Time for journalists at The News, Al Día to finally get fair wages
DallasNews Corp. must recognize that retaining talented journalists begins with fair pay for The News and Al Día.
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DallasNews Corp. must recognize that retaining talented journalists begins with fair pay for The News and Al Día. 〰️
We seek a pay structure with a 6-year step scale based on industry experience.
Fix stark pay inequities between white/nonwhite as well as male/female unit members.
The minimum-wage scale we’ve proposed would put us on a more even footing with industry peers.
Last year 12 unit members’ salary was in the $40,000-$50,000 range. Today, that number stands at 21.
We had four journalists in the unit with just one year of experience. As of March, that number had risen to 16, illustrating the company’s push toward hiring younger workers it can pay less. We now have 24 journalists with one or two years’ experience, compared with eight a year ago.
What would you think about an employer who consistently paid its workers and new employees low, inequitable wages? How would you view a workplace that endured years without meaningful raises, let alone cost-of-living adjustments?
Those scenarios have been a way of life the past decade or longer for journalists serving their city at The Dallas Morning News and Al Día.
When it comes to ensuring that its journalists in the trenches are fairly compensated for their painstaking work, dedication and long hours, the company has failed workers, and our readers, for too long.
That must change.
It’s why the Dallas News Guild has been negotiating with the company, proposing a unified pay structure with a six-year step scale based on industry experience, with minimum annual pay that increases over a journalist's first six years of work. We believe our proposal would make significant progress toward fair pay for workers and help stem a revolving door of turnover that plagues our newsroom.
The year is 2022, and workers across all industries are making their voices heard with their feet — dropping employers that don’t value them for ones that do. If Al Día and The Dallas Morning News are to remain vibrant institutions of this city, the company must work with its newsroom to develop a competitive pay structure that allows us to retain talented journalists.
In a comparative analysis of 2020 wage minimums using peer Guild Collective Bargaining Agreements, such as The Associated Press, Denver Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch and Minneapolis Star Tribune, it’s clear our wages fall below those of peer news organizations. In the comparison, a cost-of-living differential was calculated and applied to adjust our peers' wages to the North Texas market to help arrive at the Guild’s proposed figures.
Our proposal allows for merit raises and even for workers to bargain individually for pay above the minimum and merit raises. Full- and part-time workers would have the same hourly wage minimums.
According to a recently-completed Guild salary study, half of our full-time staff members are underpaid when compared with the minimums the Guild proposed nearly a year ago — before inflation even began to heat up. The company must see the validity of our proposal and realize it needs to start doing right by all of its workers on this critical issue.
In internal surveys, members of the Guild consistently rank pay as their most important concern. Why wouldn’t they? With inflation skyrocketing and everything from a loaf of bread to a gallon of gas to avocados draining our checking accounts, has the company stepped up to bump up our pay? The answer is painfully obvious.
The newspaper’s reputation, the opportunity and the area are key factors for our job candidates to consider. But without a reasonable salary, a job here — at least for established journalists — doesn’t have the same lure. Sure, we’re hiring folks, but at lower wages because many of them, though highly talented, are right out of college. The numbers prove this out.
Every great journalist got their start somewhere. But without a strong approach to retention, who will train the next generation? And will our owners support them financially as they grow?
Last year, we had four journalists in the unit with just one year of experience. As of March, that number had risen to 16, illustrating the company’s push toward hiring younger workers it can pay less. We now have 24 journalists with one or two years’ experience, compared with eight a year ago.
The average age of our newsroom hires over the past year is 26, their average salaries $48,446. The average age of departures over the same time period was 37, with an average salary of $60,308.
Another strong indicator of the youthful hiring strategy: In March 2021, 12 unit members’ salary was in the $40,000-$50,000 range. Today, that number stands at 21.
The company’s pay inequity also has been a main drain on our staff in recent years, causing dozens upon dozens to walk for better-paying jobs. That includes both young and veteran journalists.
We desperately need a system that’s fair for all, and we strongly believe the minimum-wage scale we’ve proposed would put us on a more even footing with industry peers.
In addition to our salaries being unfairly low, the pay inequities between white and nonwhite as well as male and female unit members are stark and should’ve been addressed long ago. Despite all the talk and efforts to focus on and improve our diversity, we’ve gone the wrong direction. Our newsroom is whiter this year than in previous years, and the average annual pay across the newsroom decreased in the past year as well.
We’re passionate about this subject because it’s a hit-us-all-where-it-counts issue. The company must come to the bargaining table having crunched every possible number and given our proposal the thoughtful deliberation it deserves — that WE deserve — not to mention the deliberation readers deserve. When our journalists are financially secure, they will be better able to produce the high-quality work Dallas expects of them.
DallasNews Corp. must put the needs of its journalists and their families first and realize that wage compensation must be upgraded to improve our working conditions.
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The Dallas Morning News is part of the oldest continuously operated business in Texas and the state’s leading newspaper. Proudly, we are the first major newspaper newsroom in the state to unionize in the modern era.
The Dallas News Guild covers the DMN and Al Dia, which includes more than 130 journalists across all departments of the newsroom, including reporters, columnists, data journalists, copy editors, librarians, web producers, audio producers, page designers, photographers and videographers. Eligible newsroom workers voted in October 2021 by a margin of over 75% to form a union.
Keep up with our bargaining efforts on Instagram and Twitter — @DallasNewsGuild — and at the NEWS tab at DallasNewsGuild.org.
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