The APP-MCJ Guild is the fourth Gannett group to organize with the NewsGuild of New York this year.
Journalists at the Asbury Park Press, Home News Tribune and Courier News announced Aug. 19 that they are unionizing. With more than 70% of eligible staffers signed on, the APP-MCJ Guild has requested voluntary recognition from Gannett management, which own the publications. They will become part of The NewsGuild of New York Local 31003.
“Our basic human needs – food and housing – should not be competing stressors because of lack of a living wage,” said Cheryl Makin, a Courier News reporter. “We should not be living a life based on the daily mantra ‘be grateful you have a job,’ repeated and reinforced by upper management. We should be working in an environment of professional respect – shown through quality benefits, policies and salaries. We should be heard. We should be believed. We should be respected. Full stop.”
Ryan Ross, an on-air host and visual journalist at Asbury Park Press, said, “Our newsrooms have served our communities for over a century, and by forming the APP-MCJ Guild, we are ensuring our journalists are given the necessary means to serve for the next 100 years.”
“I’m thrilled to welcome the editorial workers of The APP-MCJ Guild into our union,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “Gannett’s editorial workers throughout the region are banding together and fighting for more diverse newsrooms and stronger local news to serve as a watchdog in local communities. Gannett should recognize the union so that we can begin negotiations for a first contract and ensure a stronger newsroom for readers and workers alike.”
Asbury Park Press reporter Susanne Cervenka said, “I am tired of watching my female colleagues walk out the door because management won’t listen to their ideas or appreciate their talents. I am tired of being asked to do more work with no compensation while the CFO gets a $600K bonus for furloughing and laying us off. I am tired of my colleagues and myself having to work second jobs to live in the area we cover. The APP-MCJ Guild gives us an opportunity to refocus on the local journalism our community deserves. That’s why I am proud to be a founding member.”
The APP-MCJ Guild joins thousands of media professionals across the country who have organized with The NewsGuild-CWA to preserve and protect their local outlets.
The APP-MCJ is the fourth Gannett union to form this year in the company’s Atlantic Region. On May 7, workers at the Bergen Record, NJ Herald and Daily Record voted in favor of joining the Guild and workers at The Journal News, Times Herald-Record and Poughkeepsie Journal filed for a union election on July 14. On Aug. 11, workers at the Atlantic Digital Optimization team (DOT) won a union election supervised by the NLRB.
Beyond the Atlantic region, workers at several Gannett-owned publications — including workers at the South Bend Tribune, the Palm Beach Daily News, and the Arizona Republic — have organized to fight for their newsrooms.
The NewsGuild of New York filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge earlier this summer with the National Labor Relations Board over union-busting actions by Gannett after managers offered benefits in exchange for rejecting the union and implied a promise of benefits by soliciting grievances during the voting period.
Follow the APP-MCJ Guild on Twitter @appmcjguild or visit their website, appmcjguild.com.