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I can’t help but almost laugh at how much news is happening across our union since I last wrote to you. Let’s goooooo!
Hearst Connecticut journalists voted overwhelmingly to unionize with us, joining a growing movement of media workers demanding power over their wages, benefits and working conditions. (This is a photo of a handful of folks at their victory party last night!)
Of the 86 ballots counted, a staggering 80% voted ‘YES’ to form the Connecticut News Guild, representing 110 journalists and media workers in Connecticut’s largest newsrooms. The unit includes reporters, photographers, editors and digital producers across Hearst’s major papers and digital outlets, from the Connecticut Post and New Haven Register to CT Insider and the recently acquired Republican-American.
This win follows nearly more than a year of organizing. Workers filed for an election last August, but Hearst management refused to voluntarily recognize them and pushed an election. Hearst then disagreed with the makeup of the bargaining unit, forcing a hearing. And then Hearst missed a deadline to have management’s side included in a final decision from the National Labor Relations Board. It took eight months to get to an election.
Now that they’ve won, workers are calling on Hearst to bargain a fair contract and stop attacking journalists.
“Good unions make for good journalism, and good journalism is a foundation of a free and open society,” said Ethan Fry, a breaking news reporter. “I’m so thrilled that my colleagues and I affirmed our commitment to forming a union — the first one I am fortunate enough to be a member of after more than 20 years in the profession. I look forward to meeting management to bargain for a fair contract that ensures good local journalism in Connecticut for years to come.”
Washington Post tech workers are waiting for their ballots to be counted today in a historic election — the first organizing drive at the paper under Jeff Bezos’ ownership. They’ll join their colleagues in the newsroom and business side. The vote count starts at 3 p.m. ET. Watch for results on Twitter, Instagram and Bluesky.
The Washington Post Tech Guild first announced the formation of their union in April and includes over 300 workers across engineering, data, and product design. They’ve faced weeks of union-busting from Post management, but worker support has remained strong throughout. I’m excited to see them win!
POLITICO’s journalists are taking management to arbitration over AI violations that could set a national precedent. Last year, the PEN Guild at Politico won one of the first industry contracts to include rules on artificial intelligence. But since then, management has used AI to generate live “coverage” of major political events and launched a subscriber-facing AI report tool without giving journalists 60 days notice or bargaining, as their contract requires.
Management’s AI-generated content included factual errors and unethical language, including one post that referred to “criminal migrants” — a phrase that violates POLITICO’s own style guide. Journalists filed a couple grievances and the company didn’t change course. Now we’re heading to arbitration, in what could be one of the first major legal tests of AI protections in a union newsroom.
The story became public this week after Kate Knibbs at WIRED wrote about it and spoke to several journalists. I told Kate that this isn’t just a contract dispute, it’s a test of whether journalists have a say in how AI is used in our work.
With no federal rules in place, union contracts remain one of the only enforceable frameworks for AI accountability on a national scale.
In just a short time, NewsGuild members have won AI protections in more than three dozen contracts meant to defend jobs, ethics and the future of journalism. This is a fight that we all have a stake in.
Twenty-one product and engineering employees at The Philadelphia Inquirer officially joined our union, joining the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia.
After a strong majority signed union cards, management chose not to fight the effort and recognized the group without forcing an NLRB election. It’s a refreshing contrast to the union-busting we’ve seen elsewhere (looking at you, Washington Post and Hearst).
The Guild now represents workers across the newsroom, advertising, finance, circulation — and now product and engineering. Bargaining for this new unit will begin soon.
“In unity, there is strength. And today, we are that much stronger,” said Diane Mastrull, President of NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia.
Guild members stood with REI workers at a recent rally, singing a truly epic rewrite of Chappell Roan’s HOT TO GO! augmented with union lyrics. Workers at the outdoor co-op are organizing and fighting for fair contracts with another union, but it didn’t stop our members from standing with them. See our folks wearing Duke University Press and United Media Guild shirts.
Instead of “snap and clap and touch your toes, raise your hands, now body roll” they sang “snap and clap and touch your toes, workers’ rights are on a roll, union busting’s got to go.” It broke my heart in the best way and is a really great pick-me-up to see.
In not great news, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to fire heads of two independent agencies, including the NLRB. Gwynne Wilcox filed suit after being terminated earlier this year. Her removal violated the clear language of the National Labor Relations Act and denied the NLRB a quorum, staggering the only federal agency tasked with overseeing the bargaining rights of private sector workers in the states.
Wilcox was the only Black woman to be appointed to the board and regularly ruled in favor of workers. She had three years left on her term. A majority of the court disagreed with the plain language of the Act, unfortunately. The case will proceed.
Now, some brief updates across our union:
Futurism reported that Gannett is using artificial intelligence to pump brainrot gambling content into newspapers across the U.S., pretending to be written by actual humans.
CASA of Maryland kicked off new negotiations for their sixth bargaining agreement. They’re working at a nonprofit supporting immigrant rights and members of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.
New York Daily News journalists taped up “wanted” posters looking for bosses who are refusing to agree to a fair contract. Support them here.
Condé Nast workers are protesting three rounds of layoffs in six months. NewsGuild of New York members took to social media saying that the layoffs are becoming the worst kind of work ritual.
Journalists at Science News in Washington, D.C. are still fighting for a fair first contract. Their CEO received a staggering $77,000 raise in 2022 and another $63,000 raise in 2023. The 2022 raise is more than several employees’ salaries.
Workers at EFE started bargaining for a successor agreement. Folks at the international Spanish news agency are members of the News Media Guild, which also represents the Associated Press. They bargained out of our headquarters in Washington. The cost of living in the U.S. has gone up 58.9%, but wages have only increased 19.9% in that time. They’re tired of falling behind.
Journalists at McClatchy-owned newspapers in Washington state are starting bargaining. Their message to the hedge-fund owners: keep in mind who really “powers” the company.
ProPublica management is violating the law by not allowing stewards or union reps into disciplinary meetings. The nonprofit news organization put several members on performance improvement plans and management refused to have stewards in those meetings. “We’re not shutting up about this — our colleagues deserve better & we’re extremely disappointed in management for denying us this basic union right.” That right was won at the Supreme Court.
Journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times spoke out against the paper’s “summer guide” which was full of incorrect AI-generated content. “We take great pride in the union-produced journalism that goes into the respected pages of our newspaper and on our website,” they said. “We’re deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work.” The company published lists of books they suggested you read. Only problem? The books didn’t exist. The same thing appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The companies apologized.
Washingtonian journalists again called out their CEO Merrill Williams, who thinks $42,500 is an acceptable salary in Washington, D.C. It’s not. Sign their petition if you agree.
We’re continuing to push the Trump administration to send Congressionally-mandated funds to Radio Free Asia. More than 100 of our members there are still in limbo, unpaid and furloughed. We met last night to share updates and we’re continuing to press our lawsuit. Unfortunately, our family at Voice of America received a setback after the appeals court said it would not intervene in an effort by Kari Lake and the administration to eviscerate the international public broadcaster.
We’re still on strike in Pittsburgh at the Post-Gazette. Management is refusing to follow the injunction we won against the company. We’re continuing to press for a full contract and for the company to follow federal law. We have an ethical obligation to hold power to account and our strikers are continuing to do that after 31 months on strike. Join me in standing with them.
Our union’s Sector Conference is August 8-9 in Pittsburgh and will be immediately followed by the CWA Convention. This is a major event where we make changes to our constitution and take resolutions to drive our union forward. Contact your local union leadership if you’re interested in being a delegate.
I hope you have a good weekend, and enjoy the long weekend for our members in the states getting Memorial Day day off. Stay close with your colleagues and with your family. Our power comes from our collective willingness to fight for each other.
In solidarity,
Jon