Connecticut News Guild, Connecticut’s chapter of NewsGuild-CWA, announced this morning that over 80% of the staff of Hearst Connecticut Media Group (HCMG), the largest owner of newspapers in Connecticut, have officially gone public with their desire to form a union with NewsGuild-CWA. The Guild cited factors such as inadequate pay, blanket return to office policies, and concerns over artificial intelligence as employees’ reasons for unionizing.

“We’re hoping to achieve a fair contract that benefits not only us but our readership and the state of Connecticut as well,” said Adrian Szkolar, a digital producer for HCMG in a conversation with Inside Investigator. “We’re very passionate about our jobs, the role and service we play in society. We’re hoping that through doing this, we make it more sustainable to be a professional journalist, and also to ensure on the management side as well, that we can provide the best quality journalism to our readers.”

Earlier today, HCMG employees presented their respective managers with signed mission statements requesting that Hearst voluntarily recognize their union. Skzolar said that union members received communication earlier today from Mike DeLuca, HCMG’s CEO, that the company does not intend to voluntarily recognize the union. In spite of this, Szkolar remains optimistic that Hearst may choose to recognize the union once further negotiations are held.

“We’ll continue communicating with management,” said Szkolar. “We’re obviously hoping they can voluntarily recognize us, but we’re also very confident that if it goes to an election, that we would win unanimous support for it.”

Szkolar said that last he checked, 84% of HCMG staff had signed union cards, indicating their support for unionization. If Hearst continues its refusal to voluntarily recognize the union, Szkolar said the two sides will have to negotiate as to which members would be eligible for union coverage, before the union petitions to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for an election. For the union to be nationally recognized via election, a simple majority of 50% of the union’s eligible employees plus one must vote in favor of unionization. 

HCMG represents the largest newspaper employer in the state of Connecticut, owning 23 papers in total across the state, including the digital publication, CT Insider. Some of Hearst’s other largest Connecticut papers are the New Haven Register, which it purchased in 2017, and CTPost, which it purchased in 2008. In the past year, Hearst also purchased The Journal Inquirer in Manchester and the Record Journal in Meriden. Outside of Connecticut, Hearst owns large newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, magazines such as Cosmopolitan, and co-owns major broadcasting companies such as A&E Network and ESPN, Inc. with Disney.

Hearst’s recent string of Connecticut acquisitions followed its steadily rising revenue streams; according to Forbes, Hearst made $12 billion in revenue in 2023, a massive increase from $3.8 billion in 2012. According to Hearst CEO Steve Swartz in his 2024 Annual Letter, 2023 ranked as the company’s “second-best year ever,” behind only 2022. Despite Hearst’s financial growth, and the moves it has made to invest ever larger sums of money into the state’s media market, employees have argued that not enough of its profit has trickled down to their salaries.

“Some Hearst Connecticut publications cover municipalities that are among the wealthiest and most expensive in the country, while many reporters and photographers are earning $50,000 per year or less, in a state where the mean income is $69,000 and average rent is $2,000 per month,” read a statement released on NewsGuild-CWA’s website.

While pay represents the largest concern, the statement also highlighted the recent implementation of a return to office policy that was put in place without employee input, which does not compensate employees for commuting costs. Increasing utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) was also mentioned, with the statement announcing union members’ desire to contractually guarantee that their jobs will not be replaced by AI in the future. Szkolar also said that the consolidation of papers by Hearst has also led to an increased workload for employees of some of its smaller publications.

“It definitely seems like for a lot of the reporters, some of them who are hired to work for one paper locally they definitely get stretched into working for other papers,” said Szkolar.

Szkolar, who started working for Hearst in April 2023, said that the push for unionization predated his time at Hearst. He said that behind-the-scenes organization began around two years ago and that he was first made aware of unionization efforts this February. Szkolar said the group still has yet to decide who will take leadership positions, and that while employees’ have voiced various complaints, they have yet to fully cement what concessions they may request in future bargaining.

“Once we square this away with management, towards getting our recognition, I imagine we’ll focus on leadership,” said Szkolar. “We’re looking forward just to speaking with them and kind of coming together just to say, ‘Hey, we want a voice at the table.’”

Szkolar indicated that he and other union members are optimistic about their chances towards recognition and future bargaining agreements, and were happy with the outpouring of support they have since received from Connecticut lawmakers, representatives, and readers themselves. Governor Ned Lamont, as well as both of Connecticut’s U.S. Senators, Sen. Chris Murphy and Sen. Matt Blumenthal have all tweeted in support of the union.

“Local journalism is the heartbeat of a community,” read Lamont’s tweet. “The reporters at Hearst are providing a valuable public service for everyone in Connecticut and they should be supported for the work they provide.”

According to NewsGuild-CWA, they are North America’s largest media union, representing over 25,000 journalists and communications employees in the U.S. and Canada. Szkolar said that members of the public could support unionization efforts by following @CTNewsGuild on Twitter and Instagram, and by signing a petition requesting that Hearst voluntarily recognize the union.

“I think this effort to ensure that people can continue working in this industry, so that it’s more sustainable of a career, I think that’s important,” said Szkolar. “That’s important for us, and I think that’s important for society, that we have journalists who understand how to report and dissect information.”

Hearst’s Communication Director and Vice-President of Communications did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

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