Staff at the Sun Journal, Times Record & Other News Outlets Vote to Join the News Guild of Maine

Nearly 50 Maine Trust for Local News workers won their election Monday to form a union with the News Guild of Maine Local 31128 of the News Guild-Communications Workers of America. The union won a landslide victory of 34-1 out of 49 eligible votes. The newest members of the News Guild of Maine include reporters, photographers, copy editors, designers, advertising representatives and business staff at the Sun Journal in Lewiston and the Times Record in Brunswick, as well as the weekly newspapers and newsletters in southern and western Maine. The News Guild of Maine is now more than 200 strong!

"Today's vote count confirms what we already knew: Our coworkers want to join the News Guild of Maine," said Megan Gray, an arts and culture reporter at the Portland Press Herald and the President of the News Guild of Maine. "They want to have the same voice and the same bargaining power as their peers across the company. Today, they won those rights in a landslide. We look forward to negotiating a contract that isn't rooted in old models but reflects who we are today. We will work together to address the longstanding pay disparities that exist across our publications and to generally increase wages for those working in journalism in Maine. The Maine Trust for Local News puts a spotlight on the issues that matter most to the people in our state. Under nonprofit ownership, we are building a business model that could be a roadmap to sustainability for local news organizations across the country. We are here because we are invested in that future. But we need the Maine Trust to invest in ours too."

Two years ago, the National Trust for Local News purchased the largest network of daily and weekly newspapers in Maine. More than 150 workers at this news organization were already represented by a union. The News Guild of Maine already included all workers at the Portland Press Herald, as well as the newsroom of the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. The newsroom at the Kennebec Journal in Augusta is also unionized as Local 14115 under the Communication Workers of America and in the process of merging with the News Guild of Maine.

But many employees were still excluded from the protections of collective bargaining agreements, even though they are part of the same company under common ownership. That means that they see staggering pay disparity and are more vulnerable to layoffs. On August 19, unrepresented workers filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to join the News Guild of Maine, Local 31128 of the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America. They called on the company to voluntarily recognize their expanded union that will represent all workers at the Maine Trust for Local News, but the organization opted not to so an official NLRB election was held.