How Journalism Strikes Stopped Being A Relic

Indefinite strikes by journalists were unheard of for most of the 21st century.

Before journalists represented by the Gizmodo Media Group Union walked off the job in March 2022, it had been more than two decades since the last one took place, according to the Poynter Institute.

From there, open-ended strikes became more frequent. 

Union drives at news publications saw an uptick in the 2010s — particularly in the latter half. Pew Research found in 2022 that approximately 1 in 6 journalists at news publications are part of a union. Journalists at larger publications were more likely to be unionized. 

An array of major digital media outlets have issued strike threats in recent years; a handful of them did not stay threats.

All of these publications’ unions broke new ground or set records in some way with their organizing. Their strikes vary in length, but most managed to make gains in their collective bargaining agreements. 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Standing out for its length, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike began in October 2022 and has yet to reach a resolution.

According to Poynter, the workers asked their newsroom to lift the impasse on contract negotiations, reinstate the terms of their previous contract and return to the bargaining table, walking off the job after their managers declined to do so. 

The strike passed by a 38-36 vote. The Post-Gazette reported at the time that approximately 40 of the union’s 100 members chose to remain at work.

The journalists, represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, said in their strike publication Thursday that they “feel closer than ever to getting back to work,” inviting community members to hear an update of their progress at a town hall on Sept. 25.

In August, strikers learned that the National Labor Relations Board asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to order the Post-Gazette to take the journalists back, at least temporarily, under the terms of their last contract while negotiations for the new one continue.

Insider

About 250 U.S.-based reporting staff at Insider walked off the job for 13 days in June 2023, marking the “longest digital media strike in decades,” according to the NewsGuild of New York, whose members include the Law360 Union.

That strike came just over a month after the company proposed laying off 60 union members, prompting a one-day walkoff by the NewsGuild unit.

The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Insider in May 2023 after the union accused the newsroom of “unilaterally changing workers’ health insurance plans,” according to Poynter. The union said the change caused members to face increased medical costs.

Insider told staff days before the strike that it switched from United Healthcare to Cigna after failing to get UHC to agree to a cost hike that was within the company’s budget, Poynter reported. 

After 13 days of withheld labor, Insider and the union reached a deal that would earn members more than $400,000 in healthcare cost reimbursements over the course of the three-year agreement and a layoff moratorium through the end of the year.

The union also secured a $65,000 wage floor.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Two years before going on strike in November 2022, the staff at the McClatchy-owned Fort Worth Star-Telegram became “the first modern newspaper in Texas” to form a union, according to the Fort Worth NewsGuild.

According to Poynter, salaries, sick leave, layoffs and severance policies were all points of contention during the negotiations, but wages were an especially key issue. The union proposed a $57,500 minimum salary, which the paper countered with an offer for $45,000.

On Dec. 22, 2022, the Fort Worth NewsGuild announced in a tweet that its members were going back to work. The two sides agreed on a $52,000 salary floor for current staff and a $50,000 floor for future staff.

Gizmodo Media

About 100 Gizmodo Media Group Union workers from publications like Jezebel and The Root went on strike in March 2022. According to a statement from the union at the time, 93% of members participated in the strike vote. It passed unanimously. 

“In 2015, this union broke new ground when it organized the first digital media union,” the union said in the statement. “Now, GMG Union will break ground yet again: We are the first digital media shop to go on an open-ended strike for a fair contract.”

It took five days for the two sides to end the strike with a deal. The workers’ wins included 3% annual raises, 15 weeks of parental leave, 12 days of severance and a requirement that G/O Media adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics.

—Editing by Marygrace Anderson and Dave Trumbore.