Longview NewsGuild

08/29/2024

The Longview NewsGuild has officially and unanimously passed a new two-year contract!

We have been at the table with Lee since July to negotiate this deal. Getting a two year deal in place, with guaranteed pay increases for both years, is a great way to build stability for our workers. The Guild is ready to take on whatever comes next in Longview.

As the chair, I was thrilled to see how involved everyone in the union was during this process. We may be a small team but we still have collective power!

06/24/2024

Today the Everett NewsGuild is going on strike to protest the recent unfair actions of their new owner, Carpenter Media Group. The Longview NewsGuild shares the following letter to support Everett through this protest and the continued negotiations for a first contract to protect the remaining members. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560889817665

08/22/2023

We have officially passed our new contract!

In a unanimous vote earlier this afternoon, the Longview NewsGuild members approved a contract we have spent months negotiating. It raises all members' pay to at least $19 per hour, guarantees our mileage reimbursement won't go below the current rate, and locks in this contract for a full year. Thanks to all of our current and former members who helped to secure these increases. This is an important milestone to help the paper's current staff and invest in the future of the Daily News.

02/09/2023

We were horrified to learn today that Lee Enterprises unceremoniously laid off a member of our advertising staff. She and her colleagues have been fighting to join the newsroom union at the Longview Daily News.

Lee’s handling of this is heartless. Our colleague arrived at work this morning to find a final check on her desk and an email from our facilities manager saying he was coming up from Albany to pick up her keys. She was given no other warning.

All this is happening while we’re still awaiting news from the National Labor Relations Board about the ad department’s upcoming certification election. We will have more to say about their efforts soon.

Longview isn’t the only Lee Enterprises' paper facing draconian cuts. Our colleagues at the Buffalo Newspaper Guild have been through the wringer already this year.

https://twitter.com/Charlie_Reports/status/1620973397529473024?s=20&t=bP708rEbYuMQsMpa8qqXmg

Then, of course, there’s the nice bit of portfolio padding Lee executives got before the holidays. This is shameful behavior. Lee must start putting its readers and workers before corporate executives.

https://twitter.com/PDPJ/status/1623556760291409921?s=20&t=bP708rEbYuMQsMpa8qqXmg

12/27/2022

Our union is growing! Today, the advertising staff of the Longview Daily News has petitioned to join the Longview NewsGuild.

We have asked Lee Enterprises for voluntary recognition of our unit but, absent that, will go to an Armour-Globe election in the new year.

The advertising staff of the paper work tirelessly to ensure the long term financial success of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Daily News. Yet Lee Enterprises has failed to invest in our success.

Staffing has shrunk. Our wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living in our community. Our job descriptions and duties have become unclear.

We are calling on Lee Enterprises to make the right decision, and to voluntarily recognize our unit so we can begin bargaining for a first contract immediately.

02/02/2022

We are calling on Lee Enterprises to commit to equitable living wages for the hardworking journalists at The Daily News, and we need your help.

After months at the bargaining table, Lee continues to deny us a meaningful wage increase. Its latest proposal? $16.82 an hour for new journalists or $17.31 an hour for those with a master’s degree or five years of experience. These numbers are insultingly low.

Lee’s proposal is not a livable wage in Longview. The median household income is $44,957, and TDN journalists make $10,000 less than that. Our proposals have not been unreasonable but took into account rising cost of living.

Why can’t the company offer wages that reflect those realities? “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Astrid Garcia, Lee vice president of human resources and legal said Tuesday. That’s the only explanation we’ve received.

We have made several concessions and are tired of this dismissive behavior at the table. As we await the company’s response to our most recent wage proposal, support us by writing to The Daily News and Lee Enterprises leadership.

Dear reader, The staff of The Daily News has been at the bargaining table for eight months with Lee Enterprises, working to secure a first contract that will recognize and reward our journalists for the tiring work they perform every day. Among our demands is a commitment to equitable living wages t...

12/14/2021

Happy Tuesday, Longview. We’re back at the bargaining table after Lee Enterprises gave us a shockingly inadequate wage proposal at last week’s session, and we need your help by signing this petition.

We offered Lee a thoughtful wage proposal that included step increases for years of experience, as well as cost of living increases. Our proposal did not ask for the moon. It was a reasonable scale, taking into account the growing cost of living in our city.

The company struck through our entire wage proposal and gave us back essentially a single sentence: Minimum wages are $16.69 an hour and we’re "not inclined" to give yearly raises.

That’s the current wage rate at The Daily News for most members of staff, even those who have been with the company for years. The proposal made no acknowledgement of time with the company, nor did it include cost of living increases, which all of us are feeling more than ever.

When other jobs are advertising a $17 or $18 starting wage with no experience, consistent hours and yearly increases, nothing but passion is keeping TDN’s reporters at their desks. But passion doesn’t pay the bills.

We’re calling on Lee to meet us at the table with a sincere counter and recognize our worth, and hope you’ll join us in doing the same.

The journalists of The Daily News in Longview, Washington, deserve better than Lee Enterprises' last wage proposal. The company must commit to sustainable pay for its staff.

12/09/2021

Great news -- today, Lee's board of directors rejected vulture hedge fund Alden's offer to buy the company.

"After careful consideration with its financial and legal advisors, Lee’s Board determined that Alden’s proposal grossly undervalues Lee and is not in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders," the press release said.

Thank you so much to our community and our union brothers and sisters who helped us fight this. We know we have to keep on guard against future offers and keep fighting for a fair contract, but for now, we've turned back Alden.

Full press release:

The Investor Relations website contains information about Lee Enterprises, Inc.'s business for stockholders, potential investors, and financial analysts.

12/08/2021

Why should Lee Enterprises ?

Because Alden’s primary financial backer is a secretive private equity firm named after the three-headed guard dog for the gates of the underworld.

Contact the Lee Board of Directors at https://investors.lee.net/ir-resources/contact-ir and tell them to reject this and any future offers.

11/23/2021

Lee Enterprises, which owns The Daily News, received an unsolicited offer yesterday from a vulture hedge fund. Alden Global Capital wants to buy Lee, and that would be disastrous for Longview. Alden is notorious for slashing staff, gutting newsrooms and leaving communities without newspapers. We cannot let this happen here. Lee Enterprises, we are calling on you to reject this offer. To our community, now is the time to let Lee know that we value people over profit and local news over lining shareholder pockets. Say no to Alden.

Contact the Lee Board of Directors at https://investors.lee.net/ir-resources/contact-ir.
A list of the board: https://investors.lee.net/corporate-governance/board-of-directors

07/08/2021

Our first day of bargaining went smoothly! We presented a lot of new language and are mostly waiting for counter-proposals at our next session in two weeks. Lee came to the table ready to listen and we're hopeful that they will continue that positive start, to agree with us on a strong contract that will improve the newsroom, paper and community. Thank you for the overwhelming community support -- it's making a difference!

07/06/2021

This morning, we start bargaining! We're looking forward to creating a better, stronger newsroom. We'll be posting updates over the next few days -- thank you for your support as we enter this next stage!