News Guild of Maine Holds Action for Fair Contract with Maine Trust for Local News

Andy O’Brien

04 May, 2026

PHOTO: Maine Trust for Local News staff hold demonstration for a fair contract.

Last Wednesday, members of the News Guild of Maine (CWA 31128) put on matching union shirts and formed a gauntlet for management at the Maine Trust for Local News (METLN) to walk through prior to a day of contract bargaining in South Portland. The newspaper workers are in the middle of difficult negotiations for a new contract with the Maine Trust for Local News. The union is asking for raises to keep up with the soaring cost of living, but management has stubbornly refused to budge. The company is also demanding concessions, including a proposal to take away five paid days off for every employee.

Last month, the workers held solidarity lunches at offices in Lewiston, South Portland and Waterville. Union members posted their priorities for the new contract in sticky notes on the wall. Their priorities included:

Better communication and more respect from higher-ups
Pay scale that has a longevity component
Better transparency from the company
A wage that allows workers to afford living in Maine
A contract that shows employees they are valued
Pay equity for reporters across the company
Benefits that don’t amount to a pay cut
Actions that match the “One Company” messaging

“Together we considered what we each need to picture our future at METLN,” the union wrote in a statement. “We all want to see a future at this company. Through bargaining, we hope to make these futures visible.”

In 2023, the National Trust for Local News purchased the largest network of daily and weekly newspapers in Maine, including the Press Herald, the Sun Journal in Lewiston, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, the Times Record in Brunswick and 17 weekly papers in southern and western Maine to form the Maine Trust for Local News. Last year, 150 union members at the Press Herald, Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal made the move to merge together in the News Guild of Maine. In August, 2025, 50 reporters, photographers, copy editors, designers, advertising representatives and business staff at the Sun Journal and the Times Record, as well as the other weekly newspapers and newsletters in the Maine Trust for Local News also joined the New Guild of Maine.