A.H. Belo declines to recognize the Dallas News Guild

Following an update to Wall Street investors, Dallas Morning News publisher Grant Moise sent the Dallas News Guild notice Tuesday that A.H. Belo would not be recognizing our union voluntarily.

The staff at Al Día Dallas and The Dallas Morning News are disappointed that the company does not see that a majority of the newsroom has already voiced support for this union.

In its response, the company underscored that its focus is on consistent profitability and implied that a union would hinder this. We strongly believe our mission and that of the company is the same.

Moise acknowledged that Belo wants to let its employees decide what’s best for them – and we appreciate that they respect our right to unionize.

So while the company can decide to recognize us at any time, an election is now the only path forward.

Our colleagues deserve a voice at the table when decisions are made that affect their working conditions, lives and families.

That currently doesn’t exist for our employees, as is exemplified by the company’s decision to cut pay at the start of the pandemic without consulting employees about alternative cost-saving options.

Belo shared news that it would restore pay for our lowest paid journalists with shareholders Tuesday morning -- before notifying its own staff. But many of our journalists will continue to work for reduced pay, and we look forward to bargaining with the company in the future over factors that could dictate across-the-board pay restoration, financial conditions permitting.

In his response to our request for recognition, the publisher also requested that our journalists give the company a one-year extension before moving ahead with an election, arguing that it would be a “considerable distraction.”

But we are already working under considerable distraction.

We are distracted by the constant change without the stability a contract provides.

We are distracted by cuts to our pay and the fear of losing our jobs with just 15 minutes notice, as has happened in the past.

We are distracted by the company’s decisions to outsource our work to third parties like GateHouse.

We are distracted by shuttered beats and a shrinking newsroom that forces our staff to do more with less.

This industry is shifting rapidly, and more changes are no doubt coming. Waiting another year means we risk dozens more journalists leaving our newsroom, as has been the trend for several years.

The journalists of Al Día and The Dallas Morning News cannot afford to wait a year to have the very basic protections that a union provides. We wish we could, but we can’t.