SPJ Florida supports One Herald Guild, calls for fair election
Today, One Herald Guild — the latest newsroom unionizing effort out of Florida comprised of Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and Miami.com newsrooms — announced an upcoming ballot for the group to be recognized by the newspaper’s owners.
The SPJ Florida Pro Chapter has released a letter in support of the guild calling for Miami Herald management and McClatchy to encourage a fair and open election.
“This is an unprecedented move,” chapter president Emily Bloch said. “Never before have we seen our national brand or local branches speak out in support of a newsroom union. But we decided as a board that this was too important to leave unacknowledged.”
As the One Herald Guild put it in a statement, “As corporate financial pressures have forced us to do more with less, we have remained committed to working with professionalism and integrity, mindful of the cutbacks that have come from a business model that is dying. For us, this is not just a job but a vocation.”
Read SPJ Florida’s full letter of support here:
Full letter text:
Oct. 15, 2019
On Oct. 2, the McClatchy-owned Miami Herald became the largest newspaper in Florida to witness a unionization effort — and the company’s leaders quickly proved that effort would be fraught with opposition.
That’s why the Society of Professional Journalists Florida Pro Chapter is taking the unprecedented step of supporting the unionization effort, and calling on the company’s leaders to encourage a fair and open election.
As the One Herald Guild — made up of Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and Miami.com employees — put it in a statement: “As corporate financial pressures have forced us to do more with less, we have remained committed to working with professionalism and integrity, mindful of the cutbacks that have come from a business model that is dying. For us, this is not just a job but a vocation.”
They join the three other Florida newspapers that sought to unionize in the last five years, to curb the downsizing and cost-cutting that has crippled newsrooms across the country. All three efforts — at the Lakeland Ledger, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Florida Times-Union — were successful.
Today, the guild announced a negotiation between McClatchy and NewsGuild legal teams that was approved by the National Labor Relations Board for a secret ballot election. This follows Miami Herald publisher and executive editor Mindy Marqués González’s newsroom-wide email saying she refused to voluntarily recognize the union.
In her email, Marqués González accused staff of spreading “inaccurate and misleading” information about the conditions in their newsroom. She did not elaborate publicly on the purported misinformation.
For a newspaper publisher to accuse her staff of spreading falsehoods without producing evidence to support such a claim flouts the cornerstone of journalism.
Facts are the foundation of our industry, and accuracy and fairness are at the heart of the SPJ Code of Ethics.
The One Herald Guild insists its mission is to protect workers, equitably pay staff and hold its corporate owners accountable, all in the name of preserving its history of excellent journalism.
While SPJ Florida wishes the guild could have been voluntarily recognized from the start, we as a board are excited to see plans for an Oct. 30 secret ballot election, which will rightfully include El Nuevo Herald and Miami.com newsroom members and will also allow for mail-in ballots.
That’s why SPJ Florida is voicing support for a unionization effort.
This is an abnormal step: the National Society of Professional Journalists has not taken a stance on unions despite repeated opportunities, and we were unable to find any local chapters that have done so. But the SPJ Florida leadership feels strongly that it is our duty to protect and support journalists, and this is one way to do it.
Of the 20 largest newspapers in Florida, all but one are owned by out-of-state, for-profit corporate giants that, over the course of years, have slashed budgets and cut news staff. Newsrooms have suffered from buyouts, layoffs and consolidation. Corporations make staffing decisions with little regard for the repercussions for journalists and, in turn, the communities they serve.
Yet newsrooms continue to produce excellent work, in part because of a deep dedication to the craft.
The Miami Herald’s union push comes on the heels of the paper being named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a sweeping explanation of an illegal South American gold mining operation and receiving a George Polk Award for reporter Julie K. Brown’s exhaustive probe of a sweetheart deal federal and state officials cut with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
If newsrooms continue to shrink, journalism of this nature will suffer. Communities will suffer.
The SPJ Florida Board of Directors is asking leaders within McClatchy to give their staffers the same opportunities they protect for members of their community: an informed and accessible vote. And we’re asking for the company to help protect the interests of its staff members, so they can keep producing work that matters.
We’re calling on the Miami Herald’s management and McClatchy to remain neutral so that its journalists can do what they do best: gather the facts for themselves and make informed decisions.
We’re calling on the Miami Herald’s management and McClatchy to ensure Oct. 30 reveals the most open and available election possible, and strongly voice our support to One Herald Guild.
SPJ Florida wouldn’t exist without local journalists to protect and support — which prompted our unanimous vote in support of the effort.
Sincerely,
Emily Bloch
President, SPJ Florida Pro Chapter
The Society of Professional Journalists Florida Pro Chapter Board
| OFFICERS
Emily Bloch, president Cassidy Alexander, vice president Lulu Ramadan, VP of programming Michele Boyet, VP of membership Brendon Lies, secretary Christopher Persaud, treasurer Christiana Lilly, past president |
DIRECTORS
Richard Gaspar Lindsey Killbride Hannah Lee Carina Mask Suzette Speaks Kristen Grau, student rep |