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Fort Worth Star-Telegram producer and secretary of the Fort Worth NewsGuild Josh Connelly pickets near the Crockett Row area of West 7th, Tuesday, Nov. 29. (Photos by Stephen Montoya)
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When Fort Worth Star-Telegram video producer, Candi Bolden, first started working as a journalist in 2017, she never thought she would be part of a union strike. Flash-forward six years, and that is exactly where Bolden — along with several of her co-workers — found themselves in an attempt to receive better wages and benefits.
The people Bolden are marching with are members of the Fort Worth NewsGuild, a union that has been in negotiations with Star Telegram’s parent, McClatchy, for two years. On the table: higher salaries, sick leave, and layoffs and severance packages. However, McClatchy, a publishing company that operates more than two dozen other daily newspapers across the U.S., hasn’t agreed to any of these asks, which didn’t sit well with 91% of NewsGuild’s voting members.
Wednesday marked the third day of the strike, which took place in a two block radius around the Crockett Row of West 7th.
“My struggles started in 2018 when I had a medical issue, and I was unable to work for a week,” Bolden says. “When I came back from that week, I basically wasn’t able to pay [my] bills.”
Bolden said she asked the publication for financial help but was given a list of local charities instead. “I’ve done a lot of things to try and keep above board or to make ends meet,” she says. “I’ve baby sat; dog sat … I even donated plasma, all while still working full-time as a journalist during the day.”
Bolden’s experience is just one of many that exemplifies why a majority of the journalists at the Star-Telegram are making the news instead of reporting it.
In 2020, McClatchy sold to Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey hedge fund in a deal, valued at $312 million, worked out in bankruptcy court. McClatchy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after more than a decade of losses and cutbacks, which included rounds of layoffs.
The Star-Telegram, which once employed more than 1,400, is shell of that today.
The deal was part of a trend in the industry in which more and more troubled news assets were finding homes under the umbrellas of investment companies. Critics say financial firms are not appropriate administrators of news organizations, particularly those who document the work of commerce and finance as watchdogs.
“This is my second gig as a writer out of college, and I could barely make ends meet with the pay,” says Isaac Windes, a Star-Telegram reporter and President of the Fort Worth NewsGuild. “What makes this situation worse is that McClatchy hasn’t really responded to our proposed articles to try and fix these issues.”
According to Windes, McClatchy has shown a pattern of unfair bargaining practices when it comes to the union’s requests. In fact, the Fort Worth NewsGuild filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in August, stating that McClatchy violated federal labor law by refusing to negotiate fairly. This is just one of several complaints against the California-based company regarding alleged unfair labor practices.
Star-Telegram president and editor, Steve Coffman, said in an email to Fort Worth Magazine: “We continue to bargain in good faith and look forward to reaching an agreement.”
McClatchy and the guild have a meeting scheduled for Dec. 8, but Windes said he would like to see that meeting moved up.
“We are taking this strike one day at a time, so the sooner we get to the bargaining table, the better,” he says.
Under the current rules and benefits plan for Star-Telegram employees, an employee in an inactive status (that is, unpaid leave) will no longer be eligible to participate in the healthcare plan effective at the end of the calendar month when the unpaid leave began. For example, an employee who begins unpaid leave Nov. 28, will see their healthcare insurance lapse at the end of the day on Nov. 30.
When an employee returns from an inactive employment status, they can re-enroll in coverage, which will take effect the first day of the calendar month following the return. For example, an employee who begins unpaid leave Nov. 28, and returns to an active status on Dec. 5, would be eligible for coverage beginning on Jan. 1 the following year, leaving an almost month-long gap in coverage.
Kaley Johnson, NewsGuild unit chair and a Star-Telegram journalist, verified that the Star-Telegram has already posted a few of the guild member’s positions as open.
“The company has opted to revoke our benefits and post our jobs online to try and encourage others to cross the picket line,” she said in an email Tuesday. “The Fort Worth NewsGuild is dedicated to fair conditions for Star-Telegram employees. No amount of union busting will change that. McClatchy can take away our benefits, but not our fight. McClatchy can post our jobs and try to replace local coverage, but our community knows better — they deserve a dedicated local staff. We are not backing down, and [we] expect McClatchy will meet us at the table this week.”
The NewsGuild has set up a GoFundMe page with the title Fort Worth NewsGuild Strike Fund with a goal of reaching $30,000. The funds are earmarked for providing financial support for its union members during the strike. As of this writing, the page had reached more than $20,000 in donations.
