Washington, D.C. — The award-winning newsroom staff of POLITICO and E&E News took a major step Friday toward giving a voice in the workplace to more than 250 journalists who dedicate each day to informing Americans on the inner workings of their democratic system.
More than 80 percent of the collective POLITICO and E&E reporters, producers, copy editors, page designers, audio engineers, videographers and more have signed cards and a mission statement indicating their intent to form The PEN Guild, which will become part of The NewsGuild-CWA. “PEN Guild” stands for Politico and E&E News Guild.
The PEN Guild formally requested on Friday that the owners of POLITICO and E&E News — Axel Springer — voluntarily recognize the union, and submitted cards from newsroom employees to the National Labor Review Board calling for an election if Axel Springer does not do so.
When our union is certified, PEN Guild will begin negotiating with Axel Springer on a labor contract.
The PEN Guild’s broad support includes members from every department, reporting team and medium within the newsroom, and spans from recent college graduates to long-tenured newsroom stalwarts with decades of journalism experience. They all believe that the newsroom employees of POLITICO and E&E News deserve to have a voice in decisions that affect us all.
The PEN Guild seeks equitable pay, a diverse and inclusive workplace and job protections for everyone — which we believe will make the newsrooms of POLITICO and E&E places where we are able to do our best work possible.
Read our mission statement here.
About The NewsGuild-CWA:
The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 25,000 journalists and other media workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico at publications and digital sites that include The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The Indianapolis Star and Consumer Reports. The Newspaper Guild was founded by journalists in 1933 and merged with the Communications Workers of America in 1995. The CWA is one of America’s largest and most diverse unions, including workers in the communications and information industries, broadcast and cable television, airlines, public service, higher education, health care, manufacturing, high tech and more.
Contact:
Politicoeenewsguild@gmail.com