Lee Enterprises voluntarily recognizes Racine NewsGuild

The journalists at the Racine Journal Times assiduously organized in order to have a collective voice. They now have it. On behalf of the Kenosha Newspaper Guild, we are excited to not only work side-by-side in our communities, but also to share in the provisions of a single contract bargaining agreement.”

Kenosha Newspaper Guild President Sean Krajacic

Today is a great day for the Racine (Wisconsin) Journal Times and the communities it serves.

Less than three weeks after the Racine newsroom announced its plan to unionize, the Racine NewsGuild was voluntarily recognized by Lee Enterprises as part of the Kenosha Newspaper Guild bargaining unit.

The Kenosha-Racine bargaining unit will soon begin negotiating for a fair contract.

We look forward to negotiations and improving news coverage for the communities we serve.

We applaud Lee for the voluntary recognition agreement and hope it serves as a model to other newspaper employers dealing with new unions.

Amid recent nationwide layoffs at Lee newspapers, including in Buffalo, St. Louis and Montana, unions play a vital role in protecting newsroom workers.

At the Racine Journal Times, four valued newsroom employees were laid off last month, just two days after the Racine NewsGuild went public.

The voluntary recognition agreement includes a recall list that allows the four employees to receive preferential consideration for future job openings at the Racine Journal Times and Kenosha News during the next 12 months.

"In light of the recent layoffs in Racine, this is by far the best outcome possible,” said Kenosha Newspaper Guild President Sean Krajacic. “The journalists at the Racine Journal Times assiduously organized in order to have a collective voice. They now have it. On behalf of the Kenosha Newspaper Guild, we are excited to not only work side-by-side in our communities, but also to share in the provisions of a single contract bargaining agreement."

About the Racine NewsGuild:

Racine NewsGuild members are represented by The NewsGuild, a sector of the Communications Workers of America. The NewsGuiId-CWA represents 25,000 journalists and other media workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Reuters, The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. It began as the American Newspaper Guild in 1933 and merged with the Communications Workers of America in the 1990s. For more information, visit www.newsguild.org.