To the ProPublica Board: It’s Time to Help Us Push for a Fair Contract

After 27 months of negotiations, it is well past time that ProPublica’s management agrees to the fair contract our union members deserve.

Last week, with 99% of the unit voting, 92% voted to authorize a strike to fight for that contract. We wrote to ProPublica’s board of directors to ask them to join us in our unified demand for ProPublica’s  management to get serious and get this contract done.

In the letter, we outlined the unacceptable positions management has staked out on job security, wage increases, layoffs and artificial intelligence. It’s the board’s responsibility to look out for the long-term strength of the newsroom, so we’re calling on them to instruct management to do the right thing.

You can read the full letter we sent to ProPublica’s board below:

Dear members of the ProPublica board:

ProPublica journalists, copy editors, fundraisers, producers and other workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Some 99% of our union members participated in last week’s vote, with 92% voting in favor.

We hope these results show you and ProPublica’s leadership that our staff is unified in our desire to reach an agreement that is fair, and one that all of us can be proud of. Negotiations have dragged on for far too long, bringing down morale and creating internal fissures that will take time to heal. Like you, we care deeply about this organization, the people who work here and the journalism we all help produce.

 We do not want to go on strike. But at this stage, we don’t believe we have another choice. Since we wrote to you last fall with concerns about management’s positions – and the reputational harm they are causing ProPublica – management has, again and again, refused to make real movement toward us.

We have offered to make serious concessions in exchange for compromise on protections that our members deserve. But management has refused to agree to basic job security language, including standard Just Cause protections and seniority provisions in layoffs. They’ve rejected any restrictions on replacing jobs with AI, and they’ve denied us a wage scale that keeps up with inflation.

We are again urging you to use your voices as board members to help us reach a reasonable and fair agreement that works for all of us and upholds ProPublica’s values. Our leadership needs to hear from you that their unwillingness to compromise is endangering the important work that we do.

If any member of the board would like to learn more about these negotiations, please respond to this email, and a member of our bargaining team would be happy to discuss this further.

Thank you,

ProPublica Guild Unit Council