Press

NEW YORK – NewsGuild of New York-represented staff at ProPublica have won a first contract with the nonprofit investigative newsroom in a deal that gives staff up to 24% raises over the life the agreement, mandates transparency around the use of AI, protects hybrid work, offers significant health-care savings and more.

Yesterday the Department of Justice seized phone and email records of New York Times reporter Ali Watkins. These actions represent a deeply troubling violation of the First Amendment and of the essential role of the Fourth Estate: to question the levers of power, interrogate authority, and seek answers on behalf of the public.

The following is the NewsGuild of New York Statement on Meredith Corporation’s “Integration Plan” after President and CEO Tom Harty announced intentions to sell the publications TIME, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and Money. 

The New York local is proud and honored to have worked alongside these journalists to bring union representation to one of the largest nonunion newsrooms in the country, and one with such vociferously anti-union management.

On Sunday, the Meredith Corporation announced that with the financial backing of Koch Equity Development the company will acquire Time Inc. There is a never an appropriate time to sell a trusted journalistic institution to a conservative-backed private equity corporation.

When Daily Beast management – led by our new corporate partners Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles – informed us several weeks ago they were looking to slash staff in our newsroom, our bargaining team went right to work.

We successfully negotiated a robust buyout plan for our members, giving them the chance to decide for themselves if they wanted to leave the company. Twenty-five unit members, or roughly 70 percent of our unit, applied for the buyout. Our members now have a seven-day window to accept the buyout or rescind their application, which will mean the total number of members who choose to leave could change.

We have also won job security for unit members who choose to stay with the Company. Because we expect to exceed $1.5 million in payroll savings through the buyouts, unit members will be protected from any layoffs through Dec. 31, 2024.

We have also struck a tentative two-year collective bargaining agreement with the Company that benefits all of our members, whether they are choosing to take a buyout or staying. We have achieved retroactive pay increases from January 1 for all members. For members who are staying, the contract lifts wages for the lowest earners by at least 4% in 2024 (4.5% in 2025); mid-range earners by 2.5% in 2024 and 3% in 2025; higher-paid earners by 1% in 2024 and 1.5% in 2025; and top-paid workers by .5% in both years.

We have been in the driver's seat of this process since Sherwood and Coles arrived at the Beast. We have battled with Company lawyers, demanded information in the face of uncertainty, and have won the fight for our colleagues to design their own futures. The security and dignity we’ve afforded our colleagues affirms that our work is valuable and empowering. No matter how many members accept the buyout, our work as a Union will continue. Managers come and go, but we, the Daily Beast Union, are here to stay.