In response to the announcement of “significant” planned layoffs, unionized staff members at the Los Angeles Times are initiating a one-day strike scheduled for Friday.
This walkout, termed by the Los Angeles Times Guild as the first newsroom union strike in the paper’s history, is a reaction to the layoffs unveiled by management on Thursday, aimed at reducing the paper’s 2024 budget. The union has confirmed that staff members nationwide, comprising around 400 editorial employees, including reporters, photographers, and editors, will participate in the strike.
Concurrently with the strike, the union is organizing a “Rally to Save Local Journalism” at the Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles on Friday at noon. The Times Guild justified the strike in a statement, asserting that the management intends to carry out layoffs swiftly and is seeking to modify seniority protections in the union contract, thereby impinging on the paper’s ability to deliver essential accountability journalism for Southern California.
Los Angeles Times Employees Prepare for Inaugural Newsroom Union Strike in the Paper’s History (Credits: Getty Images)
The union’s ability to call for a strike arises from working under an expired contract for several months, which is currently under negotiation with the paper’s management. Responding to the strike, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Times expressed disappointment in the Guild’s decision but acknowledged their right to strike, emphasizing the paper’s uninterrupted publishing history of 142 years.
The union had initially alerted members about the imminent cuts in an email on Wednesday, describing the situation as “the Big One.” Times management then officially announced the planned layoffs to the newsroom on Thursday.
In a statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Times attributed the planned cuts to the need to reduce the operating budget for the current year, emphasizing the careful consideration given to decisions impacting employees.
These layoffs come shortly after the departure of Times executive editor Kevin Merida, who announced his decision to leave the paper after discussions with the newspaper’s owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
The union outlined its demands in the Thursday statement, including disclosure of the number of staff layoffs and the targeted reduction in salary. Additionally, the union is calling for a town hall led by interim leaders to explain the revenue-increasing plan and requesting union involvement in the search for a new executive editor.
“The NewsGuild-CWA international president Jon Schleuss, who previously worked at the Times, said in a statement, ‘We built a union to safeguard the future of the Los Angeles Times and its journalists, and that mission hasn’t changed. The owner can do the right thing by working with journalists to find a solution that’s both humane and does the right thing for an international community that depends on L.A. Times reporting.'”
