Sentinel newsroom employees OK union
The Orlando Sentinel newsroom is officially unionized after employees overwhelmingly approved the creation of the Orlando Sentinel Guild.
In a union certification election delayed due to the coronavirus, eligible employees of the Orlando Sentinel, El Sentinel, GrowthSpotter and Pro Soccer USA voted 36-8, or 81%, to authorize the union. The result was announced Tuesday.
The vote paves the way for the guild to become a bargaining unit with Chicagobased Tribune Publishing under the greater NewsGuild-CWA, the country’s largest news industry union.
“We’re in a period of unprecedented chaos but this much is now certain: The journalists of the Orlando Sentinel will have a voice in deciding the strategic future of our company,” said Jason Garcia, a 14-year reporter at the Sentinel in his second stint with the paper, in a guild statement.
“I’m so proud of my friends, colleagues and fellow journalists,” Garcia said. “We — and local journalism in Central Florida — have grown stronger today.”
In a statement, Sentinel publisher Nancy Meyer, editor-in-chief Julie Anderson, and managing editor Roger Simmons said they “have and will continue to respect our employees’ decision and will work in good faith moving forward.”
“We thank all of you for listening and being respectful throughout the process,” they added. “As always our goal is to maintain a local, thriving newsroom and together we will continue this mission.”
Employees first announced their intention to create a union on Feb. 25, with the guild stressing in its letter to management that their concerns were not with local leadership. The move was partially a response to issues stemming from hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s purchase of more than a third of Tribune stock at the end of last year, spokesman Cristóbal Reyes had said.
Tribune declined to voluntarily recognize the guild and a union certification election was originally scheduled for March 25. The National Labor Relations Board postponed all union elections due to the coronavirus pandemic, and an entirely mail-in election was later conducted.
The election came as Tribune announced three weeks of furloughs for employees making less than $67,000 due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Permanent pay cuts between 2% and 10% for employees making more than $67,000 had been announced a few weeks earlier.
The Sentinel was the fifth Florida newsroom this year to announce plans to organize a union, following employees at the Palm Beach Post, Naples Daily News, the Fort Myers News-Press, and the Palm Beach Daily News. Union certification elections have not yet been held at those newsrooms.