EVERETT, AUG. 5: The final day for 12 Everett Herald Union workers was last week amidst layoffs by owners Carpenter Media Group (CMG).
The layoffs were announced in June by CMG, with 62 employees being laid off across Sound Publishing. The Herald is one of 43 media outlets in Washington and Alaska under Sound Publishing, the largest local news organization in Washington.
Herald employees went on a two-day strike on June 24 and 25, asking CMG to reinstate the jobs among other demands. They finally reached a conclusion in July after multiple bargaining sessions with the Everett NewsGuild.
In a post from the guild on X, formally Twitter, they stated, “We bargained tirelessly for a month, but Carpenter Media simply refused to spare any jobs. We were, however, able to negotiate optional buyouts, increased severance packages and raises for remaining staff.”
In the deal made with CMG, the guild accepted at least three weeks of severance pay, with an increase in base pay to $20.50 for remaining staff.
Kaitlin Gillespie, Executive officer of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild said reaching a conclusion was “Bittersweet” and “doesn’t feel like a win.”
“We worked really hard, and we did want more, and we pushed hard. We are proud of what we accomplished,” Gillespie said. “This would have gone much worse without a union.”
For over a year, the guild has been bargaining for a contract to increase pay, which the guild said has been stalled due to new management and layoffs.
Sydney Jackson, Everett NewsGuild member on the bargaining committee said the Everett Herald newsroom was already struggling to cover all of Snohomish County. She said that instead of cutting the newsroom in half, CMG should invest in journalism.
In an article by Janice Podsada and Andrea Brown, both leaving the Herald, CMG Chairman Tod Carpenter included a statement saying, “We are committed to Everett, The Herald and all who have a stake in its success. Our responsibility to the community and our readers required us to make difficult decisions, and then invest in and organize our team to move forward to produce a product that continues to improve and serve.”
In her farewell column, Brown said goodbye to 12 years at the Herald. She stated that she took the voluntary buyout.
Most of the workers laid off opted for the buyout according to Caleb Hutton, former news editor. Hutton was laid off on July 3, covering the story until he left, and providing updates on X.
The Herald has been the primary news source in Snohomish County for years with 3.2 million monthly online page views and a print circulation of 18,627 according to the Everett NewsGuild.
Amid the job cuts is publisher Rudi Alcott, who received backlash for saying “Moving forward, operations are not going to change much. The readers won’t notice.”
Community members took to submitting letters to the editor expressing their concern for the layoffs. One letter submitted Aug. 2 by former Herald reporter Melissa Slager reads “I join the chorus of dismay over Carpenter Media Group’s decision to cut half of The Herald’s newsroom. ‘Readers won’t notice’ is more than laughable. It already rings false, because readers have already noticed the effects of an understaffed newsroom. Prior cuts ate into the bones. This sucks at the marrow.”
This is not the first time the Herald has seen layoffs in the newsroom. Throughout the years the newsroom has slowly dwindled in size due to many factors impacting local journalism.
Currently, the Herald is operating with one photographer, six reporters, three editors, an intern and reinstated publisher Josh O’Connor.
Gillespie said that the union is still working on the initial contract with CMG to continue to negotiate layoff protection, paid time off and more.
