Los Angeles Times Newsroom Voting on Whether to Unionize
- 6 years ago
Los Angeles Times Newsroom Voting on Whether to Unionize
Management typically counters efforts to organize employees, but many in The Times newsroom — especially against the backdrop of already tense relations — said they felt
that those in charge have been unduly aggressive in the attempt to thwart the union effort
Newsroom employees at The Los Angeles Times began casting ballots Thursday on whether to form a union, in what
they believe is the first time journalists have held a union vote in the newspaper’s 136-year history.
Workers — who are calling for more competitive salaries, equitable pay for women
and minorities, more generous benefits and improved working conditions — began voting at 10 a.m. in a first-floor community room at The Times headquarters in downtown Los Angeles and at the company’s offices in Orange County.
The union vote affirms something of a shift at The Times, where a bombing by union organizers in 1910 helped shape a historically anti-union stance.
A dispute between The Times and the Walt Disney Company also raised tensions between the paper’s employees
and its new top management, with some employees questioning how Mr. D’Vorkin had handled the paper’s response.
People familiar with the process said they believed the organizing effort had the votes to join the NewsGuild, which represents 25,000 reporters, editors, photojournalists
and other media workers at news organizations across the United States.
Management typically counters efforts to organize employees, but many in The Times newsroom — especially against the backdrop of already tense relations — said they felt
that those in charge have been unduly aggressive in the attempt to thwart the union effort
Newsroom employees at The Los Angeles Times began casting ballots Thursday on whether to form a union, in what
they believe is the first time journalists have held a union vote in the newspaper’s 136-year history.
Workers — who are calling for more competitive salaries, equitable pay for women
and minorities, more generous benefits and improved working conditions — began voting at 10 a.m. in a first-floor community room at The Times headquarters in downtown Los Angeles and at the company’s offices in Orange County.
The union vote affirms something of a shift at The Times, where a bombing by union organizers in 1910 helped shape a historically anti-union stance.
A dispute between The Times and the Walt Disney Company also raised tensions between the paper’s employees
and its new top management, with some employees questioning how Mr. D’Vorkin had handled the paper’s response.
People familiar with the process said they believed the organizing effort had the votes to join the NewsGuild, which represents 25,000 reporters, editors, photojournalists
and other media workers at news organizations across the United States.