Journalists at four Washington newspapers are walking off the job for a one-day strike on Tuesday.
The single-day strike starts at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, involving union workers at The Tacoma News Tribune, The Bellingham Herald, The Olympian, and The Tri-City Herald. The demonstration is organized by the Washington State News Guild, a union of the previously-mentioned four newspapers. The strike will coincide with a strike involving workers at The Idaho Statesman in Boise.
The news outlets combine for more than 200,000 daily digital readers.
The protest centers on unfair labor practices by McClatchy Media, the owner. McClatchy Media owns and operates 30 newspapers across 14 states. Workers are pushing for better pay and common-sense rules around artificial intelligence (AI).
“Every day it’s a challenge: emotionally, technically, physically, and it’s rewarding,” Brian Hayes, a visuals journalist for The News Tribune and The Olympian, said. “We see everything, so you guys don’t have to. I see terrible, horrible aspects of life and beautiful, wonderful aspects of life. And it’s all part of the story that is Tacoma. And we do it because we love it, but it’d be nice to make a living wage.”
They’ve been in contract talks with the company for approximately a year now. Ninety-three percent of participating members in the Washington State News Guild and Idaho News Guild voted in favor of a work stoppage, according to a news release from the two news guilds.
“To have experienced eyes and ears in your community, you need journalists who can stick around and build a life instead of bouncing from job to job,” the Idaho and Washington State News Guilds stated. “Nobody expects to get rich in this line of work, but it should not be out of reach to have a family, to dream of buying a home, or to save for retirement. A sudden car repair or an unforeseen medical bill should not be a crisis.”
A GoFundMe strike fund has been created to support the striking local news journalists. Donations can be made to the strike fund here.
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This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com
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