Employees of The Dallas (Texas) Morning News and its sister publication Al Día have asked A.H. Belo Co. to recognize the Dallas News Guild as a unit of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America. The guild would cover more than 100 journalists across all departments of the newsroom.
The guild’s website lists 72 reporters, photographers, researchers, designers and copy editors as backing the union drive.
Organizers with the union requested voluntary recognition from A.H. Belo, The News’ parent company, Monday morning. Recognizing the union would set the stage for contract negotiations between A.H. Belo and the newsroom staff to begin.
“We are taking the letter under advisement,” Publisher Grant Moise said. “It’s our privilege to provide a world-class news report to the people of North Texas and we will continue to do so.”
A statement issued by union organizers expressed dissatisfaction with employee struggles for pay equity and said young talent "have no clear path forward." They cited what they called “no-raise promotions, increased work without increased pay and staffing that has been cut to the bone.”
