When DallasNews Corp. issued an unsafe return-to-office policy, Dallas News Guild fought back

If our reporters were covering this policy at another company, there is no doubt public health experts we interviewed would agree with the Guild.

In April 2021 the Dallas News Guild demanded to bargain with DallasNews Corp. over return-to-office policy. The company told us that before RTO became a mandatory company policy, the joint labor management committee would be key in the decision-making. But the company never spoke about this committee again and never involved the Guild in its decision-making about RTO.

The company broke its promise.

In December 2021, eight months after our initial demand to bargain, the company sent the Guild a return-to-office plan that was at odds with CDC guidelines.

Our position is that Guild workers won’t be returning against their will until we are certain that safety is preeminent. The Dallas Morning News and Al Dia want their journalists working in the office ASAP. But until the union reaches an agreement for a safe, equitable return, workers will stay put.

In New York, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in a media company case that a return to office is a mandatory subject of bargaining. Because of this, management at our company and other unionized media companies can’t force workers back to the office without negotiating with the union.

Fortunately, our company has agreed to negotiate on RTO

But in its latest counterproposal, the company said that it did not want to tie RTO to current CDC and OSHA guidelines, and instead proposed following “federal, state, or municipal law” — conveniently leaving out the word “county.” Yet Dallas County is the government entity most deeply involved in setting local guidelines and communicating with the people. Was the omission of “county” a deliberate act?

The Guild will do what’s necessary to protect its workers. We want to follow health guidelines and we’re concerned that the company policy diverges from CDC guidelines.

After the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant, Dallas County updated its COVID-19 risk guidance. At moderate to high levels of community transmission (the county is currently at the high level), fully vaccinated and boosted individuals are advised to “consider limiting or avoiding medium to large social gatherings.” For those who are unvaccinated, officials say they should avoid medium to large gatherings altogether. The CDC guidelines say all people in Dallas County should be wearing masks indoors and outside their homes.

Hundreds of people work from the downtown office, in the newsroom and other divisions of DallasNews Corp. Contrary to best practices advocated by public health experts, the company has elected not to mandate vaccines. The company also will leave it up to individuals whether they want to wear a mask at their desk. These practices would leave workers vulnerable to COVID-19 transmission. Even the vaccinated are at risk of getting sick or exposing their family members.

The company has so far not tied the timing of RTO to a particular level of COVID-19 circulating in the community, a metric public health experts turn to when setting safety guidelines. In a recent email to workers ringing in the new year, the company wrote that “once we see the peak is behind us, we will move quickly to set a return to office date.” The Guild will fight to make sure it’s safe to do so. 

Company leaders say we work better when we’re together. The company says our online pageviews are too low, and they believe we can do better if we return to the office. 

We demand the company follow not clicks nor arbitrary creativity standards, but public health guidelines in deciding when we’ll be back in the office. 

If another company were proposing this policy, and our reporters were covering it, there is no doubt public health experts we interviewed would voice the same concerns as the Guild. 

The Guild looks forward to continuing to bargain with the company to reach an agreement that puts workers’ safety first. But let’s be clear: Our workers will not return until we have agreements in writing.

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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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