US: Unionizing wave in digital and local media

A new wave of unionising is sweeping US newsrooms as workers in local and digital media join forces to protect their rights at work.

Credits: The Newsguild

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined US union, The NewsGuild-CWA  in welcoming the growing unionizing as the best way to defend jobs and guarantee media workers' labor rights.

Journalists at several US media have launched their union drives in the last few weeks. Employees at the progressive digital news site Daily Kos announced the creation of the Daily Kos Guild on February 8, saying the organization’s management had agreed to voluntarily recognize their union

The same happened in California, where employees of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, voted to unionize on February 17. 

In parallel, several new groups have announced union campaigns in recent weeks.

On February 5, more than 80% of editorial workers at the New York Daily News, requested voluntary union recognition from their parent company, Tribune Publishing. They’ll be part of The NewsGuild of New York.

Two days later, journalists at three Gannett media group-owned New Jersey publications — the Bergen Record, the Daily Record and the NJ Herald — announced that they are forming The Record Guild as part of the New York local. With nearly 90% of eligible staffers signed on, the Record Guild is seeking voluntary recognition from management.

Staff of the ACLU of Missouri announced on February 17 that they are unionizing with the Guild, joining the growing movement of nonprofit workers fighting for sustainable, equitable workplaces.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: “We welcome such a big wave of unionizing campaigns in US digital and local media. In times of crisis, unionizing, solidarity and collective bargaining can make a real difference when guaranteeing media workers' labor rights and protecting jobs and working conditions".

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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