Members of the Timesland News Guild walked a picket line on Monday to protest contract proposals submitted by Lee Enterprises, the corporate owners of the Roanoke Times and Laker Weekly.
“Our newsrooms need fair wages, fair mileage and fair health care in order to survive,” they said.
The Timesland News Guild is the first Guild unit in Southwest Virginia, and Monday’s picket was their first. They are bargaining for a new contract with Lee, an Iowa-based company that now owns about a dozen Virginia newspapers. (Their March 2021 first contract was a one-year agreement.)
After weeks of facing disappointing proposals from corporate representatives on wages, health insurance and mileage, union members rallied Monday to demand a fair contract.
Guild members and community supporters picketed in downtown Roanoke, outside the building that was once home to The Roanoke Times, to send a message to Lee Enterprises.
“We are fighting not only for ourselves, but for the future journalists who want to work at The Roanoke Times,” said Alison Graham, vice chair of the Timesland Guild and a member of the bargaining committee. “Journalists are leaving the profession in droves, and low wages make it difficult to recruit and retain talented journalists.”
Guild members say the Roanoke Times lost about 25% of its reporters last year — not to layoffs, which also slashed their ranks, but to new jobs elsewhere. “To thrive, we need to be able to compete for talented, dedicated people.”
Union members are asking supporters to sign an online petition.
They also placed an ad in the Sunday, March 27, edition of The Roanoke Times to raise awareness of their efforts to get the company to come to an agreement that treats its workers fairly.
Contract negotiations resume Tuesday.
“Our community deserves better from Lee Enterprises,” said Alicia Petska, chair of the Guild and a bargaining committee member. “Investing in things like wages, health insurance and mileage sends a clear message to its journalists and subscribers that Lee Enterprises values this community.”
Follow the group on Twitter @TimeslandGuild.
Photo at top: Members of the Timesland News Guild picketed to demand a fair contract, Monday, April 4, 2022.