Management tells workers they’re better off without a union

But here’s what collective bargaining has won for workers in Guild newsrooms.

In a letter to employees this month, publisher Grant Moise said “it is better for you, your families, and The News that the newspaper continues to operate without a union.” He then detailed how the company would spend the coming weeks before the election to convince us that we’re better off without a seat at the decision-making table.

This week, Moise and CFO Katy Murray plan to host a town hall with employees focused on the collective bargaining process that will “help you make a more informed decision,” the publisher wrote in an email. This meeting is just one tool in the union-busting playbook used by companies to make workers feel that forming a union will cost them more than they bargain for.

Fortunately for the Dallas News Guild, this newsroom has done its homework, as it does every day we put out a paper. We know that we make our own contract. Our members vote on it democratically. We discuss our bargaining priorities with every member in our newsroom so the contract reflects the needs of everyone. And our bargaining committee -- that no doubt will be led by a diverse group of our most tenacious workers -- won’t rest until we’ve won a contract that builds a stronger workplace.

Still don’t believe a union is what we need? Just ask the journalists at Santa Rosa’s Press Democrat, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the L.A. Times where collective bargaining won them a fair contract that saved jobs and protected workers.

Santa Rosa’s Press Democrat

In 2012, members of the Press Democrat guild rescued their paper from a hedge fund ownership by recruiting a coalition of wealthy locals to buy it. In negotiating its contract with the new owners, the Guild agreed to a 5% pay cut and pension changes in exchange for a 3-year no-layoff guarantee. The members also won the right to wear jeans again. Yes, you read that right. Prior to negotiating the contract, workers had a strict dress code, one they lifted through collective bargaining.

Guild members won stability through its contract with their new owners. The Press Democrat went on to win the 2018 Pulitzer in Breaking News Reporting for its “lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County.” Read how the Pacific Media Workers Guild’s Contract protects workers against no-raise promotions, no-advance layoffs and unlivable severance packages.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

When McClatchy bought the Knight Ridder newspapers in 2006 -- including The Minneapolis Star Tribune -- the ownership group added to its growing debt. This February, the newspaper chain, which also owns the Miami Herald and the Kansas City Star, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections. For a non-union paper, that could have spelled disaster. But because the Star Tribune workers are members of the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild, they had a legal say in the bankruptcy proceedings and were able to protect their journalists.

A few months later, local billionaire Glen Taylor bought the paper. Today, more than 250 journalists work in the Star Tribune newsroom and they are the fifth largest daily paper in the country. Read how their Guild contract provided workers with a minimum wage scale and a 15% raise every year for six years until it maxes out at $76,000. Employees can still earn more based on merit and that minimum increases with every contract each year.

Los Angeles Times

Journalists at the L.A. Times voted to unionize their newsroom in January 2018. After 15 months at the collective bargaining table, the union negotiated its first contract with management. The committee fought for and won across-the-board average raises of more than $11,000, with every worker guaranteed at least a 5% raise in the first year.

The contract also includes strong protections against the company’s ability to subcontract or outsource work to non-newsroom employees. The L.A. Times Guild worked with management this May during the height of the pandemic to prevent more than 80 newsroom layoffs. By using a work-sharing program available to employers in any state during an economic downturn, the deal allows for employees to keep their jobs and claim unemployment benefits in exchange for a reduction in work hours.

The town halls this week will attempt to turn the outcome of the election in the company’s favor. But if A.H. Belo wants to convince us that we’re better off without a union, they’re going to have to try harder.

We have seen how contracts protect workers. We’ve seen how a contract sometimes is the only thing standing between a company’s decisions and the workers left to deal with the consequences.

So here’s an idea. If management wants to spend our work hours talking about collective bargaining, they shouldn’t wait another day to recognize our union.

We believe it’s better for us, our families and The News if we start bargaining for a contract immediately.