Journalists at 11 SCNG newspapers to hold 1-Day Walkout
Journalists at 11 daily newspapers in Southern California are walking out Thursday, Dec. 14.
"We are simply seeking fair wages so that we don't have to struggle to afford living in the communities we cover,” said SCNG Guild unit chair Sean Emery, a courts and crime reporter. “We believe in local news, and our communities deserve robust coverage. But choosing a career in journalism should not require a virtual vow of poverty. It is time for the members of our newsroom to be paid what they are worth."
The SCNG Guild represents about 120 non-management editorial employees — a supermajority of whom have pledged to participate in the one-day work stoppage to protest management’s unfair labor practices, such as unilaterally changing workers’ schedules and workloads, and long delays in bargaining.
“We don’t take forgoing a day of pay lightly,” said SCNG Guild member Charlie Vargas, a casino/entertainment reporter. “But we’re fed up with management’s stalling. The day-to-day impact of the rising cost of living is not something we can afford to put on the backburner.”
The Guild’s bargaining committee began negotiating with the Southern California News Group in March 2022. In November 2022, the committee presented management with a wage proposal. When management’s representatives responded eight months later, they sent SCNG Guild a bare-bones proposal: no wage increases.
Management later proposed a one-time, $1,000 bonus payment but again no increased salary minimums or annual raises.
“I’ve been covering fires, floods, protests, and everyday stories for more than 20 years,” said Guild bargaining committee member Mindy Schauer, a photographer at the Orange County Register. I have built contacts in my community, and readers value the work my colleagues and I do. It’s time for the company we work for to value us too.”
In November, the Guild informed management of members’ pledge to walk out. Management responded by proposing that employees making less than $46,000 receive a 2% wage increase in the first year of the contract and another 2% wage increase in the second year. The proposal would affect about a third of the unit.
And for those making $46,000 or more, management’s proposal would still include no wage increases — only a $1,000 bonus the first year and a $500 bonus the second year.
“As someone who is relatively new to the journalism industry, I think speaking up shouldn't be a battle,” said Christina Merino, a city reporter who has been with SCNG since June 2022. “We're doing this for those who have been in the company for decades, for my own future and the future of incoming journalists. We are calling management out on their unfair labor practices. All we want are fair wages and a good contract. I love what I do and covering local communities, but at what cost?”
The SCNG Guild has urged management to cease its unfair labor practices, stop stalling and bargain in good faith over fair wages and a strong contract.
“Some journalists here have put up with low pay for decades because they were asked to sacrifice for the sake of local news,” said SCNG Guild vice chair Josh Cain, a breaking news reporter. “Meanwhile, Alden Global Capital continues to buy up local papers, only to gut them for profit. We know this company makes money. All we are asking for is our fair share.”
The SCNG Guild is collecting donations to a walkout fund to help replace lost wages during the work stoppage.
SCNG journalists unionized in June 2021, becoming a unit of the Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA. After the vote count, the company appealed to the National Labor Relations Board, delaying bargaining for months until the NLRB refused to review the decision.
The Southern California News Group includes the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, (Long Beach) Press-Telegram, (Torrance) Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Pasadena Star-News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News and the Redlands Daily Facts. The publications reach 7.7 million readers every week, according to the company.
The company is owned by Alden Global Capital’s MediaNews Group. The New York-based hedge fund is known for slashing newsroom budgets to the bone. Earlier this year, Alden Global purchased the San Diego Union-Tribune, even as it refuses to invest in its own newsrooms.
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The Media Guild of the West, TNG-CWA Local 39213, represents more than 800 workers in California, Arizona and Texas, including at the Los Angeles Times and the Arizona Republic. The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 25,000 journalists and other news industry employees in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.