ProPublica workers walk out on 24-hour strike

ProPublica, the national nonprofit newsroom, boasts a mission of holding power to account. This week, its employees say they’re directing that mission at the company itself.

Around 150 members of the ProPublica Guild, the union representing staff across the news organization, walked off the job on April 8 for a 24-hour strike. Workers formed picket lines outside ProPublica’s office in Hudson Square, joining peers in Washington D.C. and Chicago, wielding signs demanding a fair contract.

The strike, which has been gearing up since early February, follows over two years of bargaining between the guild and ProPublica management for its first contract. The guild is seeking “very basic, very standard union protections,” said Jeff Ernsthausen, a senior data reporter and the guild's secretary.

These protections include just cause job security provisions for disciplining and firing employees, restrictions on AI usage in the newsroom, and pay bumps to keep up with rising cost of living. 

“We're not asking for the moon here, despite what management keeps trying to tell us,” Ernsthausen said during a midday rally at the lower Manhattan picket line. 

ProPublica management, the union says, has “slow-walked” negotiations, and pushed back on all their demands. 

“We've had enough of the stalling. Our proposals are reasonable, and it's time for management to take us seriously,” said Agnel Philip, a data reporter and the guild's unit chair.

A ProPublica spokesperson said the company is committed to “reaching a fair and sustainable first contract” for its staff, adding that its journalists are paid “extremely competitively.”

Focus on AI

The strike, organizers said, was formed as a statement of the guild’s collective power.

“This is a signal of the strong solidarity and support we have in our unit to keep going until we get the contract we deserve,” said Asia Fields, an engagement reporter at ProPublica based in Seattle.

Guild organizers were joined at the rally by leaders from the NewsGuild of New York, the local union representing the unit, as well as the NewsGuild’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America. Representatives from the Civil Service Employees Association and the New York City Central Labor Council also voiced their unwavering support for the strikers. 

Many signs and chants during the strike centered on AI, and what guild members say is a lack of assurance from management that the technology won’t replace them. 

On April 6, the guild filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against ProPublica, claiming the company did not consult the union before implementing its new AI policy. Union members voted 92 percent to authorize a strike.

“We need to know that AI isn't going to be recklessly used to replace our jobs and undermine the trust we've built with our readers,” Ernsthausen said. 

ProPublica’s proposals on AI use and job security are in line with those accepted by NewsGuild units at other national news organizations like The New Yorker and The New York Times, a company spokesperson told The Chief. 

“It’s too soon to know exactly how AI will affect our work,” the spokesperson added. “Rather than make promises we can’t responsibly keep, we are exploring how these technologies can create more space for investigative reporting and thinking deeply and creatively, not less.

'Pretty demoralizing'

For Fields, the company’s lack of just cause provisions was a chief concern.

“It's ridiculous, frankly, that we've been bargaining for more than two years, and we still don't have just cause, which is so standard in our industry,” Fields said, adding she’s seen “a lot” of colleagues leave due to the company’s “unfair” disciplinary system.

“It's been pretty demoralizing,” she said. 

Katie Campbell, a video journalist and member of the guild’s unit council, said all progress made by ProPublica staff since she arrived eight years ago has been the result of staff advocacy. These gains include a parental leave policy, diversity in hiring, and pay equity.

“If you look at the history of this organization, the reason it is as strong as it is today is because workers spoke up again and again over the years,” Campbell said. 

The strike ended Wednesday at 5 p.m., and union members returned to work Thursday morning. As bargaining continues, union leaders say they hope the strike accelerates talks after years of little progress.