Weeks after Chicago Tribune reporters voted to unionize, it was announced that Tronc will indeed recognize the new union.
In a letter to reporters, the Chicago Tribune Guild announced that reporters for the paper, along with a group of other publications including the Daily Southtown and RedEye, will be recognized by Tronc, and will likely receive official union certification from the National Labor Relations Board.
“We did it,” the letter read. “We achieved this together. More than 85 percent of our newsrooms signed cards saying we wanted our interests represented by a union.”
According to the letter, there will be three bargaining units that will work together, with the Tribune and RedEye represented by one unit, suburban papers by another unit, and Design and Production Studio will be represented by the third.
According to Tribune Editor Bruce Dold, supervisors and managers, along with non-newsroom employees, will be excluded from the new negotiating units.
“As we move ahead, we need to be united as one organization with an important purpose – to help the company transform and thrive as a business, and to serve our readers world-class journalism,” he said.
In late April, Tribune management opted not to recognize the union, which was approved by reporters by a massive margin. They did continue to review the situation however, and ultimately decided to recognize the union’s right to negotiate on behalf of its members.
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“People need to realize that what we do is important,” reporter Mary Wisniewski said after the initial decision in April. “We’re doing good, important professional work, and we need real news and real investigations to support our Democracy.”
