The Dallas Morning News is saving money by closing the D.C. bureau office. But at what cost to workers?

The sudden decision will cost workers time, money and convenience of an office, while colleagues in Dallas are required to come into their downtown office.

Four reporters in The Dallas Morning News’ Washington, D.C. bureau will leave their office at the end of the month for the last time. After decades of maintaining a physical office for reporters in the nation’s capital, our employer is trimming costs from the newsroom budget and shutting its doors for good. 

For many workers who dream of working from home permanently, it sounds like a wish come true. 

No longer will those four reporters be required to come into the office at least two days a week, which is the current expectation for DMN employees.  

No longer will they have a shared place to work and collaborate as a team, even as our employer says that collaboration in person is why workers should be in the office. 

No longer will they have a quiet space outside their homes and close to the Capitol, where they’ve always had easy access to sources and stories. 

Instead, our reporters have been told suddenly that they must work remotely, starting in a few weeks. This move is not only inconvenient and disruptive to those colleagues, who must navigate the real challenges of working from home, but it appears antithetical to the company’s core belief that being in the office is the best working environment for all. 

And the company also appears to support having flexibility in our working environment, a benefit we gained after more than a year living and working at home during the pandemic.  

But closing the D.C. bureau office will deny our reporters these working conditions given to their Texas colleagues. 

And we believe the sudden decision will put an outsized burden on workers juggling the move out of an office following a busy election season and ahead of the holidays.

The unilateral decision to close the bureau office also violated the status quo during the final stages of bargaining over our contract and will cause material and harmful effects in the way these reporters do their jobs. 

The Guild filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the NLRB, seeking immediate injunctive relief. We have also sent a proposal to the company to bargain over the effects of their decision. 

In the meantime, our members are working remotely this week in solidarity with our D.C. colleagues to show our support during an uncertain time. 

If the company believes working from the office is so important, it should ensure all of its employees have one.

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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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