Tronc agrees to let its Virginia offices unionize: NPR

Updated at 4:13 pm ET

The organizers told the NPR that journalists from its two newspapers in Virginia on Friday organized journalists, which avoided the need for a vote under federal supervision.

The decision to syndicate the newsrooms combined to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk and the Daily Press at Newport News followed the successful organizational efforts earlier this year in Tronc's largest properties, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. The company then sold the LA Times to a billionaire trunk investor.

According to the organizers, more than 83% of editorial board employees in Virginia newspapers supported the unionization effort.

The Trunk Agreement to voluntarily recognize the union only occurred 10 days after the Tidewater Media Guild had formally asked the company to do so. Trunk initially refused, and on September 6, the guild asked the National Labor Relations Board to oversee a unionization vote.

"The voluntary recognition of the union by Tronc means that journalists will no longer have to stand for election and can start negotiating a contract," the guild said Friday. "Legal protections for all included newsrooms come into effect immediately."

In his own statement, Mr. Tronc said he "looks forward to a productive bargaining process with union leaders." We remain committed to ensuring that the Virginia Media Group is the primary source of news and information. And continues to produce the award-winning journalism expected by the communities we serve. "

Tronc completed its purchase of The Virginian-Pilot in May and combines leadership and essays from The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press.

The union would represent more than 100 journalists in these newspapers and two related publications, The Virginia Gazette and the Tidewater Review.

Lisa Vernon Sparks, journalist for the Daily Press, called the union's recognition "a big step forward" and said it would help keep talented journalists in the Hampton Roads area.

The guild said that in unionizing, "journalists seek among other things to ensure pay equity, fair employment practices and diversity of the workforce."

The first unionization campaigns at Tronc took different paths, even if the results were the same.

Before selling the LA Times, Trunk was severely beaten during a union vote under the federal government, despite a management campaign aimed at thwarting the unionization effort. the Chicago Tribune, Trunk called for elections under federal supervision, but ended up negotiating the terms of union recognition before an official vote took place.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Trunk – who also owns the New York Daily News, The Baltimore sun, Orlando Sentinel and other papers – itself is in talks to be sold.