The Los Angeles Times reports that their journalists have overwhelmingly voted in favor of forming a union in a 248-44 vote. In a first for the 136-year-old company, workers will be represented by the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.
A staff organizing committee of 44 Times journalists had urged workers to unionize in response to years of corporate turnover, advertising declines and cutbacks that have shrunk The Times' staff from more than 1,000 in the late 1990s to fewer than 400 today. Organizers said they hoped to bargain for job protections, salary increases and equal pay for men and women, and they argued that executives of the Chicago-based owner are overpaid.
Overall, union membership has been on a steady decline, but with this move, the LA Times is joining other media organizations that have recently chosen to unionize like Vox and VICE. This is also particularly a huge win since the news organization has a long history of being anti-labor.