What We’re Up To
First Contract
The 30-member bargaining unit at Chalkbeat unanimously ratified their first collective bargaining agreement on Friday, December 3, 2021
Some of the highlights from the 2.5-year contract include salary minimums beginning at $58,000; a parental leave program that includes 14 weeks of paid parental leave, plus the option to work part-time for four weeks at the parent’s full salary; and more.
Victory!
The Chalkbeat union with the WGA East was voluntarily recognized on August 18, 2020. Read more about it here.
Why We’re Organizing
August 18, 2020 | The reporters, story editors, engagement team, and visuals staff at Chalkbeat are excited to announce that we have formed a union with the Writers Guild of America, East.
We are thrilled to take this step in concert with Chalkbeat management, which swiftly recognized our union. We believe that every child deserves an excellent education and that sustaining vital newsrooms is crucial to that mission.
As Chalkbeat continues to grow, it is imperative that those closest to the journalism we produce have a greater role in the decisions that affect us. Our decision to unionize and negotiate a contract reflects our desire to help strengthen this news organization.
We are grateful for the work Chalkbeat’s leaders have done to build a financially sustainable model as newsrooms around the country struggle. We are invested in Chalkbeat as a nonprofit that fills local news gaps and prioritizes meaningful education journalism. We seek to protect what makes Chalkbeat great and push our organization to fulfill its mission.
“We have a really big mission here,” said Chalkbeat CEO Elizabeth Green. “To fulfill it, we need the full commitment of our readers, our supporters, and our team. The Chalkbeat Guild is one more way to formalize our team’s commitment, not just today but long into the future.”
While Chalkbeat has invested in improving staff diversity, our bureaus remain largely unrepresentative of our communities. In a recent letter committing Chalkbeat to anti-racism, Elizabeth promised a serious effort to hire more people of color. As a union, we want to ensure this promise is fulfilled by establishing a stronger process to hire, protect, and retain employees from many underrepresented communities — including those who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and who come from a range of economic backgrounds.
As we grow our diverse workforce, it is crucial that pay be equitable and transparent. And while layoffs and furloughs are not expected in the immediate future, we hope to establish separation policies and equitable protections for our workers regardless of age.
Our teams have worked relentlessly during the COVID-19 crisis and our record readership shows how valuable our journalism is today. We recognize the need for flexibility in a field with unpredictable hours. But now more than ever, it is important that we establish reasonable protections so that employees do not burn out, but feel supported and stay long-term.
We are excited that Chalkbeat continues to pursue opportunities to expand into new communities. Our shared goal is to ensure that independent and powerful journalism remains at the forefront of all that we do. We look forward to elevating the voices of those primarily responsible for producing the news as we explore new bureaus, revenue streams, and ways we reach our audiences.
By developing our first contract, we are looking forward to building on our organization’s successes and having a larger role in solving our industry’s toughest challenges.