The Associated Press plans to eliminate eight union photo editing positions in the United States and relocate the work with new hires in India, a move the News Media Guild and AP News Guild say violates the news agency’s labor contract.
The cuts are the latest step in AP’s effort to consolidate photo and video production in India, where it is expanding operations while reducing its U.S. workforce. The union, which was notified Monday, is seeking an arbitrator’s ruling to challenge the offshoring plan.
“AP is at it again,” AP News Guild wrote in an X post on Tuesday. “The News Media Guild learned Monday that AP will offshore eight photo positions after already gutting its U.S. video production team. These highly experienced editors are key to our visual journalism’s speed and accuracy. This clear union busting is outrageous.”
In a statement obtained by TheWrap, an Associated Press spokesperson defended the move as respecting and following the collective bargaining agreement.
“This is part of the changes we announced over the summer to significantly scale our visual production capabilities at our new hub in Noida, India, where we have added dozens of talented journalists to our global news organization,” the spokesperson said. “We respect and follow the collective bargaining agreement.”
The union previously said AP planned to eliminate 10 U.S. photo editing positions in August. It was not immediately clear whether the eight jobs identified Monday were among those previously targeted or represented additional cuts.
“Fewer people, fewer communities being covered, and less news. That’s the impact of today’s decision,” News Media Guild President Kimberlee Kruesi said in a statement Tuesday. She added AP’s staffing reductions have left some coverage areas abandoned and remaining journalists stretched too thin.
The union said the affected editors do far more than select photographs, including directing photographers, verifying information and scrutinizing images for alterations. They also work with freelance photographers to secure image rights, according to the guild.
The guild argued that moving the work overseas would cost AP decades of local knowledge, editorial judgment and industry relationships. It characterized the decision as part of a broader pattern of staffing reductions dating to 2024, including layoffs of 20 U.S.-based journalists in May.
AP has defended its India expansion as an investment in visual journalism. In June, Executive Editor Julie Pace outlined plans for a centralized production hub designed to expand photo and video operations while improving speed and quality.
AP previously announced plans to eliminate roughly 20 U.S. video production positions as part of the restructuring. In an October job posting, AP said its newly opened hub in Noida, India, would soon employ nearly 100 video producers and photo editors.
