The journalists of the SunSentinel Guild voted unanimously to ratify their historic contract with the South Florida Sun Sentinel and parent company, Alden Global Capital, offering improved pay and job protections.
The two-year contract, ratified on Tuesday, is the first for Sun Sentinel journalists in the newspaper’s 115-year history. It will provide two years of raises, a $1,500 bonus and job protections from artificial intelligence, among other benefits.
“I could not be more proud of our unit membership for voting unanimously to ratify this contract,” said AmyBeth Bennett, a Sun Sentinel photographer who led a bargaining committee that negotiated with Alden management. “Being able to give our membership 3% raises this year and next as well as a $1,500 bonus seems like a pretty great holiday present to me!”
The contract offers the first across-the-board raises for employees in nearly a decade. Under another important provision in the contract, Sun Sentinel employees are the first under Alden to have protections related to the growing presence of artificial intelligence. For the life of the two-year contract, no one will lose their job due to AI.
The SunSentinel Guild was formed in July 2024 following years of job cuts, benefits cuts and stagnant pay. Employees agreed unanimously to become part NewsGuild-CWA, which represents 27,000 journalists, media, nonprofit and labor union workers across North America.
The NewsGuild is a sector of the Communications Workers of America, which represents employees in telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, broadcast and cable television, health care, public service and education, law enforcement, manufacturing and other fields.
For more information, contact SunSentinelGuild@gmail.com.