Photo by Tom Adams
New York’s hometown newspaper forms a union
The New York Daily News, since its inception in 1919, has occupied a unique position in the nation’s largest city: Giving a voice to the voiceless, afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted, casting its wary eyes across the five boroughs into a new millennium. Along the way, it has claimed 11 Pulitzer Prizes, the most recent in 2017. Its newsroom provided a home to a collection of journalistic giants: Pete Hamill, Jimmy Breslin, E.R. Shipp, Juan González, Earl Caldwell, Mike McAlary.
Times change, but the mission remains the same: A conscientious chronicling of life in New York, a collective finger still taking the pulse of our home from the streets to the subways and beyond.
One year into our second century, we – the paper’s print, digital and photo employees – seek to secure the paper’s future and ensure its voice endures as part of the city’s constant conversation. With that goal in mind, we are forming a union with the NewsGuild of New York to ensure our role in the city we serve for the newspaper we cherish.
It is a move we make in the face of an uncertain future, when we’ve worked tirelessly through a pandemic that’s upended the world and our industry. It’s an era when simple comforts like a newsroom are not guaranteed and journalists across the country are regularly fired and furloughed, overworked and underpaid.
Our union, in these uncertain times, seeks fair compensation and job security. A staff that reflects the city’s dynamic diversity. And the resources that will embolden us to do our jobs confidently and collaboratively.
We join publications like The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune in unionizing our newsroom.
We will continue delivering our readers the best local and national journalism in the city. And we seek a productive relationship with our publishers as we set forth to collectively bargain and build a sturdier publication.
We are asking Tribune Publishing, the News’ parent company, to voluntarily recognize our union without delay. And we ask our readers to support our efforts to create a just and equitable workplace, one that fosters essential journalism and gives us a fair shake. Together we can sustain the newspaper as a formidable force in the century to come.
Support your local journalists.
Stand with us for a stronger
Daily News.
Your support helps us ensure the future of the Daily News and our ability to continue providing the award-winning stories you expect. Help us make our voice heard!
Why we did it
”We want to keep doing our jobs, keep sharing stories, keep bringing out the truth and, where we can, the light. That’s what our union is about: giving us the support to do our jobs.”
— Kate Feldman, National News Reporter & Senior TV Writer
”For more than a century, the Daily News forged a perfect union with New York City. We’re looking forward to the next 100 years.”
— Larry McShane, Metro Reporter
"The talented reporters at this paper know how important their beats are to the city. Their tireless dedication to the job has an immeasurable impact on the lives of New Yorkers. We’ve formed a union to make sure we can continue that mission."
— Clayton Guse, Transit Reporter
“The staff of the Daily News strive everyday to give a voice to the voiceless. It's time we had a voice ourselves as the journalism business continues to face huge challenges. I am proud to be part of the Daily News Union.”
— Shant Shahrigian, City Hall Reporter
"We deserve far better treatment from our owners, and New York deserves a better Daily News."
— Dennis Young, Sports Writer/Editor
“The Daily News union stands to benefit our staff, our readers and the city we all love. A strong Daily News means a strong New York, and we unionized because the talented reporters and editors that make up this wonderful newspaper deserve job security, representation and better resources to serve the people of New York.”
— Chris Sommerfeldt, Politics Reporter
"I want to work in an equitable newsroom and be protected during this unprecedented time and in the future."
— David Matthews, Reporter
“For more than a century the Daily News has reported on people, places and things that are important to New Yorkers and beyond. We can only continue to be a hometown paper with national appeal by supporting the workers whose talents and sensibilities make us one.”
— Brian Niemietz, National News Reporter
”The Daily News carries a fantastic history of bringing New York City and the nation to life. Forming a union will help ensure that the paper will continue to work for New Yorkers for many years and decades to come.”
— Tim Balk, National News Reporter
”Delivering the news with care and accuracy, and, in turn, helping to make and keep people aware of their surroundings is one of the great honors of this profession. Doing so for the greatest city in the world is an indescribable privilege — one which this union will help to ensure we can keep doing and most importantly, keep doing well.”
— Jami Ganz, National News Reporter
"Journalism is a public service, and a robust press is a cornerstone of democracy. Keeping intact our ability to inform the public and tell people's stories is essential."
— Theresa Braine, National News Reporter
“I look at it (the union) like a fire extinguisher: Break glass in case of emergency. We all need one of those lying around in case things go sideways - and just as importantly, before they do. The union can also serve as a conduit and an advocate to help staffers hesitant to raise issues on their own.”
— Graham Rayman, Criminal Justice and Policing Reporter
“A year after I joined the Daily News as an intern in 2017, half the staff was unceremoniously laid off in a single day. While a union is not a panacea in an industry plagued with financial issues, it ensures that we as workers have a voice and can speak up loudly together to fight for fair treatment at the newspaper that we all cherish.”
— Noah Goldberg, Brooklyn courts reporter
“We push the institutions we cover each day to be more transparent, fair and accountable. Through our union, we're making those same demands of the paper we all love and work so hard for.”
— Michael Elsen-Rooney, Education Reporter
“Through shootings and accidents, parades and press conferences, I’ve learned more about this city— and about humanity— than most people can ever hope to know. But one of the biggest takeaways for me has been the value of local journalism. The New York Daily News is an institution, but it wouldn’t be that if it weren’t for the passionate individuals behind each page of ink— reporters willing to work incredibly hard (and in a pandemic, risk their lives) for the citizens they cover. We’re the ones who care about those folks that everyone else has forgotten; we’re the ones who tell neighbors about important events unfolding down the block. We need a union to ensure that we can continue to tell those stories for our city for generations to come.”
— Brittany Kriegstein, Reporter