Press Release
September 12, 2024Contact: anchoragenewsguild@gmail.com
Anchorage Daily News management declines to grant voluntary recognition of Anchorage News Guild
ANCHORAGE — Anchorage Daily News owner Ryan Binkley declined Thursday to grant the Anchorage News Guild voluntary recognition, two days after newsroom employees announced they were forming a union.
In a letter to ADN newsroom employees, Binkley wrote that "employees should have an opportunity to decide whether they wish to be represented by the Anchorage News Guild in a free and fair secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB."
Sixteen out of 20 newsroom employees eligible for union representation have already publicly said they support the formation of a union and representation by the Anchorage News Guild. All 16 have signed our mission statement and submitted signed union cards to the NLRB.
Members of the Anchorage News Guild are seeking voluntary recognition in order to begin as soon as possible negotiating a fair contract that will guarantee a sustainable, respectful workplace for members.
The decision by ADN management not to grant voluntary recognition of the Anchorage News Guild delays the beginning of contract negotiations that newsroom employees have said are critical to guarantee equitable, sustainable wages moving forward. Their decision fails to honor the voices of the hard-working staff of the ADN newsroom.
Members of the Anchorage News Guild are confident they will prevail in a vote governed by the National Labor Relations Board. They will continue asking for voluntary recognition.
ADN management has hired an attorney from the law firm Littler Mendelson, which is a notoriously anti-union law firm. The time and money being spent on Littler Mendelson and a ballot election could be better spent investing in our newsroom, like providing long-overdue raises for our staff, and investing in our community.
The community can show their support for the newsroom's efforts by signing a petition to urge leadership to grant voluntary recognition.
About the Anchorage News Guild: By forming the Anchorage News Guild, the newsroom staff at ADN aim to advocate for fair wages, increased transparency and a sustainable workplace environment. Roughly 80% of the newsroom staff at ADN are publicly in support of joining The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents more than 25,000 media professionals across the country.
ANCHORAGE — The journalists and news staff at Anchorage Daily News took a major step Tuesday toward forming a union. Organizers filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board and have requested voluntary recognition from leadership at ADN. By forming the Anchorage News Guild, the newsroom staff at ADN aim to advocate for fair wages, increased transparency and a sustainable workplace environment. Roughly 80% of the newsroom staff at ADN are publicly in support of joining The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents more than 25,000 media professionals from publications including The Seattle Times, The New York Times, The Associated Press and many others. Press Release
September 10, 2024
The unionization effort at ADN is part of a larger surge in organizing throughout the industry and the Anchorage News Guild will be the only newsroom in the state to currently have a union.
Collectively, members of ADN's unionization effort say they love working for the paper and feel honored to produce the award-winning journalism Anchorage deserves. They say they are unionizing to ensure they can continue to tell the stories of their community for decades to come.
The community can show their support for the newsroom's efforts by signing a petition at https://bit.ly/supportANG to urge leadership to grant voluntary recognition.
To learn more please visit anchoragenewsguild.com.
To schedule an interview please contact us at anchoragenewsguild@gmail.com and we will respond promptly.