90% of newsroom staff at the Tacoma News Tribune, Olympian, Bellingham Herald and Tri-City Herald, and Idaho Statesman have pledged to strike the McClatchy-owned media outlets over the company’s continued resistance to settling a contract with fair wages.
Hedgefund-owned McClatchy Media Company operates 30 newspapers across 14 states, including outlets in Florida, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, and California. The Washington & Idaho NewsGuilds (part of the Pacific Northwest NewsGuild) have been jointly bargaining a second contract with McClatchy since May 2025.
The workers have been focused on three key demands: layoff protections, guardrails on artificial intelligence, and improving low wages. Workers' proposals on wage improvements have been met with shockingly low offers from management, and a demand that journalists significantly increase their article output.
Journalists are running informational pickets each Thursday at the Tacoma Farmers’ Market. The workers are also asking supporters to send an email to McClatchy management urging the company to pay a fair wage.
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