Texas Public Radio is housed inside downtown’s Irma & Emilio Nicolas Media Center. Credit: Creative Commons / Nathan Cone

Employees at Texas Public Radio this week became the latest workers at a San Antonio news organization to seek union representation.

In Monday post on social media platform X, members of the station’s newsroom  staff said they’re organizing as part of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which represents performers and broadcasters.

“We believe the content we create reflects the diversity and culture that makes South Texas unique, and we believe a union organized with SAG-AFTRA will safeguard our organization’s future success,” the employees said in their statement.

The unionization effort by TPR staffers comes less than a year after longtime CEO Joyce Slocum died in March following a long illness. Ashley Alvarado, Southern California Public Radio’s vice president of community engagement, was named TPR’s new CEO last month.

TPR’s executive leadership have said they’re committed to improving workers’ wages and fostering unity, the organizing employees said in their statement. Even so, the workers said they believe collective bargaining will best serve those goals.

“While we acknowledge and appreciate that expressed commitment, we believe the best way to improve wages and unity is to form a union and engage in the collective bargaining process,” the post added.

Alvarado was unavailable for immediate comment.

The organizing effort at TPR represents the third at a San Antonio news outlet this year.

The San Antonio Report voluntarily recognized its employee union in January. Workers at the Hearst-owned San Antonio Express-News and MySA also organized earlier this year, but workers voted 36-31 against union membership in April.

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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...