Happy Valentine’s Day! There’s been a lot of news across the Guild. Let’s dive in!
Our members at New York Magazine reached a contract deal with management and averted a walkout. Workers told bosses they were ready to walk if management didn’t agree to a successor contract. The new tentative agreement includes wage increases and strong protections on artificial intelligence:
Wages:
- Minimum salaries across all job positions will increase between 9 and 10%
- General wage increases between 4.25% and 4.75% upon ratification retroactive to April 2024.
- General wage increases of between 3.25% and 2.75% for 2025 and 2026
- A $1,500 ratification bonus for every member
AI:
- Limits around the company’s use of AI technology, including a commitment to transparency around its editorial use and to protecting members’ editorial voices and likenesses
- A provision that prevents layoffs due solely to the use of AI
- Enhanced severance of an additional 4 weeks in the case of layoffs due in part to AI
“We are thrilled to have achieved a contract that reflects the incredible value New York Magazine members bring to Vox Media,” Features Writer and Unit Chair Bridget Read said. “The compensation package and AI protections we achieved will go a long way in providing our members with some security during a time of upheaval in media.”
I can’t wait to see the full agreement on the Guild’s Contract Committee. Members will vote to ratify the contract later this month.
New York Daily News members gathered with supporters in Lower Manhattan last night to tell them how vicious Alden Global Capital has been at the bargaining table. I took the train up from D.C. to support them. The crowd packed into the second floor of a bar to hear from current and former journalists at the Daily News. They spoke about the importance of the paper and how hard it’s been for journalists trying to land scoops under terrible conditions created by the vulture fund.
“We’re still managing to churn out the scoops, we’re still managing to churn out the exclusives and the page one stories that get people talking,” said Ellen Moynihan, a metro reporter and the unit chair at the Daily News.
“And it’s despite what we’re working with, not because of what we’re working with,” she said referring to the cuts by owner Alden Global Capital. The vulture fund has refused most of their proposals and demands cuts to their current conditions whenever they meet. About 60 journalists work at the paper to cover a city of 8 million. Twenty-five of them make less than a living wage. Alden bought the paper in 2021, along with the Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant and others. Alden quickly offered buyouts that decimated the staff by 36%.
“We’re working together every day and we’re fighting together,” Moynihan said. “We’re calling on you guys to fight with us.”
They need your help. Take a moment to sign their petition and stand with them.
Denis Hamill was a journalist at the Daily News for 24 years and said that the paper always championed the working man.
“It’s the common denominator of the common man,” he said. Several other retired journalists spoke and attended. I met Bev Weintraub, a former copy editor at the paper, who shared a photo of the strike paper they published during their five-month-long strike that began in 1990. Her daughter is sitting on Santa’s lap on the picket line before Christmas. Little Abby tells Santa that all she wants “is for mommy to get her job back.”
The Guild folded at the Daily News after the strike ended. But nearly 34 years later, a new generation of journalists voted to unionize again. They’ve been bargaining for a first contract for nearly four years now.
The Starbucks organizers who helped 10,000 baristas unionize are now union members themselves. The Workers United staff leading the Starbucks Workers United campaign – along with organizers at the New York New Jersey Joint Board – won voluntary recognition with unanimous support.
Both groups joined The NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, Local 38010, and are now preparing to bargain with Workers United for first contracts.
“We know that every worker deserves a union, not least union staff who build the organizations of the labor movement day in and day out,” said Malachi Dray, a lead organizer at Workers United. “By affiliating with The NewsGuild-CWA, we’ve found a fighting home for our crew and we look forward to the bright path ahead.”
Organizers at Workers United built a worker-to-worker model to expand capacity and reach thousands of Starbucks workers across the U.S. This campaign is featured extensively in We Are the Union by Eric Blanc. We’re hosting Blanc and workers to talk about his book at 6 p.m. ET on February 25th. Register here.
Maryland introduced another bill to support journalism and this one would provide refundable tax credits to hire and retain working journalists in the state. It would provide up to $25,000 for each newsroom employed by a broadcast, print, digital, profit and non-profit newsroom in the first year and $15,000 a year for four years after that. I told the state’s Ways and Means committee they should pass the legislation as essential for democracy. Maryland ranks 46th among states and Washington, D.C. in news outlet density, according to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
This follows two other bills introduced in Maryland last month. One would require 120 days of notice to employees before a newsroom can be sold. Another would modernize the requirement for legal notices to allow publication in print or digital outlets.
This latest bill follows legislation that became law creating tax credits and funding for local news jobs in New York and Illinois. Both of those bills passed because Guild members and leaders stepped up to support them.
The Trump Administration continued its attacks on the press this week, repeatedly blocking Associated Press journalists from attending events and the Federal Communications Commission investigating NPR and PBS.
Yesterday the White House blocked an AP reporter from covering a news conference between President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This week the White House blocked AP reporters from multiple events over the wire service’s decision to continue using “Gulf of Mexico” instead of “Gulf of America.” The body of water was named before America became a country.
The White House is undermining America’s freedom of speech and freedom of the press by blocking reporters who write articles seen by billions of people. The press does not serve a monarch, we serve the people.
Julie Pace, the AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, called the White House’s actions a “deeply troubling escalation” and “a plain violation of the First Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution.
“We urge the Trump administration in the strongest terms to stop this practice,” Pace, who also wrote to whichTrump’s chief of staff on Wednesday, said in a statement. “This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president — first as a member of the pool, and now from a formal press conference — an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news.”
At the FCC, Trump’s pick to lead the commission has wielded the threat of its regulatory power expansively. FCC Chair Brendan Carr this week released a statement saying any business looking for approval of the FCC should end “any invidious forms of DEI discrimination with all deliberate speed.”
Carr also ordered an investigation into National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, alleging that their stations violated their noncommercial licenses. NPR and PBS said they both adhere to all federal rules and comply with FCC regulations.
In a related fight, PBS Cascade workers in Seattle are ramping up their push for a fair contract. Show your support by signing their petition here.
Workers continue to fight against NBC union-busting after management illegally laid off 20 staff members last month. Guild members “did a bit of redecorating” and posted signs on the desks of their former coworkers to call out management for breaking the law.
NBC cited budget constraints as the reason for the layoffs, but less than 24 hours later management was already trying to hire new candidates in identical roles – and for lower salaries.
Journalists across Lee Enterprises have been working hard despite a cyber attack that left some publications unable to print and websites malfunctioning. The company owns more than 70 daily newspapers across the U.S. We represent about 230 members at 11 Lee publications, Including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Buffalo News, the Omaha World-Herald and more.
Our members at the Buffalo Newspaper Guild said they know how frustrating it’s been for subscribers, especially during a busy news week.
“We hope these technical challenges are short-lived and remain grateful to our readers for their patience and understanding,” the Buffalo NewsGuild shared in a statement. “We also hope the community sees this as an example of how hard journalists in Buffalo work for you, even under the most difficult circumstances.”
A federal judge in Pittsburgh just denied the National Labor Relations Board’s request for 10(j) injunctive relief for strikers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’s disappointing. This case focused on the illegal behavior of the company against the press workers, mailers and typos. The Guild’s newsroom case was separated months ago and is now in the Circuit Court of Appeals. We’re still on strike. We’ve maintained our picket lines and held solidarity for 862 days. Tomorrow will be 863 days on strike.
Our next Steward Training is coming up on Tuesday, February 19th! Together, we’ll explore how union stewards keep our unions strong, recognize power dynamics in our workplaces and use trauma-informed listening to support and uplift our coworkers. Register here and join us at 7pm ET.
Here’s a $4,000 scholarship opportunity for high school or college students. The CWA Joe Bernie scholarship is open to CWA members (including NewsGuild-CWA members!), their spouses, children and grandchildren (including dependents of laid-off, retired or deceased CWA members). Read more about the scholarship and apply by 11:59 pm on April 30.
Last week I joined America’s Workforce Radio to talk about Trump’s attacks on the National Labor Relations Board, our strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the 44 first contracts we won last year. Last week I wrote more about the firing of three top NLRB officials and Gwynne Wilcox, who was illegally removed from the Board, has since appeared on CBS, CNN and spoke to Vanity Fair.
I hope you have a good Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend!
In solidarity,
Jon