CBS News 24/7 Members Hold Bicoastal Walkouts as Contract with CBS/Paramount Expires
NEW YORK, NY (March 17, 2026)—Writers Guild of America East members at CBS News 24/7 are holding a 24-hour walkout today after management failed to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement with the 60-member bargaining unit. The current CBS News 24/7 union contract expired March 9 at 11:59pm ET.
The CBS News 24/7 Union is holding bicoastal walkouts and rallies at CBS News Broadcast Center in Manhattan, NY, and at KPIX-TV CBS News Bay Area in San Francisco, CA. The 24-hour work stoppage will begin at 6:00am ET on Tuesday, March 17 and conclude at 6:00am ET on Wednesday, March 18.
Members are fighting to protect their livelihoods during a period of uncertainty in broadcast news. Layoffs, editorial interference and political pressure have all become existential threats following the Paramount Skydance merger, and those same concerns have escalated with a possible merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The bargaining unit is demanding fair pay, respect and a sustainable work-life balance.
The CBS News 24/7 Union bargaining committee and contract action team said, “CBS News 24/7 journalists are walking off the job on both coasts today because management refuses to agree to a new contract with essential work protections and fair wages. Despite multiple days of good faith negotiations and a strike pledge signed by 95% of our members to emphasize the seriousness of our demands, management continues to offer us worse terms than in our last contracts. We chose this field to cover the news, but we believe this work stoppage is necessary to achieve a fair contract. We eagerly await an acceptable contract offer from Paramount—which just shelled out tens of billions of dollars to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.”
In addition to the strike pledge signed by 95% of the unit, more than 2,900 union members and supporters of the CBS News 24/7 Union have sent letters to management urging them to agree to a fair and just contract for WGAE members at CBS News 24/7.
“Paramount has billions to spend acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, but still hasn’t guaranteed fair wages and basic job protections for the workers who make their streaming news operation run,” said Beth Godvik, WGAE Vice President of Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News. “Our members are walking out today to show management they stand united in their demand for a fair contract—and the WGAE is with them every step of the way.”
In its Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News sector, the WGAE also represents workers at 1010 WINS, ABC News, Audacy (WCBS-AM, WBBM-AM, and KNX-AM), CBS News, CBS News Digital, Fox 5 WNYW-TV, MSNOW, NBC Promo Writers, Thirteen Productions (Thirteen/WNET), and WBBM / CBS 2 News.
ABOUT THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA EAST
The Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO, is a labor union of more than 7,500 members working in film, television, news, podcasts and online media. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit wgaeast.org.
