Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
A supermajority of workers at the South Florida Sun Sentinel voted to form a union Monday with The NewsGuild-CWA (TNG-CWA).
Journalists announced their intention to organize earlier this month so that they can better protect their own rights and ensure their community’s access to quality local journalism. The news outlet is owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which purchased parent company Tribune Publishing in 2021. Alden has an established reputation for decimating small newsrooms, slashing jobs and cutting costs to increase returns for its stockholders. Over the past several years, staff at the South Florida Sun Sentinel have continued to deliver powerful, award-winning journalism despite attacks on their wages and benefits. Now that members of the Sun Sentinel Guild have proved their solidarity with one another, they’re ready to join together to secure workplace transparency, better pay and benefits, job security, better work-life balance and more.
“This is a historic day at the Sun Sentinel,” said veteran education reporter Scott Travis. “For years, we have suffered layoffs, the loss of a 401K match and even pay cuts during the pandemic. Before, we just had to accept it without a fight. Now our hard-working journalists will finally have a seat at the table to negotiate a better future.”