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UPDATE: South Bend Tribune Newsroom Employees Vote To Form Union

Justin Hicks/WVPE

NEW: 

An announcement was made Wednesday that South Bend Tribune news staffers have voted to form a union. 

Here is the release:

SOUTH BEND, Indiana  — The newsroom staff of the South Bend Tribune voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to form a union, becoming the fourth unionized newsroom staff in Indiana.

The Tribune newsroom staff voted 23-3 in favor of affiliation with The NewsGuild-CWA, which will assist the South Bend NewsGuild as it works to negotiate its first labor contract with The Tribune’s owner, Gannett.

"In the last several months, it became clear that many in our newsroom sought a voice in the future of the South Bend Tribune,” said Tyler James, a Tribune sports reporter since 2012. “With today's union vote, the staff made its voice heard. We will continue to work together in negotiating a contract that addresses our concerns."

Since signing cards and announcing intentions to organize three weeks ago, communication between local management and newsroom employees has remained open and respectful. The South Bend NewsGuild looks forward to maintaining the civil working relationship, James said.

The South Bend NewsGuild will represent about 30 newsroom workers and be a part of the ever-growing NewsGuild-CWA. The South Bend Tribune is the third newsroom to win union recognition under Gannett ownership in recent months following The Arizona Republic and Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader.

Gannett and GateHouse Media, which purchased the South Bend Tribune from long-time, local owner Schurz Communications in January 2019, merged in November.

  

The South Bend Tribune serves six counties in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan and will become the fourth active newspaper union in the Hoosier state, in addition to the Indianapolis Star, Terre Haute Tribune-Star and Gary Post-Tribune.

Members of the South Bend Tribune newsroom who voted in favor to unionize say they are taking this step to preserve the vital role The Tribune plays in telling the stories of the communities they serve.

“Forming this union has been a long process with careful thought and deliberation from our staff. We know a union won’t fix every problem, but it will give us a voice in our employment where our main goal is informing our community,” said Michael Caterina, Tribune photographer since 2016. “This union is us, we are the reporters, photographer, designers and editors that bring Michiana the highest quality news we can. This union will give us, the people that live here, a seat at the table when it comes to our employment.”

ORIGINAL POST: 

Today the South Bend NewsGuild announced that the staff of the South Bend Tribune has taken a major step toward forming a union. 

According to a news release "the ​vast majority of employees who contribute reporting, copy editing, page design and photography within The Tribune newsroom have signed cards indicating their desire to be represented by the ever-growing NewsGuild-CWA. The cards, submitted Wednesday at the National Labor Relations Board’s Indianapolis regional office, call for an election monitored by the NLRB at The Tribune in the next month unless the newspaper's owner, Gannett, voluntarily recognizes The NewsGuild as the workers' union. ​If a majority of those casting ballots vote in favor, workers will begin negotiating with Gannett on their first labor contract. ​Members of the South Bend Tribune newsroom who intend to unionize say they are taking this step to preserve the vital role The Tribune plays in telling the stories of the communities they serve."

The release also details the changes the paper has gone through. In January of 2019  the paper was acquired by GateHouse Media. In November of 2019 GateHouse merged with Gannett. 

The Tribune's staff left their downtown South Bend location which had housed operations for nearly a century and relocated to Union Station while a new location in the Studebaker building is under construction. 

Tyler James is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. He says although they’ve avoided significant layoffs so far, staff fear Gannett’s reputation for cutting newsroom staff and lowering wages. 

“The newspaper means certainly a lot to all of us that work at The Tribune, but I think it means a lot to people locally as well,” he says. “We believe this will help sustain the newspaper moving forward.”