LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Newsroom staff at the Los Angeles Times filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor
Relations Board Dec. 4, seeking to be represented by the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America. “We’re excited to begin addressing the issues we’re fighting for: job security, regular pay increases, more competitive salaries, equitable pay for women and people of color, more workplace protections and other concerns,” the NewsGuild said in a statement. The Times is one of the few major U.S. daily newspapers whose reporters, editors, and photographers are nonunion. Tronc, the paper’s parent company, has resisted unionization, sending newsroom staff a message in November that a union “cannot guarantee better salaries,” and that if it did win raises, management might have to compensate by cutting benefits or laying off workers. The NewsGuild counters that $8.1 million paid to Tronc CEO Justin Dearborn got paid $8.1 million last year, and the company spent more than $4 million spent on a private jet for chair. Michael Ferro. The Guild Organizing Committee expects the vote to be held next month. The paper’s press operators voted 50-35 in November to stay with the Teamsters’ Graphic Communications Conference.
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