Timesland journalists gain raises, protections with first Lee Enterprises contract

For Immediate Release: March 10, 2021

Contact: (540) 339-7635

ROANOKE, Va. — Journalists at The Roanoke Times and Laker Weekly have voted 37-1 to ratify a contract with newspaper owner Lee Enterprises that includes employee pay raises and secures important benefits.

This is the first contract for the newsroom union that formed last year. The Timesland News Guild represents more than 40 employees at The Roanoke Times and Laker Weekly.

“Today is a watershed moment in my 21 years with The Roanoke Times,” said Tonia Moxley, a reporter and chair of the union. “For the first time in my working life in Virginia, I can't be fired without just cause. My coworkers and I have the right to union representation in disputes with management and a range of other protections. With this contract, we finally have a seat at the table and the right to meet regularly with management to advocate not just for worker concerns, but for the best interests of readers. It's a new day.”

Through the tireless advocacy and commitment of Timesland journalists and staffers, this contract proposal achieves pay raises and begins addressing wage disparities. Among the highlights of the contract:

• Most union members will get a raise of 2%, a significant victory the union hopes to build on in future years to ensure dedicated people can afford to stay in journalism. Lee fought proposals for any wage increases, but Timesland bargainers held firm.

• Eleven employees — about a quarter of the newsroom — will get a raise in excess of 2% (from 2.8% to 12.1%) to begin taking long-overdue steps to correct salary inequities.

• Union members are assured stronger severance protections, better parental leave, extra holiday pay, and a guaranteed 40-hour work week for full-time staffers.

• The company must interview at least one member of a historically underrepresented group during hiring, a step toward ensuring diversity in the recruitment process.

“I have been awed by the selflessness and commitment of my colleagues in Timesland,” said Alicia Petska, a reporter and the union's secretary. “People put in long hours to fight for others in the newsroom and for future generations of journalists who deserve fair pay and fair benefits. By standing together, we've made gains that would not have been possible otherwise.”

Members of the Timesland bargaining committee spent eight months negotiating with the company.

“I’ve been working at the paper for almost a quarter of a century, but I’ve never really had a say in the working conditions, and it’s good to finally have a voice and be heard,” said Howard Wimmer, a copy editor. “The bargaining team did an excellent job of representing their coworkers and fighting for what we think is fair and equitable.”

The guild did not achieve everything it sought in this first contract. The company carried out its planned increases in health care costs and refused to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth as holidays.

But members of the Timesland News Guild believe the final contract marks a significant development toward achieving a more just, equitable and transparent workplace.

“This is a first contract that the members at The Roanoke Times should rightfully be proud of,” said Paul Reilly, local representative of the Washington Baltimore News Guild and chief negotiator. “While we didn’t achieve all of our goals, due to the solidarity of our members, we’ve made a giant first step in that direction.” 

The contract will be in effect for one year.

### About The Roanoke Times: Serving Roanoke and Southwest Virginia since its founding in 1886 The Roanoke Times publishes a daily print and online newspaper to about 30,000 print subscribers and more than 40,000 daily digital readers. The largest professional news outlet in Southwest Virginia, The Roanoke Times employs 46 journalists.

### About The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America: The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 24,000 journalists and other media workers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, including The Charlottesville Daily Progress, The Virginian-Pilot, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune.