UNION VOTE AT L. A. TIMES

Journalists in the Los Angeles Times newsroom began voting Thursday to decide whether to form a labor union.

Employees at the country’s fourth- largest newspaper are seeking regular raises, better parental leave policies, equal pay, just- cause firing protections and improved severance packages, as well as a “fair shake from management,” according to a message on the L. A. Times Guild website.

The 136- year- old L. A. Times is owned by Chicagobased Tronc Inc., which also owns the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and Baltimore Sun among other publications.

Executives for Tronc — whose chairman, Michael Ferro, previously chaired a group that owned the Chicago Sun- Times — have strongly discouraged unionization.

“The Company urges every individual in the LA Times newsroom to get out and vote,” Tronc spokeswoman Marisa Kollias wrote in an email. “We believe that by working together, rather than through a third party, we can build on the LA Times heritage and trust with readers.”

In their call to unionize, the L. A. Times Guild cited ballooning executive salaries, including a $ 15 million consulting contract that Tronc approved for one of Ferro’s other firms.

A simple majority is required of the 380 employees who would be represented by the union, according to the New York Times, which reported that vote results will be announced on Jan. 19.