Evansville Courier & Press unionizes
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Journalists at the Evansville Courier & Press have unanimously voted to unionize, our partners at WEHT-TV reported Thursday.
Employees initially launched a union campaign in January, citing a reduction in jobs and resources with no prospects for change from parent company Gannett.
“Since Gannett bought the newspaper in 2016, Courier & Press journalists, who have been repeatedly recognized by their peers for their work, have steadily left the newspaper as resources are reduced. Others have been forced out,” employees said in a January news release. “The newsroom is a fraction of its former size—but the care and effort shown by the remaining reporters and photographers has not wavered.”
The journalists had asked Gannett to voluntarily recognize the union, but Gannett refused, WEHT reported. The vote to unionize was made Wednesday by all nine members of the newspaper’s editorial staff.
“As was shared when the effort went public in January, every member of the Courier & Press newsroom wants to continue to provide the top-notch journalism to which this community has become accustomed. And every member deserves respect and fair wages,” a spokesperson told WEHT.
The newly formed Evansville NewsGuild will be a become a bargaining unit of TNG-CWA Local 34070, which also represents workers of the Indianapolis NewsGuild and Courier Journal Guild.
The NewsGuild is part of Communications Workers of America, the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in the US and Canada.