Maine Monitor Staff Form Union with News Guild (CWA)

The Maine Monitor Union has organized and received voluntary recognition! The Maine Monitor Union recently joined the NewsGuild of Maine, Local 31128 of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America. The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting (MCPIR), the nonprofit that publishes The Maine Monitor, announced Tuesday it will voluntarily recognize The Maine Monitor Union.

This comes after members of the Union met with senior leadership on Monday to inform them of their intention to unionize. According to a statement from MCPIR executive director Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, the Board convened shortly thereafter and unanimously voted to voluntarily recognize the Union.

“We are thrilled that senior leadership and the MCPIR Board chose to voluntarily recognize our union,” said health care and general assignment reporter Emily Bader. “This is a great step forward in fulfilling our mission and we look forward to working with management in the weeks and months to come.”  The Board’s decision was published on The Maine Monitor’s website Tuesday morning immediately following the Union’s announcement.

“The leadership and board of directors of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting confirmed the importance of preserving thoughtful collaboration with our employees,” Schweitzer-Bluhm said in her statement. “The next steps will follow a well-defined legal process. While this process is underway, everyone at The Maine Monitor remains fully focused on our work of delivering insightful public interest reporting on the issues impacting Maine and keeping it free for all to access and use.”

The Maine Monitor staff are unionizing to better fulfill The Monitor’s mission to deliver high-quality, nonpartisan investigative and explanatory journalism by ensuring equitable employment terms that attract and retain top talent. With voluntary recognition, they can now focus on bargaining for our first contract.

Follow the Maine Monitor Union on Instagram: @TMMUnion.