“We are taking this strike one day at a time, so the sooner we get to the bargaining table, the better,” he says. 8, but Windes said he would like to see that meeting moved up. McClatchy and the guild have a meeting scheduled for Dec. Star-Telegram president and editor, Steve Coffman, said in an email to Fort Worth Magazine: “We continue to bargain in good faith and look forward to reaching an agreement.” This is just one of several complaints against the California-based company regarding alleged unfair labor practices. In fact, the Fort Worth NewsGuild filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in August, stating that McClatchy violated federal labor law by refusing to negotiate fairly. “What makes this situation worse is that McClatchy hasn’t really responded to our proposed articles to try and fix these issues.”Īccording to Windes, McClatchy has shown a pattern of unfair bargaining practices when it comes to the union’s requests. “This is my second gig as a writer out of college, and I could barely make ends meet with the pay,” says Isaac Windes, a Star-Telegram reporter and President of the Fort Worth NewsGuild. Critics say financial firms are not appropriate administrators of news organizations, particularly those who document the work of commerce and finance as watchdogs. The deal was part of a trend in the industry in which more and more troubled news assets were finding homes under the umbrellas of investment companies. The Star-Telegram, which once employed more than 1,400, is shell of that today. McClatchy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after more than a decade of losses and cutbacks, which included rounds of layoffs. In 2020, McClatchy sold to Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey hedge fund in a deal, valued at $312 million, worked out in bankruptcy court. “I’ve baby sat dog sat … I even donated plasma, all while still working full-time as a journalist during the day.”īolden’s experience is just one of many that exemplifies why a majority of the journalists at the Star-Telegram are making the news instead of reporting it. “I’ve done a lot of things to try and keep above board or to make ends meet,” she says. “When I came back from that week, I basically wasn’t able to pay bills.”īolden said she asked the publication for financial help but was given a list of local charities instead. “My struggles started in 2018 when I had a medical issue, and I was unable to work for a week,” Bolden says. Wednesday marked the third day of the strike, which took place in a two block radius around the Crockett Row of West 7th. However, McClatchy, a publishing company that operates more than two dozen other daily newspapers across the U.S., hasn’t agreed to any of these asks, which didn’t sit well with 91% of NewsGuild’s voting members. On the table: higher salaries, sick leave, and layoffs and severance packages. The people Bolden are marching with are members of the Fort Worth NewsGuild, a union that has been in negotiations with Star Telegram’s parent, McClatchy, for two years. Flash-forward six years, and that is exactly where Bolden - along with several of her co-workers - found themselves in an attempt to receive better wages and benefits. When Fort Worth Star-Telegram video producer, Candi Bolden, first started working as a journalist in 2017, she never thought she would be part of a union strike.
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