Unions representing workers at five Pacific Northwest newspapers have ratified a new three-year contract with McClatchy Media, securing guaranteed raises and some of the strongest protections against artificial intelligence in the news industry, according to a news release from the unions.
The Idaho and Washington State News Guilds announced the contract approval on Monday, June 29.
The two contracts, one in Washington and one in Idaho, cover journalists at the Idaho Statesman, Tacoma News Tribune, Tri-City Herald, Bellingham Herald and The Olympian.
Workers at those five papers conducted a one-day strike in May on their way to winning the following victories for workers:
• Guaranteed raises of 7.2% to 15.5% over the next three years, including immediate raises of 3% to 11.1%
• $52,000 minimum salary for current employees
• Ban on AI replacing staff, decreasing pay or reducing working hours
• AI cannot do union members’ work without their direct control
• Ban on mandatory production quotas in performance reviews
• Minimum annual training budget ($4,000 in Idaho, $7,500 in Washington)
• Improved just cause and discipline protections
The ratification follows more than a year of negotiations for a second contract with McClatchy, a hedge-fund owned national media company.
Two bargaining units — the Washington State NewsGuild and the Idaho News Guild — worked together to improve working conditions and wages for their 52 members across two states.
“Solidarity works,” said Washington State NewsGuild Secretary Eric Rosane, a civic accountability reporter at the Tri-City Herald and former reporter for The Chronicle. “By working together and leveraging our collective power, we made a raft of improvements that will make an immediate impact on our members’ lives.”
The unions secured additional AI protections that ensure journalists retain oversight of the emerging technology.
Nothing generated by AI can be published without human review, and no member can be forced to rely on AI as a source of factual information, according to the unions.
The contract also requires McClatchy to disclose AI use to its readers and prevents the company from impersonating journalists or disciplining members for a chatbot’s mistakes.
“McClatchy’s obsession with AI has led to a series of sloppy mistakes and made our jobs more difficult by damaging our credibility in our communities,” the unions said in a news release, citing examples such as an article claiming a popular brewery had closed when it hadn’t, and informing Washington readers of sales at businesses that were no longer open.
The AI fight escalated this spring when McClatchy tried to force journalists to put their names on AI rewrites of their original work, the unions stated.
Union members in Washington and Idaho refused, joining colleagues at the Sacramento Bee and Miami Herald in a byline strike.
That attempted AI policy rollout led to the creation of a new union at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania.
“Readers can trust that we will hold our corporate owners accountable,” said Idaho News Guild chair Michael Lycklama, a sports reporter for the Idaho Statesman. “We fought long and hard for these protections. We plan to use them to ensure our communities get the news they deserve, not more AI slop.”
Additional worker victories include first consideration for the hiring of open roles, increased pay for interns and late-night work, and a requirement that all employees are considered for merit raises every year. Any employee that doesn’t receive a merit raise must be told why verbally and in writing.
A full copy of the contract will be posted to the Pacific Northwest Newspapers Guild website at https://www.pnwguild.org/.
The Olympian has been operating as a local newspaper for the Olympia area since 1852. McClatchy Media has owned the publication since it acquired The Olympian’s then-parent company, Knight Ridder, in 2006.
The Washington State News Guild was established in 2021.
