Journalists at five McClatchy Media-owned papers in Washington and Idaho walked off the job on Tuesday, demanding better pay.
At a demonstration in downtown Tacoma, Tacoma News Tribune food reporter Kristine Sherred addressed the crowd.
“ We know that McClatchy could prioritize paying its journalists fairly because they are spending money on untested, unproven AI technology,” Sherred said.
The 50 journalists in Tacoma, Kennewick, Bellingham, Olympia and Boise, Idaho, are represented by the Idaho and Washington State Newsguilds, under the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
Together, the unions have been bargaining with McClatchy for over a year. But the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild said the company won’t budge on wages.
The guild said the company isn’t bargaining in good faith because they aren’t putting decision makers at the bargaining table. That’s why journalists walked off the job.
For the one-day strike, journalists at the news outlets are asking readers not to visit the newspapers’ websites. With the local journalists off the job, Courtney Scott, executive officer of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, said it’s anyone’s guess what the company will fill its news sites with.
“ I think there's a chance that they post a bunch of AI garbage, that's a thing they've done,” Scott said. “I don't know. But it's not our problem today.”
One of the things union members have fought for in this contract is better protections against AI. The company has used AI-generated content on its websites, at times without prior authorization or notice to the reporters, whose content is feeding the AI.
“ We've seen that these hedge fund-owned papers don't really care about the integrity. They'll push AI slop. They're working for profits. They're pushing quotes,” Scott said. “It doesn't make for good quality news that the community actually deserves.”
The guild said they’ve been able to get tentative agreements on AI protections. But without better pay, union members say journalists won’t be able to stay covering their local community.
The guild said the company won’t move on its $52,000 salary floor for current journalists and $50,000 for anyone hired in the future. For other McClatchy papers, Sherred said the pay is upwards of $60,000.
“More than half of our 31 members in Washington state earn $55,000 or less, and a third of them earn just $50,000 or less,” Sherred said. “These are not just entry-level jobs. Many of these reporters and photographers standing with me today have years, even decades of experience.”
Scott said the guild hopes to send the message to McClatchy that journalists are ready and willing to withhold labor. The guild organized a strike fund on GoFundMe to support members.
Other McClatchy bargaining units across the United States in the News Guild have expressed solidarity with the striking Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild members, Scott said.
At the Tacoma demonstration, Alice Phillips addressed the crowd. She’s the president of the Pierce County Central Labor Council.
“ I don't know about you guys, but the rest of the citizens, not only of Tacoma, but the other areas that you mentioned, do not want AI algorithm-fed news articles in their newspaper," Phillips said.
The crowd responded with a resounding, “No, we don’t.”
