Workers at The Daily Herald in Everett, Washington, voted 19-0 to affiliate with the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, in ballots counted Sept. 8.
The bargaining unit includes 23 reporters, photographers, copy editors, layout designers, web producers and opinion editors at the daily newspaper. The Herald is owned by Sound Publishing, which owns 43 media outlets across Washington and Alaska.
Workers launched the union campaign in July, pinpointing low pay and poor benefits as factors driving significant staff turnover.
“The message the company sends is that we are disposable,” workers wrote in a letter announcing the union effort. “It has hollowed out our sister publications, one by one. It has failed to offer competitive pay and benefits, while demanding we make increasingly untenable sacrifices.”
With the Herald, the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild now represents workers at over a dozen media outlets: The Seattle Times, The Daily News in Longview, The News Tribune in Tacoma, The Olympian, The Bellingham Herald, Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Aero Mechanic (a union newsletter for Machinists District Lodge 751), Kitsap Sun in Bremerton, Crosscut in Seattle, Idaho Statesman, The Skagit Valley Herald in Mount Vernon, and Yakima Herald-Republic.
