining in 2024, ownership transferred to Carpenter Media — a fast-growing chain known for aggressive cost-cutting. Soon after, Carpenter tried to push through illegal layoffs. In response, Herald journalists walked off the job for three days, forcing management to back down and negotiate.
Later, management attempted to tie raises to a drastic increase in workload, requiring reporters to publish two to three times more stories per day. Workers fought back by organizing a subscriber support campaign and threatening a boycott, ultimately winning guaranteed wage increases for everyone.
The tentative agreement, covering about 10 newsroom employees, reflects those fights and builds long-term stability for the staff. Highlights include:
- Just Cause: No discipline without meeting strict standards of fairness.
- Grievance & Arbitration: A fair process to enforce the contract.
- Layoffs: Two weeks’ notice and one week of severance per year of service, up to 13 weeks.
- No Transfers: Staff cannot be reassigned to other Carpenter outlets.
- Bylines: The right to remove or change bylines.
- Remote Work: Two work-from-home days each week.
- Wages: Seniority-based pay scale plus guaranteed 2% annual increases.
“I remember when the push to unionize started pre-COVID in 2019, with people who are no longer at the Herald. I was looking back at the list of names of everyone in the newsroom, twenty-two to be exact, who signed our official announcement about forming a union in 2022. I am the only one left in the newsroom that was on that original list,” said Olivia Vanni, a Photographer at the Everett Herald.
“It took a lot of hard work from all the people who have since left to get this done and from the current group to push this across the finish line. This means more job stability for all of us after a rocky few years, and I am beyond excited.”
“We’re so glad to finally get this contract over the finish line, and we couldn’t have done it without the help of the community and the Herald journalists who came before us,” said Will Geschke, a Reporter at the Everett Herald.The agreement now heads to members for ratification, capping a long campaign that began when Herald workers first won union recognition in 2022.