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: 

• Open the L.A. Times story on our contract agreement 

• 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.

-30-

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.

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Digital postcards

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Voicemails

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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.

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Letters to Dr. Soon-Shiong

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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:

1. Discussion of our proposed bylaws. Members will have an opportunity to ask questions and propose amendments.

2. 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.

3. 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

An open letter to Los Angeles Times management about its intellectual property proposals

We, the undersigned journalists of the Los Angeles Times, write to protest a proposed company policy on intellectual property that would mark a new low in the newspaper industry — and potentially limit our staff’s long-standing contributions to literary and creative life in the United States.

The newsroom has been bargaining in good faith with management on a first contract for months. While some disagreements remain, we’re proud to work for a publication that recognizes newsrooms need investment, not cuts, to survive.

But late in negotiations, the company has proposed a draconian policy on books and other creative projects that, as a condition of employment, would go far beyond the work-for-hire standards of U.S. copyright law and the relicensing practices historically allowed by The Times.

If we have a book idea related to our work, even if fictional, the company wants unfettered power to claim control over whether it gets written, who owns the copyright and what we might get paid for it. The company also wants to claim the film rights to such books even if the company grants permission for the book to be written, on unpaid leave, for an outside publisher.

No other newspaper has contract language this strict — not the New York Times, Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal. This is especially inappropriate, coming as it does from the Los Angeles Times, which runs the highly popular L.A. Times Festival of Books and has a proud history of employing journalists who have made significant contributions to the literary community.

Michael Connelly, the bestselling author, created the character of LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch while working as a crime reporter for The Times. Columnist Steve Lopez developed “The Soloist,” a close-up account of homelessness in Los Angeles, based on his work as a metro columnist; his book later became a movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Former reporter Sonia Nazario based her critically acclaimed book “Enrique’s Journey” on the Pulitzer Prize-winning series on Central American immigration she wrote for The Times.

If these books didn’t exist, readers everywhere would be poorer for it. But under the company's proposal, these types of projects could fall within its control — and, most disturbingly, within its power to reject wholesale. The Times should encourage its employees to be ambitious, not empower lawyers to squat on copyrights. Moreover, the company's proposal to claim control over any work created by employees "within the scope of their employment" is unworkably vague, especially given the sweeping interpretations that company negotiators gave us at the bargaining table.

This is the age of Netflix, and the company has additionally asserted "rights to use employee names, likenesses, biographical information, etc.,” without requiring any consent from us, for any creative project it chooses to pursue, while obligating us to participate in its development. It’s the sort of thing that smacks of the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s, when studio executives controlled what movies their actors appeared in and with whom. There’s a reason that system came to an end.

We’re worried that such policies would not only drive away talented recruits who might be interested in working for The Times, but it might also perversely incentivize Times journalists to quit in order to develop projects.

As the L.A. Times enters a promising new era for journalism, we fear management’s restrictive proposal will directly harm the reputation of the institution and hinder the production of important creative and journalistic works in a city with a strong history of valuing and compensating writers. The company must change course.

Signed,

Scott Martelle

Barbara Demick

Louis Sahagun

Michael Finnegan

Carolina A. Miranda

Patricia I. Escárcega

Christopher Knight

Bill Plaschke

Matt Pearce

Maria La Ganga

Chris Megerian

Mark Z. Barabak

James Queally

Joe Mozingo

Gerrick Kennedy

Bill Addison

Joel Rubin

Del Quentin Wilber

Bettina Boxall

Steve Lopez

Matt Hamilton

Robin Abcarian

Gustavo Arellano

Christopher Goffard

Brian van der Brug

Harriet Ryan

Alan Zarembo

Martina Ibanez-Baldor

Diana Marcum

Ben Oreskes

George Skelton

Michael Hiltzik

Thomas Curwen

Jeffrey Fleishman

Noah Bierman

Mark Swed

Jenn Harris

Jon Schleuss

Nathan Fenno

Jaweed Kaleem

Ben Brazil

Liam Dillon

Laura J. Nelson

Dakota Smith

Glenn Whipp

Kevin Crust

Paige Hymson

Colleen Shalby

Lauren Raab

Sarah Parvini

Mariel Garza

Jad El Reda

Evan Halper

Blake Hennon

Amy Kaufman

Steve Devol

Laura Newberry

Alexa Díaz

Jen Yamato

Nardine Saad

Andy Nguyen

Eli Stokols

David Willman

Anna Phillips

Denise Florez

Cindy Chang

Paige St. John

Joseph Serna

Jaclyn Cosgrove

Phil Willon

Cindy Carcamo

J. Brady McCollough

Paul Duginski

Luke Money

Christine Mai-Duc

Jessica Gelt

Hannah Fry

Doug Smith

Angel Jennings

Samantha Masunaga

Melanie Mason

Julia Sclafani

August Brown

Jenny Jarvie

Rong-Gong Lin II

Anthony Pesce

Makeda Easter

Alex Wigglesworth

Hugo Martin

Kristina Bui

Javier Panzar

Steve Eames

Robert Lloyd

Angela Jamison

Christopher Reynolds

Lance Pugmire

Sam Dean

Christie D’Zurilla

Jackie Calmes

Jim Puzzanghera

Sara Cardine

Andrew J. Campa

Anthony Clark Carpio

Maloy Moore

Matthew Fleischer

Betty Chavarria

Jessica Martinez

David Wharton

Janet Hook

Noam Levey

Lisa Boone

Brian Park

Carla Hall

Kevin Ueda

Emily Alpert Reyes

Jim Buzinski

Ruben Vives

Priya Krishnakumar

Doyle McManus

Bill Shaikin

Andrew Khouri

Reed Johnson

Melody Gutierrez

Andrew Greif

Lorraine Ali

An Amlotte

Kenneth Turan

Frank Shyong

Hailey Branson-Potts

Elsie Ramos

Maya Lau

Sonali Kohli

Jade Cuevas

Jason Clark

Ryan Faughnder

Judy Pryor

Bakr Muhammad

Deborah Vankin

Jan Molen

Deborah Netburn

Paul Pringle

Matt Cooper

Adam Elmahrek

Adam Tschorn

Carlos Santana

Chris Barton

Margot Roosevelt

Justin Chang

Andrea Castillo

Kim Christensen

David Montero

Alene Tchekmedyian

Vanessa Martínez

Eduardo M. Gonzalez

Faith E. Pinho

Nicole Santa Cruz

Paul Thornton

Josh Rottenberg

Mark Olsen

Gale Holland

Ashley Lee

Roger Vincent

Geoffrey Mohan

Victoria Hernandez

Tracy Brown

Allison Mann

Rubaina Azhar

Dan Santos

Carla Rivera

Mary Forgione

Richard Winton

Chris Erskine

Hamlet Nalbandyan

Raul Roa

Paul Ybarrondo

Jay L. Clendenin

Mark E. Potts

R. Marina Levario

Jazmine Ulloa

Patt Morrison

Anh Do

Kurtis Lee

Jennifer Haberkorn

Charles McNulty

Gerard Lim

Sammy Roth

Jose S. Mancia

Lucas Peterson

Allison Hong

Christina Schoellkopf

Anne Elisabeth Dillon

Rebecca Bryant

David Cloud

Stacy Perman

Marisa Gerber

Mary McNamara

Kirk D. McKoy

Kyle Kim

Daniel Miller

Lorena Elebee

Howard Blume

David Lazarus

Nita Lelyveld

Sarah Wire

Tracy Wilkinson

Molly O’Toole

Priscella Vega

Todd Martens

Mike DiGiovanna

Jeff Amlotte

Phi Do

David Savage

Scott Smeltzer

Dylan Hernandez

Brittny Mejia

Luis Sinco

Randall Roberts

Jessica Roy

Lila Seidman

Fidel Martinez

Danielle Parenteau Decker

Jeanette E. Marantos

Dorany Pineda

Suhauna Hussain

Dennis Brosterhous

Matt Ormseth

Jessica Chen

Meredith Blake

Mikael Wood

Steven Greenberg

Steve Saldivar

John Penner

Soudi Jimenez

Eduard Cauich

Sergio Burstein

Jose Mancia

Selene Rivera

Gerardo Alatriste

Helene Elliott

Jackeline Luna

Soumya Karlamangla

Andrea Roberson

Swetha Kannan

Elena Howe

Russ Mitchell

Alison Dingeldein

Dania Maxwell

Jevon Phillips

Amina Khan

Kelly Corrigan

Melissa Gomez

Sue Worrell

Dave Lewis

Kevin Leung

P.K. Daniel

Sam-Omar Hall

Kelcie Pegher

Jill-Marie Jones

Dan Woike

Jared Servantez

Nancy Rivera Brooks

Dwayne Rogers

Lee Rogers

Sean Greene

Wendy Fawthrop

Claire Hannah Collins

Yvonne Villarreal

Paul Feldman

Efrain Hernandez Jr.

Don Ragland

Dave Bowman

Victor Barajas

Johana Bhuiyan

Jessica Perez

John Scheibe

Ryan Menezes

Leila Miller

Calvin B. Alagot

Scott Wilson

Jerome Adamstein

Vincent Nguyen

Ellis Simani

Jeff Miller

Courtney Lewis

Al Seib

Jorge Castillo

Agnus Dei Farrant

Taryn Luna

Kerry Cavanaugh

Jack Dolan

Wendy Lee

Robert Greene

Jim Brooks

Tim Berger

Michael McGough

Robert Gauthier

Melissa Etehad

Michael A.W. Ottey

Randy Lewis

Richard Marosi

Sonaiya Kelley

Iris Lee

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Melody Petersen

Matt Stiles

Andrew T. Turner

Hillary Davis

Tony Barboza

Rosanna Xia

David Ng

Victoria Kim

Esmeralda Bermudez

Anita Chabria

Ben Poston

Susanne Rust

Press Release: Los Angeles Times Guild pushes back against management’s proposed intellectual property policy

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 13, 2019) — Journalists at the Los Angeles Times are pushing back against a sweeping company proposal on intellectual property rights that would mark an unprecedented low for the media industry.

The L.A. Times Guild has been bargaining in good faith since June with the company, and though disagreements remain, both sides are eager to reach a deal. Late in negotiations, however, The Times has proposed a disturbing and unusually lengthy policy on books and other creative projects that would go far beyond the standards of U.S. copyright law and relicensing practices historically allowed by The Times.

The company’s proposal would, as a condition of employment at The Times, give management enormous discretion over whether it could control any journalism-related book deals or similar creative work that employees don’t typically perform as part of their day-to-day work for The Times. It would also give The Times the rights to negotiate regarding the use of their employees’ byline, biography and likeness. No other unionized news organization has contract language as all-encompassing as the company’s proposal.

“Los Angeles Times journalists have a proud history of writing books, and now the company wants the power to claim ownership over those books if they are somehow related to journalism we’ve done for The Times,” said Matt Pearce, a national reporter and a vice chair of the L.A. Times Guild. “None of our peers have a clause like this in their contracts. It would be a huge step backward.”

In response to the proposal, Times journalists are calling on the company to change course in an open letter to management. Such a policy, the letter says, poses a threat to the company’s recruitment and retention efforts and would lower standards for intellectual property rights across the journalism industry.

The Los Angeles Times Guild, which represents more than 400 newsroom staffers, continues to negotiate with the company over this and other key issues. The Times is in the midst of an exciting new chapter for journalism under Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s ownership. In this era of revitalization, the union urges the company to find a way to work with its journalists toward a contract that benefits everyone.

Contact: comms-committee@latguild.com

L.A. Times Guild wins strong newsroom diversity protections

L.A. Times Guild co-chair Anthony Pesce and vice chair Kristina Bui sign the tentative agreements on December 20, 2018.

We are pleased to announce that the L.A. Times Guild and the Los Angeles Times reached a tentative agreement on hiring and diversity language Thursday that incorporates a stronger version of the NFL’s Rooney Rule and would make the L.A. Times a leader in the news industry.

The policy, once ratified, will require Times managers, when possible, to interview at least two candidates who are women or members of traditionally-underrepresented groups — including women, Black, Latino, Asian American, Native and LGBTQ journalists.

The Times has also agreed to form a joint diversity committee with the Guild to address issues of diversity in hiring, recruitment and retention in the newsroom. The committee will have access to anonymized equal-employment opportunity data collected during the hiring process and the power to make reports and recommendations.

As the L.A. Times expands and adds dozens of talented journalists in California and across the country, the Guild wants to make sure the company is talking to all the best candidates for the job. Research has shown that including at least two diverse candidates in a hiring pool “can make the difference and lead to their hiring,” according to the Harvard Business Review. The newsroom union of The Intercept adopted a similar policy earlier this year.

The L.A. Times Guild and the company also reached a tentative agreement on anti-discrimination language that would empower the Guild to file a grievance on behalf of employees with discrimination, harassment or retaliation claims. Employees who don’t want to go through civil litigation could instead choose to resolve such disputes through arbitration.

These policies would be implemented pending the completion of negotiations and the approval of our contract by our newsroom, which will be the first-ever collective-bargaining agreement reached between the Los Angeles Times and its journalists in the 137-year history of the newspaper. Negotiations continue over a variety of issues crucial to our newsroom, and we hope to reach a settlement with the company soon.