Jersey Journal Editorial Employees Win Raise for First Time in Over a Decade

09/18/2019

For Immediate Release: Sept. 18, 2019 
Contact: Josh Austin, Communications Director | 484.269.0158 | josh@nyguild.org

New York, NY - After more than a decade without a raise, the editorial employees of The Jersey Journal will see a long-delayed and well-deserved increase in their wages upon ratifying their new two-year agreement last week. Guild-covered part-time and full-time members of the NewsGuild of New York -- the local union that represents nearly 3,300 media workers at newsrooms such as The New York Times, Buzzfeed News, The New Yorker, and The Daily Beast -- have successfully won a four percent guaranteed wage increase across the life of their contract and paid retroactively to the date of ratification. 

Originally, Jersey Journal management came to the table offering their employees an unacceptable one percent wage increase in the agreement. Owned by Advance Publications (and the Newhouse family), management at the cherished local paper had not awarded their staff raises in over a decade. 

“This is a huge win for our members,” said Grant Glickson, President of The NewsGuild of New York. “The workers at The Jersey Journal finally had enough. They stood up to management and demanded that the hard work, dedication, and incredible talent that they put into the publication be acknowledged. This raise is a longtime coming.” 

Upon hearing that management was offering a one percent increase, members devised a grassroots local campaign entitled #SaveTheJersey.” Designed to demonstrate to management that by not paying your reporters a fair wage you’re ultimately hurting the publication and the community, #SaveTheJersey successfully garnered many community voices--from politicians to local readers. 

“This wage increase was a hard fight for us,” said member and Unit Chair, Tanya Manthey. “But, it was worth it. Not only did we get the raises that we deserve, but we showed management that the community and its leaders are on our side, advocating for us and, just like the Guild members here, for The Jersey Journal.

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About the NewsGuild of New York
The NewsGuild, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America is a labor union representing nearly 3,400 media professionals and other employees at New York area news organizations, including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Thomson Reuters, The Nation, The New Yorker, The New Republic and
The Daily Beast. 

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