Workers at nonprofit news site San Antonio Report vote to unionize

Staff at nonprofit news organization San Antonio Report have voted to unionize, according to a Tuesday social media post.

Reporters, editors, business staffers and photojournalists at the 12-year-old outlet moved to join the Media Guild of the West after witnessing staffing- and budget-related issues at other nonprofit publications, the San Antonio Report Union wrote in a statement shared Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“A Union is the best way — as part of our inevitable evolution — to codify the progress we’ve made and sustain our journalism for the future,” Iris Dimmick, the San Antonio Report’s senior reporter, said in a statement.

The workers’ move comes roughly six months after the Texas Tribune, one of the state’s most visible nonprofit journalism organizations, announced it was laying off 10% of its staff after failing to hit revenue goals. Earlier this month, nonprofit news startup Houston Landing fired its editor and top investigative reporter.

Among other things, the San Antonio Report’s organizing workers are after improvements in pay equity, grievance procedures and job security. They also said they want the outlet to enforce clear boundaries with donors to protect the newsroom’s journalistic integrity.

The organizing move has 100% support from all union-eligible employees at the San Antonio Report, according to the social media post. Employees gave the publication’s management until Thursday to voluntarily recognize the union.

In an emailed statement, San Antonio Report Publisher and CEO Angie Mock didn’t say whether management plans to recognize the organizing effort by the deadline. However, she said the nonprofit continues to be transparent and open with its staff.

“We understand the economic concerns among our journalists. They are universal,” Mock said. “Like many nonprofit organizations, we are experiencing a post-pandemic down cycle with fundraising, and that is constraining our spending. Our board and leadership are confident we will surmount these challenges and continue to provide a valuable service to our readers and supporters. Meanwhile, we will continue to do everything we can within our means to make the Report a great place to work.”

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

This article appears in Jan 10-23, 2024.