Los Angeles Times journalists officially approved a new guild contract, which the Media Guild of the West described as “a hard-fought resolution to more than three years of contentious negotiations.”
“It should not have taken this long to get here,” Matt Hamilton, the unit chair and a reporter in the Times’ Metro section, said in a statement Tuesday. “But despite management’s repeated attempts to stonewall talks and sow division, our members endured and came out stronger on the other side. This contract is proof of our tenacity.”
Per the Guild, the new deal, which covers more than 200 members, will ensure that every newsroom worker will receive a raise of at least $3,000 in the first year, $2,750 in the second and $2,500 in the third. Although, staffers at Times Community News will receive raises of $5,000 in the first year and $4,000 in the second and third. Additionally, the contractual pay minimums will also be newly updated to reflect these increases.
“Throughout talks, the Times persistently sought to roll back protections codified in the Guild’s first contract, which was negotiated in 2019,” the union noted in Tuesday’s update. “Guild members beat back the company’s attempts to expand its ability to use non-union labor to perform newsroom job duties and weaken just cause protections in disciplinary investigations. Despite some critical gains, the union had hoped to maintain strong protections around seniority but managed only marginal success on that front.”
The Guild highlighted tumultuous times amid their negotiations, including “several rounds of layoffs, buyouts and other voluntary staff departures.” They noted that membership fell from around 450 members in 2022 to just over 200 members this year.
The ratified contract comes nearly two months after the LAT Guild members voted 85% to authorize a strike. In response to this vote, the Guild met with management for a 20-hour bargaining session — where they reached a tentative agreement back in November.
Some of the provisions included in the new agreement include “the codification of Juneteenth as a company holiday,” “new gender identity protections upholding employees’ right to be referred to by their chosen names/pronouns” and “the creation of Guild-represented ‘per diem’ employees that will work a limited number of hours each week, aimed at reducing the company’s use of non-union temporary workers and freelancers.”
A representative for the Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
