Emily Rasmussen: Why we need a union

I support a union because our communities deserve better coverage and our editorial staff deserves fair pay. Long Beach is one of the largest cities in the state and the second largest city that the Southern California News Group covers. Ownership has tasked our staff — including reporters, editors, photographers and designers — to do more with less. Our community, in addition to others in our large footprint, deserve more and our readers have expressed that as well. We are all passionate about our jobs and if COVID-19 has taught us anything about our industry, it is how essential we are to the communities we cover. I love my job and am grateful for the opportunity to tell people’s stories, but in a field where many of us have a hard time to get out of the mindset of neutrality and impartiality, we have realized that if we do not stand up for ourselves, no one will. We are organizing to save the future of our newspapers.

Emily Rasmussen is a reporter for the Long Beach Press-Telegram/SCNG.