Journalists employed by Southern California News Group, including the Orange County Register and L.A. Daily News, have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, their union announced Monday.
The SCNG union said that its members granted their leadership the authority to call an open-ended walkout by a vote of 94%. More than 90% of 125 unionized journalists — including reporters and photographers, as well as digital, social media and production staffers — spanning 11 SCNG newsrooms participated in the strike authorization vote, according to the union.
The Southern California News Group union belongs to the Media Guild of the West, which also represents journalists at the Los Angeles Times.
The labor organization has accused SCNG — a subsidiary of MediaNews Group, which is owned by Alden Global Capital — of engaging in unfair labor practices, stalling contract negotiations and underpaying its employees, alleging that many SCNG reporters haven’t received a raise in more than a decade.
Representatives for SCNG and MediaNews Group did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment.
“This vote should serve as a wakeup call for management who for more than 2½ years of bargaining has failed to offer acceptable wages and benefits,” Sean Emery, a SCNG reporter and guild unit chair, said in a statement.
“The patience of our members is wearing thin. They are tired of struggling to survive on low wages that have remained stagnant for years.”
In addition to the Register and Daily News, SCNG publications include Riverside’s Press-Enterprise, the San Bernardino Sun, Torrance’s Daily Breeze, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach’s Press-Telegram, the Pasadena Star-News, Redlands Daily Facts, the Whittier Daily News and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
The company’s journalists voted to unionize under the Media Guild of the West in 2021 and have been bargaining for a new contract for two years. If the union calls a strike, it would mark the first open-ended work stoppage by employees at a newsroom belonging to Alden Global Capital, the union said.
In December, SCNG staffers staged a one-day walkout to protest the company’s alleged stalling tactics and unfair labor practices.