Journalists of the Los Angeles Times are committed to shining a light on injustice, exposing wrongdoing, and seeking the facts. We speak truth to power, regardless of which party is in power.
Open letter from L.A. Times staff
Statement on the L.A. Times' decision not to issue a presidential endorsement
Open letter to L.A. Times management on proposed layoffs
Dear newsroom leaders,
Since the Los Angeles Times Guild started negotiating our new contract in September, our bargaining committee has met with management representatives more than two dozen times. Executive editor Kevin Merida has attended twice. No managing editor, deputy managing editor or section editor has ever participated.
Now, the company has blindsided us with proposed layoffs — which we will begin bargaining over today — and Kevin Merida and newsroom leadership initially only planned to speak with us on Monday, five long days after announcing their intention to upend many of our lives. This is deeply insulting.
We would have been willing to discuss alternatives to layoffs had your representatives at the bargaining table broached the issue at any point in the last nine months. In fact, the Guild has a track record of finding solutions to newsroom budget problems. In the depths of the pandemic financial crisis in 2020, Guild leadership proposed an innovative work-sharing plan to Times management that averted 84 newsroom layoffs.
Instead, the company surprised us with this proposed layoff. We deserve better. The livelihoods of dozens of our colleagues are now on the line. Nothing could be more important for our day-to-day well-being and our professional futures at The Times.
Your handling of this proposed layoff sends a clear message to the newsroom: You don’t care about the contract, and you don’t care about us.
This layoff proposal comes after months of little progress in contract talks. The company’s representatives may be reluctant to discuss what’s happening at the bargaining table, but we’re not. Hundreds of Guild members have observed the negotiations, and the problem is clear. No one representing management is actually in charge.
Most of the team selected to represent you — a lawyer in San Francisco, representatives from HR — aren't journalists. Those representatives don't know the newsroom. They don’t even know which issues are worth fighting for. For example, our bargaining committee was forced to spend several sessions discussing limitations around desk decor, specifically what procedures we should follow if we wanted to bring in birthday balloons for a colleague.
We know it’s tempting to think that, because contract negotiations can be complicated, it’s better to stay out of it and let the company’s lawyer do her work.
But in your absence, your representatives have resorted to intimidation tactics to try to keep us from observing our contract talks. We've filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board because, as journalists, we stand for openness and transparency. We expect the same of our company. What are you afraid that we’ll see? The fact that nothing is getting done?
Our contract expired more than six months ago. No journalist would ever treat a deadline in such a cavalier manner. Now, you have proposed a reduction in staff with no warning or discussion. It’s difficult to imagine an issue more urgent. We expect to see meaningful movement, and soon. We are tired of waiting.
We're willing to do whatever it takes to win the contract that this newsroom deserves. You should be too. Starting now, we need to see a senior newsroom leader at every bargaining session — not just observing, but participating. Show us that you want to make progress. Show us that you care.
In solidarity,
Matt Pearce
Jeanette Marantos
Gabriel San Roman
Julia Wick
Brian Contreras
Jaclyn Cosgrove
Jay L. Clendenin
Sam Dean
Denise Guerra
Mary Kate Metivier
Andrew Turner
Carlos Santana
Laura Nelson
Mark E. Potts
Gale Holland
Alison Dingeldein
Phil Willon
Lauren Raab
Nicole Vas
Jared Servantez
Jad El Reda
Isabelle D’Antonio
Glenn Whipp
Mackenzie Mays
Adam Tschorn
Hugo Martin
Courtney Lewis
Carolyn Cole
Georgia Geen
Tracy Brown
Leslie Cory
Connor Sheets
Robert Gauthier
Lee Rogers
Calvin B. Alagot
Paula Mejía
Maret Orliss
Victor Barajas
Eduard Cauich
Kenan Draughorne
Marisa Gerber
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
An Amlotte
Sonja Sharp
Alexandra E Petri
Sean Greene
Debbie Truong
Lisa Horowitz
Nathan Fenno
David R. Campbell
Brittny Mejia
Anne Elisabeth Dillon
Andrew Khouri
Jerome Adamstein
Andrea Castillo
Yvonne Villarreal
Marina Watanabe
Angie Jaime
Tom Carroll
Taryn Luna
Alison Sneag
Jeong Park
Jim Buzinski
Vanessa Martínez
Jenny Jarvie
Patrick Hruby
Ben Oreskes
Ada Tseng
Jack Dolan
Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Elsa Luna Jones
Ross May
Katie Licari
Dania Maxwell
Kiera Feldman
Kenya Romero
Iris Lee
Lorraine Ali
Jaweed Kaleem
Ben Bolch
Danielle Dorsey
Agnus Dei Farrant
Kasia Broussalian
Jess Hutchison
Angela Jamison
Jim Barrero
Matt Hamilton
Crystal Villarreal
Tyrone Beason
Ben Brazil
Ben Mims
Carla Hall
Ryan Kartje
Ashlea Brown
Scott Smeltzer
Vincent Nguyen
Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee
Javier Calle
elena villanueva
Karin Klein
Denise Florez
Julie Giuffrida
Jie Jenny Zou
Valerie Hood
Brian Merchant
Gustavo Arellano
Craig Marks
Amy Kaufman
August Brown
Stephanie Breijo
P.K. Daniel
Soudi Jiménez
Sammy Roth
Todd Martens
David Zahniser
Selene Rivera
Rachel Schnalzer
Marisa Martinez
Joshua Letona
Paloma Esquivel
David Viramontes
Nicholas Ducassi
Carlos De Loera
Alex Wigglesworth
Doug Smith
Marissa Evans
Colleen Shalby
Gillian Glover
Joseph Binoya
Bill Shaikin
David Lewis
Christi Carras
Sandhya Kambhampati
Samantha Masunaga
Jackie Calmes
Elena Gooray
Dwayne Rogers
Erika D. Smith
Suhauna Hussain
Summer Lin
Asal Ehsanipour
Helen Li
Jennifer Arcand
Mark Olsen
Abhinanda Bhattacharyya
Jason Sanchez
Kerry Cavanaugh
David Toledo
Jack Flemming
Nafeesa Syeed
Mike DiGiovanna
Arit John
Matthew Cooper
Eric Terrazas
Nunzio Ingrassia
Dawn Burkes
Corinne Purtill
Lila Seidman
Hailey Branson-Potts
Brandon Choe
Alexandra Del Rosario
Javier Panzar
Jessica Garrison
Yadira Flores
Myung Chun
Jason Armond
Thomas Curwen
Jonah Valdez
Steve Eames
Deborah Netburn
Hamlet Nalbandyan
Brian van der Brug
Karen Kaplan
Christopher Knight
Christian Martinez
Eric Licas
Robert Greene
Phi Do
Jim Rainey
Julia Carmel
Suzy Exposito
Jessica Roy
Kevin Ueda
Doug Norwood
Gina Ferazzi
Robert Lloyd
Eduardo Gonzalez
Christian Orozco
Melanie Mason
Maneeza Iqbal
Chris Price
Liam Dillon
Deborah Vankin
Josh Rottenberg
Laura Newberry
Wendy Lee
Allen Schaben
Matt Szabo
Paul Ybarrondo
Nardine Saad
George Skelton
Jessica Gelt
Emily Alpert Reyes
Greg Braxton
Priscella Vega
Greg Diaz
Paul Duginski
Paul Thornton
Daniel Miller
Matt Wilhalme
Angeline Woo
Justin Chang
Albert Lee
Frank Shyong
Noah Bierman
Sarah Mosqueda
Laura Schinagle
Parisa Hajizadeh-Amini
Alexander Higgins
Carolina Miranda
Jessica Martinez
Michael Finnegan
Ben Poston
Steve Lopez
Kelly Corrigan
Sarah Valenzuela
Lucas Kwan Peterson
Doyle McManus
Ashley Lee
Melissa Gomez
Brady McCollough
Jenn Harris
Bill Addison
Dakota Smith
Anita Chabria
Steve Henson
Evita Timmons
Ed Stockly
Genaro Molina
Laura Blasey
Sonaiya Kelley
Tony Barboza
Jamil Smith
Cody Long
Amy Wong
Nicolas Perez
Dorany Pineda
Elsie Ramos
Robert J. Lopez
Nick Leyva
Rachel Uranga
Matt Ormseth
Christie D’Zurilla
Hayley Smith
Jose S. Mancia
Jeff Amlotte
Salvador Hernandez
David Carrillo Peñaloza
Lisa Boone
Karen Garcia
Kevin Leung
Kevinisha Walker
James Queally
R. Marina Levario
Sergio Burstein
Seema Mehta
Katie Antonsson
Raul Roa
Rebecca Ellis
Mel Melcon
Mark Z Barabak
Christopher Reynolds
Rachel Dunn
Faith E. Pinho
Kay Scanlon
Dan Woike
Keri Blakinger
Steven Vargas
Charles McNulty
Jeremy Childs
Grace Toohey
Libor Jany
Sara Cardine
Melody Gutierrez
Roger Vincent
Christina House
Jessica Q. Chen
Tony Briscoe
Paul Feldman
David Santillan
Noah Goldberg
Cindy Carcamo
Teresa Watanabe
Reed Johnson
Jack Herrera
Brennon Dixson
Emily St. Martin
Taylor Arthur
Don Ragland
Ian James
Hamed Aleaziz
Susanne Rust
Andrew J. Campa
Curtis Zupke
Diana Shantic
Kate Sequeira
Vanessa Franko
Joe Mozingo
Lorena Elebee
Joy Park
Gerard Lim
Paul Pringle
Robin Abcarian
Julissa James
Gary Coronado
Hannah Wiley
Sue Worrell
Jessica Perez
Elvia Limón
Kevin Crust
Jen Yamato
Andrea Chang
Andre Vergara
Liv Paggiarino
Judy Pryor
Mariah Tauger
Paige St John
Carolyn Horwitz
Adam Elmahrek
Andrew Greif
Kevin Rector
Eric Sondheimer
Rubaina Azhar
Laurence Darmiento
Vanessa Arredondo
Hannah Fry
Meredith Blake
Nathan Solis
David Wharton
Scott Wilson
Jean Guerrero
Jan Molen
Lynn Meersman
Katrina Ten
Kevin Baxter
Wally Skalij
John P. Scheibe
Jim Brooks
Rong-Gong Lin II
Dave Bowman
Jaimie Ding
Alene Tchekmedyian
Russ Mitchell
Jevon Phillips
Shani Escalona
Dave Bennett
Mark Swed
Laura King
Michael Ottey
Aida Ylanan
Erin B. Logan
Sarah D. Wire
Mary McNamara
Jorge Castillo
Kailyn Brown
Luke Money
Michael Ordoña
Broderick Turner
Ameera Butt
Richard Winton
J.R. Lizarraga
Don Lee
Courtney Subramanian
Thomas Suh Lauder
Charles Schilken
Jason Neubert
Lara Hochuli
Kent Nishimura
Ryan Fonseca
Lilly Nguyen
Astrid Kayembe
Statement from LAT Guild Unit Council on proposed layoffs
Press contact: Reed Johnson, LAT Guild Unit Council Chair
unit-council@latguild.com
We are outraged by management's announcement this morning that it plans to lay off 57 Guild members across several departments, amounting to roughly 15% of our entire newsroom membership, including several Guild leaders.
This list of targeted layoffs is not final. Under our contract, management is required to bargain with the Guild over proposed layoffs. Management also so far has failed to offer buyouts to staff as is required by our contract.
We were blindsided by this news. Management did not consult us in advance about other options for cutting costs and saving money, short of layoffs. We have been bargaining a new contract since September, and this was never hinted at during bargaining.
This is a case study in bad faith and shows disrespect for the newsroom, which recently added two more Pulitzer Prizes to its long list of awards and recognition for its top-shelf work.
The Guild is pushing back against this outrageous and reckless action by management. The company must discuss alternatives to their unnecessary and short-sighted decision.
Latino Caucus Student Open House
The Los Angeles Times Guild’s Latino Caucus and the Washington Post Guild Latino Caucus are joining forces to co-host a bicoastal student open house on Saturday, November 13, 2021, from 10:30 AM to 2 PM PST.
How do you get into the business? What is a journalist’s day-to-day? How is the profession evolving? What are the critical issues facing Latino journalists in today’s newsrooms?
Writers, reporters, columnists and editors from The Times and the Post will be on hand for sessions devoted to exploring these issues, as well as the specifics of covering sports, politics, immigration, audience engagement and much more!
To register, go to bit.ly/LatinoOpenHouse
View our panelist schedule here.
¡Y nos vemos on November 13!
L.A. Times Guild members found AAPI Caucus
The L.A. Times staff includes more than 80 journalists with roots in Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Middle East and North Africa. We are coming together as the AAPI Caucus of the L.A. Times Guild. Here is our mission statement:
To: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong
Cc: Kevin Merida
We’re proud to work for the Los Angeles Times, a publication with the largest representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of any major newsroom in America — from our owner and masthead leaders, to editors, reporters, columnists, podcast hosts and assistants.
But we must aim higher if we are to succeed as a modern news organization.
Many AAPI staff members have come together in recent months in the wake of the Atlanta shootings to talk about our shared interests and ideas for improving our company. These are some of our main broad goals:
Solidarity: We stand in solidarity with the Black and Latino caucuses, which inspired us with their calls for necessary change, and want to collaborate with them on shared goals of correcting The Times’ past shortfalls, such as fanning the flames of racism, with improved equity and better coverage of communities of color.
Coverage: We call on The Times to invest in producing the nation’s best coverage of our diverse and complex AAPI communities. At a time when the "othering" of our communities has contributed to the rise in anti-Asian racism and violence, we need coverage of Asian Americans that is accurate, nuanced, comprehensive and fair more than ever. We also want the newsroom to strengthen coverage of the Pacific Rim, as our large diaspora communities continue to share deep bonds with their homelands. These are first and foremost civic responsibilities but they are also smart business strategies, as AAPIs are the fastest growing racial group in America who make up 15% of both the Greater Los Angeles area and California more broadly.
Representation: We want to help create a diverse and inclusive newsroom, staffed by more people with the critical language skills and the cultural understanding needed to cover our complex communities. AAPIs are composed of more than 50 ethnic groups with different languages, cultures, religions and histories in the United States, including those with roots in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands.
Community: We aim to build stronger bonds with our AAPI communities to understand their collective needs and develop trust, relevance and credibility so we can improve our coverage and better serve them.
Connection: We also want to create a support network for our AAPI staffers so we may build deeper connections with each other across departments, strengthen our collective voice and help advance our career aspirations through mentorship and retention activities.
To help accomplish these goals, we established the Los Angeles Times AAPI Caucus in November 2021.
We hope you share our goals and will commit to working with us on specific strategies to accomplish them.
Sincerely,
Teresa Watanabe
Shannon Lin
Ada Tseng
Seema Mehta
Aida Ylanan
Szu Yu Chen
David Pierson
Frank Shyong
Don Lee
Maneeza Iqbal
Samantha Masunaga
Jaweed Kaleem
Albert Lee
Ashley Lee
Jessica Chen
Phi Do
Michael Ordoña
James Kim
Justin Chang
Adrienne Shih
Richard Martin
Irfan Khan
Anh Do
Wendy Lee
Victoria Kim
Andrea Chang
Kevin Leung
Iris Lee
Sandhya Kambhampati
Kevin Ueda
Jie Jenny Zou
Jenn Harris
Suhauna Hussain
Rubaina Azhar
Kent Nishimura
Rosanna Xia
Amy Wong
Ken Kwok
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
Kelvin Kuo
Rahul Mukherjee
Lilly Nguyen
Cindy Chang
Denise Guerra
Asal Ehsanipour
Lucas Kwan Peterson
Calvin B. Alagot
Rong-Gong Lin II
Kay Lai Scanlon
Sarah Parvini
Christina House
Heba Elorbany
Alice Su
Ameera Butt
Adam Elmahrek
Dylan Hernandez
Thomas Suh Lauder
Katrina Ten
Gregory Yee
Alene Tchekmedyian
Matt Ormseth
Ashley Dunn
Nicole Vas
Calvin Hom
Robbin Nagatoshi-Goddard
Millie Quan
Taylor Le
Christian Stone
Craig Nakano
Gustavo Arellano
Erin B. Logan
Marissa Evans
Christian Orozco
Paloma Esquivel
Jevon Phillips
Arit John
Kurtis Lee
Priscella Vega
Jade Cuevas
Efrain Hernandez Jr.
Andrew J. Campa
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
Brian Contreras
Jared Servantez
Eduardo Gonzalez
Eduard Cauich
Soudi Jiménez
Karen Garcia
Gabriel San Roman
Jad El Reda
Carolina A. Miranda
Dania Maxwell
Erika D. Smith
Martina Ibanez-Baldor
Jessica Martinez
Nancy Rivera Brooks
R. Marina Levario
Lorena Elebee
Vanessa Martínez
Andrea Castillo
Daniel Hernandez
Carla Hall
Alex Tatusian
Carlos Lozano
Terry Tang
Henry Chu
This letter was signed by members of the AAPI Caucus of the L.A. Times Guild, other non-Guild AAPI staff of the L.A. Times, and members of the Guild’s Black Caucus and Latino Caucus in solidarity. Media Guild of the West’s Executive Committee unanimously voted to support this statement.
Latino journalists at the L.A. Times pen open letter for better newsroom representation
As a union, we support the efforts of our journalists in shaping a newsroom that is more reflective of the people we serve and the communities we cover. Despite being the largest demographic group in the State of California, Latinos at the Los Angeles Times remain chronically underrepresented in the newsroom. In an effort to advocate for better representation, The Times’ Latino employees have come together as the Latino Caucus under the L.A. Times Guild. They are sharing the following demands for change:
To: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong
Cc: Norman Pearlstine, Kimi Yoshino, Scott Kraft
For much of its history, the Los Angeles Times has covered the Latino community in dehumanizing ways, painting us as criminals or victims or simply ignoring us.
The Times slurred Mexicans as “greasers” and “wetbacks” and immigrants without legal status as “border jumpers” and “illegal aliens.” It advocated for the invasion of Latin American countries, and vilified Central Americans as they sought refuge in Los Angeles during the exodus of the 1980s.
Today The Times continues to fail, in its staffing and coverage, to reflect a region where nearly one of every two residents is Latino. In doing so it has neglected to serve what should be its largest audience.
For decades, we’ve asked management to hire more of us, promote us and make us editors. But those calls have largely gone unanswered. Today, only 13% of The Times newsroom is Latino. Of 109 editors and managers, only 11% of them are Latino. The Times has only ever had three Latino masthead editors.
Despite it all, The Times has a powerful history of achievement by Latino journalists.
The Times was the home of Ruben Salazar, who inspired a generation of Latino reporters. It is the newspaper that won Pulitzers for “Latinos” in 1984, “Enrique’s Journey” in 2003 and “Bell Corruption” in 2011. It is the newspaper that continues to publish numerous stories by Latino writers that resonate locally and nationally.
We believe The Times must be a newspaper where this type of coverage isn’t the exception, but rather our guiding light toward a better future. And we believe The Times can only survive if it becomes a news organization whose staff truly reflects the community it purports to serve.
The Latino Caucus was established in July 2020 to call for change. We did so inspired by our Black colleagues, who formed the L.A. Times Guild’s first Black Caucus and pushed open the doors of what is possible.
We are speaking up now because we want The Times to succeed. And we believe that in order for us to do so, our owner and management must act on the following demands.
1) We stand in solidarity with the Black Caucus and want continued commitment to their demands.
2) Stop treating Latinos as a minority group. The newspaper must center our stories — online, in images, podcasts and L.A. Times Studio projects. Latino subscribers are fundamental to our survival, and how we regard or disregard this demographic moving forward determines our journalistic relevance and market value.
3) Build a newsroom that reflects the demographics of L.A. County, where Latinos are nearly 50% of the population. To start, we ask for a pledge that you hire enough Latino journalists to, at a minimum, meet the county’s demographics halfway within a period of five years. (This should not include interns, Metpros or editorial assistants). Ensure that these hires won’t be tokenized or only expected to tell Latino stories. While we take pride in telling the stories of our community, we can report on others just like anyone else. Prioritize hiring Latinos to the following posts or departments, which currently list zero or only one permanent Latino staffer:
Campaign 2020
Courts / Police / Crime
Investigations
Latin America
National Desk
Washington D.C.
Food
4) Formally apologize for fomenting episodes of anti-Latino hysteria in California and the United States.
5) Correct pay disparities for Latinos and other journalists of color and women whose salaries, post-Guild contract, remain glaringly low compared to white counterparts.
6) Guarantee that at least two Latino Caucus members, in addition to Black journalists and other journalists of color, are kept informed about the creation of new jobs, the search for candidates and the vetting of finalists.
7) Create a path for Latinos on staff to grow into influential roles: columnists, critics, editors and managers. We ask that in the next five years, you hire enough Latino editors and managers to, at a minimum, meet the county’s demographics halfway. We request that our company nurture those at Times Community Newspapers and also in entry-level positions where Latinos are now better represented, such as Metpro and editorial assistants.
8) Establish a robust pipeline for Latino talent. Connect with and contribute to Latino journalism organizations such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California. We request that you build a database of Latino candidates recommended by staff; reach out to them and track their careers.
9) Guarantee that in the next three years, you will increase outreach and hiring from public university systems with large Latino student bodies, such as the Cal State University system, where Latinos make up 43% of the student population. In nearly a decade, The Times has hosted more than 250 interns and Metpro fellows. Only 4% of those spots have gone to students from Cal State universities.
10) Provide L.A. Times en Español the resources it needs to succeed as a key L.A. Times brand representing Southern California’s vast Spanish-speaking market. We ask that management meet with their team regularly, market their work, and elevate and respect their voice in our newsroom.
11) Institute employee reviews for management and hold managers accountable for their track records of recruiting and retaining Black, Latino and other journalists of color.
12) End the practice of relying on Spanish speakers and other multilingual journalists as translators without providing a byline or additional pay. Hire Spanish-speaking translators or compensate Latino journalists for taking on additional labor translating for monolingual colleagues.
13) Commit to adding more Latinos on The Times’ business side. Hire publicists, consultants, marketing specialists and salespeople who have an intimate sense of Los Angeles’ diverse Latino market.
14) Invest in having The Times brand present in Latino Los Angeles. Host food, music, sports and cultural events catering to Latino audiences. Highlight Latino Times writers, invite them to create conversations and town halls across Southern California.
Signed,
Tony Barboza
Dylan Hernandez
Maria Torres
Eduardo M. Gonzalez
Carolina A. Miranda
Tomás Mier
Brittny Mejia
Jorge Castillo
Jackeline Luna
Cindy Carcamo
Nancy Rivera Brooks
Esmeralda Bermudez
Gabriela Fernandez
Patricia Escárcega
Jessica Perez
Fidel Martinez
Paloma Esquivel
Andrew J. Campa
Elsie Ramos
Ruben Vives
Andrea Castillo
Nicole Santa Cruz
R. Marina Levario
Martina Ibanez-Baldor
Christian Orozco
Gustavo Arellano
Denise Florez
Raul Roa
Javier Panzar
Nick Leyva
Soudi Jimenez
Betty Chavarria
Eduard Cauich
Jad El Reda
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
Selene Rivera
Steve Saldivar
Leila Miller
Sergio Burstein
Dania Maxwell
Alexa Díaz
Julia Barajas
Brian Contreras
Joseph Serna
Yadira Flores
Priscella Vega
Laura Zornosa
Jose Salvador Mancia
Melissa Gomez
Gregory Diaz
Jared Servantez
Jade Cuevas
Marilyn Ruiz
Vanessa Martínez
Dorany Pineda
Mariel Garza
Victor Barajas
Diego Medrano
Vera Castaneda
Hillary Davis
Hugo Martin
Hector Becerra
Vilma Cruz
Efrain Hernandez Jr.
Melody Gutierrez
Ruthanne Salido
Julissa James
Yvonne Villarreal
Carlos Santana
Steve Padilla
Frank Rojas
Carlos Lozano
J.R Lizarraga
Taryn Luna
Elsa Luna Jones
Victoria Hernandez
Laurie Ochoa
Lorena Elebee
Jessica Martinez
Stephanie Chavez
David Carrillo Peñaloza
This letter was signed by members of the Latino Caucus of the L.A. Times Guild, other Non-Guild Latino staffers, and the L.A. Times Guild Black Caucus in solidarity
Guild's Black Caucus thanks L.A. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong
To: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong
CC: Norman Pearlstine, Scott Kraft and Kimi Yoshino
Thank you for seeing us and for hearing our voices. But most of all, thank you for agreeing to be a force for long-needed changes at The Los Angeles Times.
We were heartened to read your letter and learn that you have agreed to invest in diversifying our newsroom by hiring more Black journalists over the next 36 months. Just as important, we applaud your decision to provide equal pay and more pathways for Black journalists to advance our careers at The Times.
We are eager to help to reshape and expand coverage to include more underrepresented Black and Latino communities and, with your support, to root out the unconscious bias that too often pervades the framing of stories and headlines, driving away subscribers of color.
Moreover, it was encouraging to hear that you take accusations of misconduct, discrimination and harassment seriously. Like many of our Guild colleagues, we have been troubled by several serious allegations that have emerged in recent days, including some against former Food Editor Peter Meehan. We call on management to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into what happened.
In short, we look forward to working with you to help The Times become a workplace that all of us can be proud of. One that is not only diverse and inclusive, but truly an environment of fairness, kindness and mutual respect.
In solidarity,
The Black Caucus of the L.A. Times Guild
Letter to Patrick Soon-Shiong from the L.A. Times Guild's Black Caucus
As a union, it is our responsibility to be a force for progress, and we cannot build the future we want for the Los Angeles Times until we clearly see its past. Over the last two weeks, Black former Times journalists have come forward with stories of racist treatment, marginalization and neglect in our newsroom over the last three decades. Many of our current Black colleagues have internally shared those same concerns as they’ve critiqued our coverage of the movement for Black lives and other communities of color. They have formed a caucus under the L.A. Times Guild to share the following demands for change, which we embrace as our own.
To: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong
Cc: Norman Pearlstine, Kimi Yoshino, Scott Kraft
Two years ago this month, you completed your purchase of The Los Angeles Times with a commitment to rebuild our storied institution by investing in independent, local journalism. Today, we, the Black Caucus of the L.A. Times Guild, ask you to make another commitment to invest — this time to build a truly diverse and inclusive newsroom.
The nation’s reckoning over race has put a much-needed spotlight on inequities at The Times. We are in a crisis and it is not new. Those of us who have been here since the tumult of 1992 say history is repeating itself. We don’t have enough Black journalists — or, more broadly, journalists of color — to cover our overwhelmingly diverse city, state and nation with appropriate insight and sensitivity. And most of us who do work here are often ignored, marginalized, under-valued and left to drift along career paths that leave little opportunity for advancement. Meanwhile, we’re hearing the same empty promises and seeing the same foot-dragging from management.
We cannot allow this to continue. This is as much a moral imperative, as a financial one. The Times will not survive without winning over subscribers who are not white, and the only way to do that is to have a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Therefore, the Black Caucus demands:
—Commit to hiring enough Black journalists to, at a minimum, reflect the percentage of Black residents in Los Angeles County. We currently have 26 Black journalists on staff. That means The Times would need to hire 18 Black journalists over three years, including five over the next year, for a total of 44.
—Create a pipeline for Black journalists to advance their careers within The Times. Many on staff want to become editors, investigative reporters and columnists, but have found there is no path forward.
—A public apology. This is not just for the Black journalists on staff, but for the communities that The Times has maligned over the years with tone-deaf coverage that has often inflamed racial tensions. If we are to move forward, it is important to confront and make peace with our past.
—Correct pay disparities especially for Black journalists. While the Guild contract helped narrow the salary gap, many Black journalists are still woefully underpaid compared to our white counterparts.
—Hire someone to oversee the Metpro program, lead recruitment, and support the paper's equity and inclusion efforts. This should be a masthead-level position with a budget large enough to bring in coaches (for writing, copy editing, graphics, etc.) and other resources to invest in young journalists.
—Reshape our coverage to better reach people of color that the company, itself, has identified as a neglected and untapped base of potential subscribers. Often, our framing and selection of stories is designed mostly with a white audience in mind at the expense of communities of color. Our coverage must capture the nuance and complexity, in particular, of the Black community. That starts with listening to reporters.
—Commit to ending the work-share program by its intended date, August 1, without any cuts to staff.
—Require Norm and Kimi to meet one-on-one with all Black journalists on staff to hear their stories. Reading the Diversity channel in Slack isn’t enough to truly understand the full experience of what it’s like to work at The Times while Black.
As you wrote in the very pages of this paper, recalling your time in South Africa during apartheid, “we cannot be bystanders and enablers in a crisis.” Instead, we must “confront the racism” that affects “Black lives disproportionately.” That “we” must include the Los Angeles Times and those “Black lives” are ours. Because we matter.
Signed,
The Black Caucus of the L.A. Times Guild
Erin B. Logan
Adriana Lacy
Makeda Easter
Julissa James
Kurtis Lee
Angela Jamison
Greg Braxton
Carla Hall
Angel Jennings
Justin Ray
Carla Rivera
Sonaiya Kelley
Jason Armond
Emmanuel Morgan
Erika D. Smith
Gabriella Angotti-Jones
Jevon Phillips
Courtney Lewis
Broderick Turner
Other members of the L.A. Times Guild signing in solidarity
Matt Pearce
Robert Gourley
Adrienne Shih
Craig Marks
Samantha Masunaga
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
Marisa Gerber
Eduardo M. Gonzalez
Eduard Cauich
Adam Tschorn
Jessica Chen
August Brown
Ryan Faughnder
Brian Park
Kelcie Pegher
Sonali Kohli
Sonja Sharp
Jaweed Kaleem
Alex Wigglesworth
Laura Blasey
James Queally
Del Wilber
Melissa Gomez
Jie Jenny Zou
Laura Newberry
Sarah Parvini
Jessica Roy
Ross May
Chris Megerian
Betty Chavarria
Maya Lau
Rubaina Azhar
Faith E. Pinho
Carolina A. Miranda
Jennifer Haberkorn
Seema Mehta
Paul Ybarrondo
Brittany Hite
Andrea Castillo
Kevin Ueda
Rahul Mukherjee
Lorraine Ali
Alexa Díaz
Cindy Carcamo
Joseph Serna
Johana Bhuiyan
Julia Barajas
Vanessa Martínez
Sue Worrell
R. Marina Levario
Deborah Vankin
Paloma Esquivel
Anh Do
Michael Finnegan
Mariel Garza
Priya Krishnakumar
Justin L. Abrotsky
Priscella Vega
Lee Tham
Dwayne Rogers
Gabriela Fernandez
Tracy Brown
Lauren Flynn
Alison Dingeldein
Matt Brennan
Nina Agrawal
Noah Bierman
Vera Castaneda
Andrew Khouri
Rachel Schnalzer
Blake Hennon
Jack Flemming
Jessica Martinez
Mark Olsen
Frank Shyong
Alan Zarembo
Vesta Partovi
Jad El Reda
Edmund Sanders
Diya Chacko
Ryan Murphy
Deborah Netburn
Ben Brazil
Stuart Leavenworth
Gale Holland
Sam Dean
Jennifer Arcand
Nardine Saad
Emily Alpert Reyes
Daniel Woike
Kiera Feldman
Dave Lewis
Paul Duginski
Suhauna Hussain
Javier Panzar
Matthew Cooper
Aida Ylanan
Jen Yamato
Phi Do
Jackeline Luna
Denise Florez
Lisa Boone
Noam N. Levey
Melanie Mason
Rebecca Bryant
Jay L. Clendenin
Mary Kate Metivier
Christopher Knight
Gustavo Arellano
Evan Halper
Carlos Santana
Allison Wisk
Joe Mozingo
Colleen Shalby
Lorena Elebee
Jared Servantez
Kent Nishimura
Anna Phillips
Luke Money
Molly O’Toole
Tara Paniogue
Jaclyn Cosgrove
Jade Cuevas
Liam Dillon
Leila Miller
Elsie Ramos
Houston Mitchell
Paul Feldman
Sandhya Kambhampati
Adam Elmahrek
Dakota Smith
Iris Lee
Mary McNamara
Lisa Horowitz
Maria La Ganga
Nicole Vas
Josh Rottenberg
Matt Hamilton
Esmeralda Bermudez
Lauren Raab
Sammy Roth
Laura Nelson
Jan Molen
Randall Roberts
Kerry Cavanaugh
Alene Tchekmedyian
Lilly Nguyen
Dania Maxwell
Patricia Escarcega
Ruben Vives
Dorany Pineda
Allison Hong
Susanne Rust
Anne Elisabeth Dillon
Hailey Branson-Potts
Rosanna Xia
Carlos Lozano
Hugo Martin
Steve Eames
Maria Torres
Mark Potts
Paul Thornton
Sam-Omar Hall
Victor Barajas
Lucas Kwan Peterson
Howard Blume
Wendy Lee
Mikael Wood
Rong-Gong Lin II
Casey Miller
Andy Roberson
Thomas Suh Lauder
Calvin B. Alagot
Maloy Moore
Janet Hook
Gerard Lim
James Reed
Cindy Chang
Neal Leitereg
Amy Kaufman
Nicole Santa Cruz
Cami Buckman
Don Ragland
Melissa Etehad
Daniel Miller
Matthew Fleischer
Richard Read
Richard Winton
Kevin Rector
Jessica Perez
Martina Ibanez-Baldor
Reed Johnson
Hannah Fry
Nita Lelyveld
Todd Martens
Ben Poston
Laura King
Robert Greene
Nancy Rivera Brooks
Richard Marosi
Claire Hannah Collins
Brittny Mejia
Stacy Perman
Harriet Ryan
Stephanie Chavez
Sean Greene
Jorge Castillo
Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
Betty Chavarria
Kim Christensen
Andrew Greif
Taryn Luna
Mariah Tauger
Bill Plaschke
Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Lila Seidman
Eli Stokols
Robert Lloyd
John Scheibe
Paul Pringle
Justin Chang
Kevin Crust
Jennifer Lu
Sam Schulz
Craig Nakano
Gina Ferazzi
Bill Addison
Jack Harris
Brady McCollough
Jessica Gelt
Christian Orozco
Mike DiGiovanna
Robin Abcarian
Yvonne Villarreal
Jenn Harris
Kevin Leung
Joseph Binoya
Teresa Watanabe
Jeanette Marantos
Jeff Miller
Mel Melcon
Susanne Rust
Meredith Blake
Randall Roberts
Lynn Meersman
Nani Sahra Walker
Soumya Karlamangla
Noah Bierman
Martina Ibanez-Baldor
Don Lee
Wendy Fawthrop
Andrew J. Campa
David Wharton
Robert Lloyd
Thomas Curwen
Phil Willon
Julia Wick
Ryan Menezes
Glenn Whipp
Ashley Lee
Margot Roosevelt
Christina Schoellkopf
Fidel Martinez
Jim Buzinski
Bill Shaikin
Helene Elliott
Sam Farmer
Ryan Kartje
Tania Ganguli
Matt Tustison
Selene Rivera
Hillary Davis
Raul Roa
Melody Petersen
Marilyn Ruiz
Victoria Hernandez
Elsa Luna Jones
Diego Medrano
Hamlet Nalbandyan
Jason Clark
Marilyn Ruiz
Sergio Burstein
L.A. Times Guild strikes deal to avoid newsroom layoffs
Today, the Los Angeles Times Guild reached a deal with The Times to avoid more than 80 layoffs and other cuts to our newsroom. From May 10 to August 1, our journalists will work a 20% reduced weekly schedule to cut payroll by more than $2 million while we weather this unprecedented economic crisis. There will be no more newsroom layoffs this quarter.
We are thankful that management accepted our proposal to avert layoffs, but this is a painful cut. Like the vast majority of newsrooms across the country, The Times has lost significant revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite historic demand for our journalism.
With management unable to maintain full funding or secure other financial support for our newsroom, our union researched alternatives to keep our journalists employed and able to support family members who are now out of work.
We discovered a potent, but little-known, layoff prevention program known as “work-sharing.” Employers who participate in work-sharing can avoid layoffs during a temporary downturn by shortening employees’ hours. Workers maintain health and retirement benefits and are allowed to collect prorated unemployment benefits to offset lost wages. When the downturn ends, hours are restored.
These programs saved more than 500,000 U.S. jobs during the Great Recession. Crucially, the federal CARES Act stimulus has significantly strengthened work-sharing benefits through July 31. We estimate the stimulus will allow most of our members to fully recover their lost wages through the work-sharing program, buying critical time for our parent union, the NewsGuild, to advocate for alternatives that would help bring local newsrooms like ours back to full strength during this historic news event.
Work-sharing is rarely used in journalism despite its obvious utility for an industry known for layoffs. We strongly encourage other newsrooms to examine work-sharing as a possible alternative to cuts in states where the program is available.
Together, we will get through this crisis.
Members endorse the NewsGuild's efforts to save journalism jobs
On April 20, members of the Media Guild of the West, TNG-CWA Local 39213, voted 100% to 0% to approve the following resolution:
Whereas, tens of thousands of journalists and media workers have lost their jobs, taken pay cuts and been furloughed as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic;
Whereas, many communities no longer have robust newsrooms to cover local news, and many more are now at risk of losing access to vital, life-saving information during a historic pandemic;
Whereas, Los Angeles, like dozens of cities, has benefited from world-class journalism and seen the consequences of the diminishment of its great newsrooms;
Whereas, everyone has a right to timely, professional, accurate and independent information about their communities and the democracy in which we live;
Therefore, be it resolved: The members of the Media Guild of the West, TNG-CWA Local 39213, support efforts by the NewsGuild and by their local union to save journalism jobs during the pandemic and to assist in the renewal of quality journalism in the United States of America.
L.A. Times journalists ratify groundbreaking first contract
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: https://latguild.com/contact
LOS ANGELES — Journalists of the Los Angeles Times voted 388 to 3 on Thursday to ratify the first collective bargaining agreement in the newsroom’s 138-year history. The contract will dramatically improve the quality of life for the journalists who produce The Times as well as help lift standards across the media industry.
“Our union began as a small rebellion. Now generations of future L.A. Times journalists will enjoy better pay and job protections,” said Anthony Pesce, co-chair of the L.A. Times Guild. “It’s thrilling to see so many other newsrooms across the country join our fight.”
The Guild’s three-year agreement, reached Oct. 16, will provide for:
an average raise of more than $11,000 per person in its first year. Most members will receive at least a 5% raise on ratification, followed by across-the-board raises of 2.5% in each of the next two years.
pay minimums for all newsroom positions and step raises based on industry experience.
extensive limits on the company’s ability to subcontract or outsource union work to non-union employees
restrictions on imposing work or subscription quotas.
a stronger version of the NFL’s Rooney Rule, requiring managers, when possible, to interview at least two candidates who are women or members of traditionally underrepresented groups, including Black, Latino, Asian American, Native and LGBTQ journalists.
The Guild also secured many other benefits: improved public transit subsidies, protections against increases in healthcare costs, just-cause employment protections, guaranteed severance packages, protections against harassment and retaliation, and the right to pursue personal book projects and retain intellectual property rights to those books.
“Part of the reason I unionized to begin with is because the L.A. Times was the only newsroom I’d worked in that didn’t have basic job protections — things like guaranteed severance or just-cause employment,” said Carolina Miranda, co-chair of the Guild. “This contract achieves that and more.”
The L.A. Times Guild represents nearly 500 newsroom employees, including reporters, columnists, data journalists, copy editors, librarians, web producers, audio producers, page designers, photographers and videographers. Times journalists voted to unionize in January 2018 by a 248-44 vote and began bargaining in July 2018, shortly after the newspaper was sold to Los Angeles billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
The union campaign at The Times, the largest news organization in the western United States, has been followed by a nationwide flurry of organizing at media outlets including the Chicago Tribune, the Virginian Pilot, the Florida Times-Union, BuzzFeed News and the Arizona Republic.
The L.A. Times Guild is a unit of the Media Guild of the West, a new NewsGuild-CWA local being formed in Los Angeles whose leaders will be elected soon.
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Notice of membership meeting for Executive Committee nominations
Dear Colleagues,
We have a tentative agreement. The ratification vote is upon us. And now, it’s time to build on our strong foundation by electing our first post-contract officers. We know it sounds like we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but our bylaws require that we seat our new Executive Committee at our January, 2020, all-hands meeting.
It’s a long-ish process, but the first step is to nominate candidates for nine positions: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and five at-large representatives. Our nomination meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 11, at 6:30 p.m. We will be meeting in El Segundo, on the second floor, in Conference Room 202.
The term of office is two years. Any Guild member in good standing may nominate a candidate or run for office. There is one exception: No one who is on the Elections Committee may be a candidate.
In order to vote for officers, you must be a Guild member in good standing as of Dec. 13. What are the requirements to be in good standing with full voting privileges? You must have signed a membership card, be current on dues and have paid your initiation fee of $10.
We will explain the whole process in later e-mails and at the nomination meeting on Nov. 11. Officers’ responsibilities are described below, as per the bylaws. Check them out and see if you might be a good fit.
Article IV. Duties of Officers
Section 1. The President shall:
Preside at general membership and Executive Committee meetings.
Serve as an ex officio and non-voting member of all standing and special committee meetings.
Section 2. The Vice President shall:
Perform the duties and responsibilities of the President caused by the President’s absence, resignation or demise until the vacancy is filled in accordance with the Bylaws.
Section 3. The Treasurer shall:
Serve as the custodian of all assets of the Local.
Ensure that the Local’s finances are audited annually and that fiscal records of the local are properly submitted to the TNG-CWA.
Provide reports on the Local’s finances at each Executive Committee and each Membership meeting.
Sign tax returns or other reports required under state and federal law.
Section 4. The Secretary shall:
Ensure that minutes for meetings of the Executive Committee and general Membership are prepared and posted.
Ensure that agendas for meetings of the Executive Committee and general Membership are prepared and posted.
Maintain all records of the Local that are not fiscal records.
Prepare correspondence as directed by the Executive Committee.
Oversee Membership rolls.
Provide Membership lists for those who wish to circulate petitions in accordance with the Bylaws.
Accept and process referenda and petitions.
In addition to the four named officers, we will be electing five at-large representatives. These officers serve as liaisons to the general membership. They are voting members of the executive board and have whatever additional duties may be assigned to them by the the president and/or the board.
Mark your calendars: Nov. 11, 6:30 p.m., second-floor Conference Room 202.
Watch this space for more information. And think about who you want to see on your Executive Committee as we continue to build TNG-CWA 39213.
Best,
The Elections Committee: Michael Finnegan, Maria La Ganga, Vanessa Martinez, Maloy Moore, Sonja Sharp
Celebrate the L.A. Times Guild's historic contract agreement by subscribing to The Times
To our readers,
We have great news: The journalists of the Los Angeles Times have reached a tentative agreement on our first union contract with our owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
The contract still needs to be approved by our membership. But the terms of the contract ensure that for the next three years, The Times will be a good place for journalists to work and build a future for their families.
To celebrate our historic milestone, we’re asking you to subscribe to The Times. If you are already a subscriber, thank you. Please spread the word to your family and friends.
Here’s what we’re asking you to do:
Click the subscription link at the top of the page, or the link that pops up when you hit the paywall
Spread the news! Share on Twitter that you’ve subscribed, tagging us @latguild, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
On mobile: Click the link just below the LA Times name plate that offers a deal on a digital subscription
On desktop: Click the blue “SUBSCRIBE” button in the upper right-hand corner of your screen
Our comprehensive coverage of issues that affect your lives — homelessness, education, the economy, the environment, and many others — is very expensive to produce.
To make sure that we stay locally owned and invested in this community, we need to keep growing our base of loyal readers. Our future depends on digital subscriptions from loyal readers like you.
Subscribing to The Times will directly help us expose wrongdoing, raise civic awareness, and tell stories that explain these complex times.
Thank you for your support. It means the world to us.
— The L.A. Times Guild
L.A. Times Guild reaches agreement with management on historic first contract
Members of the Los Angeles Times Guild outside The Times newsroom in El Segundo in May. (Photo by Kent Nishimura)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: https://latguild.com/contact
LOS ANGELES — After 15 months at the bargaining table, the union representing nearly 500 journalists at the Los Angeles Times tentatively agreed to the first newsroom contract since the newspaper began publishing in 1881. The contract is pending ratification by Los Angeles Times Guild members.
The three-year contract will improve the quality of life for the journalists who produce The Times, ensuring significant increases in pay, wage minimums across job categories, diversity provisions and strong protections against outsourcing and subcontracting.
“This is what we fought for,” said Carolina A. Miranda, co-chair of the L.A. Times Guild. “Part of the reason I unionized to begin with is because the L.A. Times was the only newsroom I’d worked in that didn’t have basic job protections — things like guaranteed severance or just-cause employment, which allows for due process in the event of a dismissal. This contract achieves that and more. Things like the diversity provisions we’ve negotiated will help make the Times newsroom reflective of the city we live in.”
“Our newsroom formed a union more than two years ago to address serious concerns about the direction of our company under prior ownership,” said L.A. Times Guild co-chair Anthony Pesce. “At the time, we never could have imagined the progress we’d be able to make by working together and fighting for each other. We look forward to working with management and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong on building a bright future for the Los Angeles Times.”
The contract will mark a vast improvement for a newsroom where many journalists have gone nearly a decade without a cost-of-living raise. The agreement will provide for an average raise of more than $11,000 per person in the first year. Most members will receive at least a 5% raise on ratification, followed by across-the-board raises of 2.5% in each of the next two years. In addition, the contract establishes pay minimums for all newsroom positions and step raises based on industry experience.
The union not only pushed to improve working conditions at the 138-year-old newspaper but also fought to protect its quality journalism. The contract establishes, among other protections, extensive limits on the company’s ability to subcontract or outsource work to non-newsroom employees and bars management from imposing work or subscription quotas.
The proposed agreement also addresses newsroom diversity. The Guild negotiated a stronger version of the NFL’s Rooney Rule, requiring managers, when possible, to interview at least two candidates who are women or members of traditionally underrepresented groups, including Black, Latino, Asian American, Native and LGBTQ journalists.
The Guild also worked to secure many other benefits: improved public transit subsidies, protections against increases in healthcare costs, just-cause employment protections, guaranteed severance packages, protections against harassment and retaliation, and the right to pursue personal book projects and retain intellectual property rights to those books.
Times journalists voted to unionize in January 2018 by a landslide vote of 248 to 44, and began bargaining in July of 2018, shortly after the newspaper was sold to Los Angeles billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
The union belongs to the Media Guild of the West, a new NewsGuild-CWA local being formed in Los Angeles.
Members of the Los Angeles Times Guild bargaining committee are: Anthony Pesce, Co-Chair and graphics and data journalist; Carolina A. Miranda, Co-Chair and culture writer; Kristina Bui, Vice Chair and copy editor; Matt Pearce, Vice Chair and national correspondent; Paul Pringle, Vice Chair and investigative reporter; Jay L. Clendenin, photographer; Hugo Martin, business writer; Alex Wigglesworth, metro reporter.
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Los Angeles Times readers support the Guild in contract negotiations. Here’s why.
Dear Los Angeles Times readers,
Thank you for taking the time to write in, call in and otherwise voice your support as we continue to bargain our first-ever union contract. We were overwhelmed by the flood of kind, supportive, positive messages.
These kinds of negotiations can take a while, particularly for a first contract, which sets the foundation for everything we will work toward in the future.
Your support went a long way toward boosting morale and determination among the journalists of The Times we enter our 14th month at the bargaining table. Thank you.
Here’s a sample of the messages we received.
Digital postcards
Voicemails
Twitter explains why #WeLoveTheLAT
“After I moved to L.A. for school, I had no idea how to understand this incredibly complex city that I'd be calling home. The truly phenomenal reporting from the L.A. Times welcomed me and informed me, and for that I'm a proud subscriber.” —Ben Pearce
“At a time when journalism is under threat from every direction, the L.A. Times Guild fought to save their paper. I’m proud to stand with them as a reader and subscriber as they negotiate their first contract.” —@asmallteapot
“Became a subscriber to the L.A. Times this year because of their outstanding journalists AND because of the L.A. Times Guild’s work to secure a fair contract that ensures job security and a better quality of life for those journalists who put out incredible stories every day.” —Cristina
“If you value journalism and how it opens up your worldview, you must support your local paper, which is why I'm an L.A. Times subscriber. Thank you to all the writers and staff of the L.A. Times Guild who make my hometown paper great.” —Kacey Bonner
“The first thing I did moving to California in 2017 was get an L.A. Times subscription (well... after the smog check). We need these smart writers putting their words in the world.” —Jeanine Finn
“I love the L.A. Times because it helps me understand my city and state better than any other media. I love the L.A. Times Guild because it ensures good wages that hard-working reporters deserve. Quality begets quality. Thanks for investing in my favorite newspaper, @DrPatSoonShiong!” —Carmen Gonzalez
“Even after moving to the East Coast in March, I have maintained my subscription to the L.A. Times — there is no better newspaper, and their work on California immigration as a microcosm of the national conversation has been unmatched by any other media outlet.” —Austin Grogin
“I subscribed the day the L.A. Times Guild got recognized. So proud of the way the Times has turned around. Better morale under new ownership + strong union = better stories, national and local.” —R.L. Miller
“Subscribers support the fair and equitable treatment of journalists.” —Maria Bustillos
“It pains me to say it, having grown up in northern California, but you guys produce the best newspaper in the country.” —John McIsaac
“Journalists, photographers and staff are doing breathtaking work. Please provide the contract they so richly deserve. This moment in time requires deep reporting. Let these pros focus on their duty to inform the public. We need the L.A. Times. We support the L.A. Times Guild.” —Randy and Sterling
“I love that an immigrant owns the L.A. Times. Fair contract so they can focus on research and writing.” —@CaliForBeto1
“We need great journalism now more than ever. As the son of a newspaper reporter and union rep, I know the importance and power of guild representation in a workplace. I support the L.A. Times Guild.” —Gabriel Bucsko
“Years ago, the L.A. Times got me into journalism. Great to see the L.A. Times Guild fighting for the rights that the staff has long deserved.” —Jintak Han
“I'm a proud L.A. Times subscriber, and a proud union guy. I appreciate Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong investing in the Times, and I urge him to strike a fair deal with the phenomenal journalists who make the Times the world-class paper it is.” —Tom O’Connor
“I’m a proud L.A. Times subscriber. The resilient and dedicated journalist… deserve a fair contract for so many reasons. They’re accountable to their readership, actively evolving, and give me hope for the future of journalism.” —Erica Corder
“Proud subscriber here who very much SUPPORTS your right to a fair contract. Deeply appreciative of our amazing L.A. Times journos.” —Nick Zigler
“Proud L.A. Times subscriber. Always grateful for the hardworking reporters in the L.A. Times Guild who are creating the paper L.A. desperately needs right now.” —Shayla M.
Letters to Dr. Soon-Shiong
Are you a Los Angeles Times reader? Here's how you can help our journalists
Dear Los Angeles Times readers,
Since the journalists of The Times began negotiating our first-ever union contract more than a year ago, many of you have asked what you can do to support us. Thank you for asking -- and here’s how you can help.
Today, the L.A. Times Guild is launching a campaign that gives a voice to readers, so you can explain why you care about The Times and support a fair contract for our journalists.
You can participate in a few different ways.
Write a digital postcard, perfect for keeping it short and sweet
Send us a letter if you have more to share
Leave us a voicemail: (213) 349-1310 (please don’t leave your phone number, as these messages will be published!)
Tweet your support to @latguild, and use the hashtag #WeLoveTheLAT
If you have space in your messages, please let our new owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, know that you support a fair contract that ensures job security and a better quality of life for our journalists — and be sure to thank him for investing in the future of The Times.
Your stories will help push our first-ever contract over the finish line. We plan to share some of them on our website and social media accounts, and with the leadership of The Times.
Wrapping up our contract talks quickly means we’ll be able to focus on doing what we love: delivering the news to you. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
The journalists of the Los Angeles Times
P.S. Here are some of the messages we’ve received so far — happy reading!
Dear Dr. Soon-Shiong: It's been a year since you bought The Times. It's also been a year since we began bargaining
Dear Dr. Soon-Shiong,
It’s been a year since you bought the Los Angeles Times, and we wanted to thank you again.
When the story of our revival is told decades from now, our return to local ownership will be remembered as the turning point. As media outlets across the country teetered on the edge of collapse, we worried we would lose our jobs and Los Angeles would lose its paper of record.
What a difference a year makes. We are incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made together. Thanks to your investment, the determination and loyalty of our staff, and the L.A. Times Guild’s fight to control our own future, The Times is ascendant again.
Three of our journalists won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, the 45th in our history. We have more time and resources to cover the issues that matter to our readers, at home, in Washington, across the nation and around the world. Your support has given us a fighting chance to build a sustainable business. The feeling in the newsroom is not just one of hope, but of ambition.
It’s also been a year since we began negotiating our first contract under the L.A. Times Guild. We want to resolve the negotiations so we can focus on what we do best: great journalism.
We know our newsroom still faces economic challenges, and you’ll notice that the crucial issues remaining on the table involve basic job protections for the journalists who are doing the hard work of rebuilding The Times.
Given the history in our industry and our own newsroom of outsourcing work to contractors and freelancers, we are asking for reasonable guardrails to protect our journalists and our work.
Your commitment to keeping The Times in your family for the next century was welcome news for a community that wanted a return to local ownership after two decades of executive turnover and lack of investment. We’ve asked for a successorship agreement that ensures a smooth transition and basic protections for our journalists in case of any unexpected changes.
If we do face layoffs, we want to ensure that severance is competitive for journalists who have dedicated their professional lives to The Times or have moved their families across the country to be a part of our next chapter.
We’re hopeful that, with steady and determined leadership, The Times can remain a strong voice for decades to come. Thank you for your commitment to our future, and the future of journalism.
Signed,
Bettina Boxall
Liam Dillon
Andy Nguyen
Maloy Moore
Matt Pearce
Andrew Khouri
Jaweed Kaleem
Kyle Kim
Laura J. Nelson
Ben Oreskes
Kristina Bui
Hugo Martin
Mariel Garza
Jad El Reda
Evan Halper
Danielle Parenteau Decker
Nathan Fenno
Colleen Shalby
Chris Megerian
Carolina A. Miranda
Geoffrey Mohan
Brian Park
Sarah Parvini
Edmund Sanders
Glenn Whipp
Kevin Ueda
Jon Schleuss
Jessica Roy
Samantha Masunaga
Reed Johnson
R. Marina Levario
Maria La Ganga
Carla Hall
Maya Lau
Adrienne Shih
Jared Servantez
Jay L. Clendenin
Anthony Pesce
Alex Wigglesworth
Nicole Santa Cruz
Margot Roosevelt
Sam-Omar Hall
Sean Greene
Lynn Meersman
Kent K. Nishimura
Bill Shaikin
Andrea Castillo
Blake Hennon
Laura Newberry
Emily Alpert Reyes
Jade Cuevas
Lisa Boone
Matt Fleischer
Claire Hannah Collins
Adriana Lacy
Gerard Lim
Jason H. Neubert
Gustavo Arellano
Angela Jamison
Ben Mims
Melanie Mason
Steve Eames
Gerrick Kennedy
Priya Krishnakumar
Rebecca Bryant
Paige St. John
Cindy Carcamo
Raul Roa
Ryan Faughnder
Matt Hamilton
Randall Roberts
Hamlet Nalbandyan
Teresa Watanabe
August Brown
Esmeralda Bermudez
Jessica Martinez
Julia Sclafani
Jason Clark
Brittany Hite
Jim Buzinski
Christine Mai-Duc
Phil Willon
Paul Ybarrondo
Robert Lloyd
Anh Do
Kurtis Lee
Mary Kate Metivier
Vanessa Martínez
Paul Pringle
Jessica Chen
Kiera Feldman
Jeanette Marantos
Sammy Roth
Courtney Lewis
Denise Florez
Lauren Raab
Michael Ottey
Cindy Chang
Marisa Gerber
Paul Feldman
Alexa Díaz
Dania Maxwell
Todd Martens
Luke Money
Del Quentin Wilber
Jennifer Haberkorn
Jackie Calmes
David Lazarus
David Montero
Deborah Vankin
Eduardo M. Gonzalez
Matthew Cooper
Christopher Reynolds
Adam Tschorn
Thomas Curwen
Andrew J. Campa
Christopher Knight
David Cloud
Tara Paniogue
David Zahniser
Noam N. Levey
Paul Thornton
Makeda Easter
Frank Shyong
Suhauna Hussain
Sandhya Kambhampati
Justin Chang
J. Brady McCollough
Alison Dingeldein
Christopher Goffard
Steve Saldivar
Carlos Santana
Roger Vincent
Iris Lee
Erika D. Smith
Rubaina Azhar
Martina Ibanez
Kim Christensen
Ben Brazil
Dakota Smith
Carlos Lozano
Hannah Fry
Andrea Roberson
Meredith Blake
Johana Bhuiyan
Paloma Esquivel
Jessica Gelt
Christie D’Zurilla
Mark Puente
Melissa Gomez
Tessa A. Bangs
Lauren Flynn
James Queally
Dorany Pineda
Nita Lelyveld
Ricardo DeAratanha
Calvin Alagot
Tony Barboza
Hillary Davis
Steve Lopez
Rachel Schnalzer
Lila Seidman
Ruben Vives
Kelly Corrigan
Daniel Miller
Elena Howe
Eduard Cauich
Sara Cardine
Jack Dolan
Ryan Menezes
Diana Marcum
Sergio Burstein
Mark Z. Barabak
Anthony Clark Carpio
Matt Stiles
Michael Finnegan
Al Seib
Anna M. Phillips
Diya Chacko
Andrew Greif
Gale Holland
Fidel Martínez
Melissa Etehad
Sonali Kohli
Josh Rottenberg
Jenny Jarvie
Brian van der Brug
Rong-Gong Lin II
Diego Medrano
Robin Abcarian
Austin Knoblauch
Noah Bierman
Eli Stokols
George Skelton
Elsie Ramos
Betty Chavarria
Alan Zarembo
David Lewis
Ben Poston
Sam Dean
Julia Wick
Tracy Wilkinson
Craig Marks
Janet Hook
Allison Mann
Seema Mehta
Don Lee
Molly O’Toole
Scott Wilson
Deborah Netburn
Jeffrey Fleishman
Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Jevon Phillips
An Amlotte
Anne Harnagel
Paul Duginski
Melody Petersen
Soumya Karlamangla
Mark E. Potts
Joel Rubin
Amy Kaufman
Tracy Brown
Kailyn Brown
Wendy Lee
Ben Bolch
Alene Tchekmedyian
Valerie Hood
Geoff Berkshire
Stuart Leavenworth
Vincent Nguyen
David Pierson
Hailey Branson-Potts
Brittny Mejia
Joe Serna
Richard Winton
Victoria Hernandez
Kevin Chang
Mark Olsen
Judith Pryor
Jaclyn Cosgrove
Rosanna Xia
Dan Santos
Steve Devol
Nardine Saad
Randy Lewis
Jeff Miller
Christian Orozco
Carla Rivera
Lisa Horowitz
Mikael Wood
Casey Miller
Dave Bowman
Mel Melcon
Mike Faneuff
Lucas Peterson
Minh Dang
Andrew T. Turner
Sue Worrell
Anne Elisabeth Dillon
Lynn Meersman
Angel Jennings
Taryn Luna
Adam Elmahrek
Kelcie Pegher
Louis Sahagun
Richard Read
Neal Leitereg
Harriet Ryan
Barbara Demick
Bakr Muhammad
Don Ragland
Yvonne Villarreal
Johana Bhuiyan
Agnus Dei Farrant
Sonja Sharp
Richard Martin
Jill-Marie Jones
Irfan Khan
Greg Braxton
Kevin Leung
Nancy Rivera Brooks
Jack Flemming
Rachel Dunn
John Penner
Craig Nakano
Jessica Perez
Charles McNulty
Nick Leyva
Fernando Dominguez
Lee Rogers
Dwayne Rogers
Allen J. Schaben
Adam Elmahrek
Nani Sahra Walker
James Kim
Matt Brennan
Ashley Lee
Joe Mozingo
Robert Gauthier
Guild membership meeting June 20
Colleagues,
We are holding a general membership meeting at the Embassy Suites LAX South (1440 E. Imperial Ave, El Segundo, CA 90245) at 6:30 p.m. the evening of June 20. The formal agenda will include:
Discussion of our proposed bylaws. Members will have an opportunity to ask questions and propose amendments.
The establishment of an interim election committee to oversee the ratification of our bylaws and, later, the election of officers in our new Local. We will need several volunteers to serve on this committee, who will be selected by the members in attendance at the meeting. To ensure fairness in the process, the election committee cannot include current officers or members of the bylaws committee.
A progress report on our contract negotiations.
We will have a call-in option TBD.
Here are a few highlights from our proposed bylaws:
Transition language: The draft bylaws establish a process to take our union from the interim leadership we’ve had over the past 18 months to a nine-member Executive Committee chosen by the members.
Governance Structure: Under these bylaws, our Local would start its operations with an Executive Committee that has four titled officers (president, vice president, treasurer, secretary) and five at-large members. The Executive Committee would be set up in a way that allows new unions to join our Local (if, say, other newsrooms in Los Angeles were to unionize like we did).
Election timetable: Under the proposal, elections for officers and other matters would be held every two years.
Initiating major changes: Under the proposed bylaws, our Local would need signatures from 25% of its members to force a vote of the membership on a proposal, including any request to amend the bylaws. That threshold was chosen to give our rank-and-file members the power to make changes when necessary, while also ensuring that we’re not rewriting our bylaws every other month.
Public conduct: The draft includes language that would forbid our Local from endorsing candidates for public office. However, it creates a process that would allow the Local to support political measures that affect the Guild’s institutional rights, bargaining responsibilities and working conditions of its members. This policy was designed to minimize our union’s involvement in politics and avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest, while recognizing the Local still has a duty to serve as effective advocates for our journalists and other members.
Sincerely,
Anthony Pesce & Carolina A. Miranda
Co-Chairs, Los Angeles Times Guild