In the first authorization for an open-ended strike ever taken by journalists at a newsroom owned by the secretive Alden Global Capital, the Southern California News Group union today announced its members have voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking.
Over 90% of the 125 professional reporters, photographers, digital, social media and production staff across 11 newsrooms represented by SCNG Guild, a unit of Media Guild of the West, participated in the strike vote. A landslide 94% voted to authorize union leaders to call for a strike for the following reasons:
- The company has engaged in unfair labor practices and stall tactics in negotiations with the bargaining representatives of SCNG Guild.
- Many SCNG reporters have gone 10 years or longer without a pay raise.
- In an internal 2022 study conducted by the union, four out of five Guild members would be considered low-income earners under HUD guidelines.
- More than one in 10 would be considered very low income.
“This vote should serve as a wakeup call for management who for more than two and a half years of bargaining has failed to offer acceptable wages and benefits,” said Sean Emery, an SCNG reporter and Guild Unit Chair. “The patience of our members is wearing thin. They are tired of struggling to survive on low wages that have remained stagnant for years. They are tired of waiting more than a decade for raises that never come. We are dedicated to covering our communities. But we will not stand by and watch the leaders of our company drag their feet when it comes to offering a fair contract.”
SCNG is part of MediaNews Group, which is owned by the former hedge fund Alden Global Capital, known as the “destroyer of newspapers.” Alden Global owns more than 200 daily newspapers, and their business strategy is simple: aggressively cut costs and reduce staff to extract as much profit from its newspapers as possible.
Alden Global has more recently taken this strategy into the manufactured housing sector (mobile home communities). In the last four years, Homes of America, an affiliate of Alden Global, has spent more than $275 million to acquire more than 10,000 manufactured housing lots, increasing rents in several lots by between 50-100%, according to a new report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
“At a time when our communities need good journalism more than ever, our own company’s greed is making it impossible for us to do our jobs. We are fed up!” said Mindy Schauer, a photojournalist for SCNG and a member of the Guild’s bargaining committee. “I urge the public to stand with us so we can continue telling their stories.”
The strike authorization vote comes after two years of negotiations between the Guild and SCNG for an initial contract. SCNG journalists voted to unionize in June 2021, joining Media Guild of the West, the Los Angeles-based local of The NewsGuild-CWA.
SCNG appealed the results of that vote to the National Labor Relations Board, and the board upheld the union’s certification in December 2021, finding no merit to the company’s challenge.
“Reaching a fair contract is our top priority, and as the vote suggests, we are willing to do everything necessary to make that happen for our members,” said Charlie Vargas, reporter and member of the Guild’s contract actions team.
“Alden Global Capital still thinks paying less than $20 an hour is an acceptable wage for reporters serving hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians,” said Matt Pearce, President of Media Guild of the West. “SCNG journalists and news workers have overwhelmingly authorized a strike to help Alden get with the times by agreeing to a fair contract with a fair wage. We also don’t think Gov. Gavin Newsom and our state lawmakers should give a cent of taxpayer money to large employers like Alden Global Capital unless these employers have agreed to a fair contract. Public dollars shouldn’t support news companies that don’t support their own journalists and news workers.”