Democrat and Chronicle reporters have a new contract

After two-and-a-half years of bargaining and a recent strike, two dozen journalists at the Democrat and Chronicle have a new two-year contract. It also affects reporters at the Canandaigua Daily Messenger.

The reporters, photojournalists and producers went on strike against the paper’s owner, Gannett, in early April, over a variety of pay and job security issues. They returned to work after a 19-day strike but continued to hold informational pickets near the D&C’s building on E. Main Street.

On Monday, the Newspaper Guild of Rochester, said that their members had unanimously approved a new two-year contract.

Among the gains the union said the journalists achieved:

• An average raise of 15% over the life of the contract.
  
• A new minimum salary scale that the union said corrects for longstanding pay inequities.
  
• Annual raises and new layoff protections.
  
• A contractual commitment that artificial intelligence (AI) is “supplementary to local news reporting and is not a replacement for it.”

Justin Murphy is Vice Chair of the local guild. He said that one of the key objectives was helping journalists achieve “a living wage” and have fair benefits and job protections. He is hoping the contract achievements will help the newspaper retain reporters.
Murphy said that the local members of the Newspaper Guild will also continue to advocate for their colleagues located at other Gannett newspapers.

Murphy said the union believes it was their ability “to organize and ultimately strike” that really put pressure on Gannett to settle on the new contract.

In a joint statement from the Democrat and Chronicle/Daily Messenger and the Newspaper Guild of Rochester the two sides said the company “sincerely believes these terms benefit our hard-working and talented journalists while positioning our local publications to continue providing stability and growth.”

The statement said that they look at it as an opportunity for labor and management to partner in meeting the many challenges the industry faces.