Journalists at the Lawrence Journal-World have voted to unionize with the United Media Guild, Local 34067 with The NewsGuild-CWA.
Due to the pandemic, balloting was conducted by mail earlier this month. The National Labor Relations Board office in suburban Kansas City counted the ballots Monday via a Zoom call.
The UMG won the election by a two-to-one margin. We will soon begin bargaining a first contract for these journalists with the Journal-World, which is owned by Ogden Newspapers.
The Journal-World becomes the ninth daily newspaper unit in the UMG, joining the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Peoria Journal Star, Pekin Daily Times, State Journal-Register, Rockford Register Star, Freeport Journal Standard, Southern Illinoisan and Springfield News-Leader.
The UMG also represents media employees at the St. Louis Review, St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune, KSDK-TV, Truthout as well multiple social justice organizations.