ProPublica Guild Wins Voluntary Recognition

NEW YORK – Today, the employees of ProPublica won voluntary recognition of their union, the ProPublica Guild. The union — which secured support from 97% of eligible staff members — is wall-to-wall, covering editorial, business and operations departments at the largest nonprofit newsroom in the country.

“This is a momentous day for ProPublica. We look forward to writing a strong collective bargaining agreement that will help set the standard for newsrooms throughout the industry. We are immensely proud to join together in solidarity with our unionized colleagues to fight for a better future for newsroom employees everywhere,” graphics editor Lucas Waldron said. 

“We appreciate the support we’ve received since we went public with our union. We’ve heard from so many of our fellow journalists and NewsGuild members, as well as readers who have shown their support on social media and through notes to our staff,” reporter Melissa Sanchez said.

“This is just the beginning. We now begin bargaining with management for a contract that will preserve the best aspects of ProPublica and improve job security and working conditions for us and future generations of ProPublicans. We hope to build on the advances made by our NewsGuild colleagues in the past year at Reuters, The New York Times and elsewhere, who have stood together to secure strong, industry-leading contracts,” senior data reporter Jeff Ernsthausen said.

The ProPublica Guild went public on June 21. The more than 130 members of the union will now be represented by The New York NewsGuild, CWA Local 31003.

ProPublica was founded in 2007-2008 and has since become an essential voice in American journalism with more than 180 employees across five regional newsrooms and its New York City office.