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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 14/09/2026

At bargaining on Sept. 9, management’s proposal was a massive shift from fair Just Cause. Marshall Project management’s continued distaste for transparency & accountability in discipline is shocking for an organization that reports on the importance of the right to due process. Read more ⬇️

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 27/08/2026

Some updates from the bargaining table! Thanks to the continued action of our workers, we’ve achieved agreements in bargaining while maintaining focus on our fight for Just Cause and quality, affordable healthcare. We also continued to press on questions about healthcare costs. Read more ⬇️

Last Wednesday we presented two counters, both of which management returned during the session along with one additional counter. Ultimately, we reached three Tentative Agreements at the table, which brings our total of finalized proposals to 15. Thanks to the continued action of our workers both at the table in working groups and through actions like our recent email reply-all, we’ve been able to achieve agreements in bargaining while maintaining focus on our fight for Just Cause and getting quality, affordable healthcare. Speaking of which, we also continued to press on questions about healthcare costs.

🦺🚫🪪 Three TAs!
We were able to reach TAs on three proposals: Workplace Health & Safety, Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment, and Work Authorization. We’re pleased to report that all the language proposed by unit members in our health and safety working group was accepted in this proposal — extremely grateful for the expertise and thoughtful consideration of our working group members!

🌎 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We received a counter from management to the DEI proposal that our working group members put down last session. We’ve seen some progress here (thank you, DEI working group members!): The company has accepted some of our language around demographic groups. Significantly, the company has accepted language about endeavoring to implement “mutually agreeable reasonable solutions” from TMP’s DEI committee – In previous iterations of this proposal, management made no commitments to working with the DEI committee on any of their recommendations. The company has agreed to provide our Guild DEI committee with self-reported demographic data from applicants to open TMP positions so that we can assess whether we’re achieving a diverse applicant pool. Despite this incremental progress, the Company refuses to enshrine a commitment to actively recruit and interview candidates from underrepresented groups and share demographic data about who is interviewed and ultimately hired.

We’ll review this counter with the DEI working group and determine a response.

📝 Performance Reviews
We received a counter from management that accepted some of the language in our last proposal, but maintains management’s commitment to use performance reviews as potential discipline. In the Guild’s proposal, performance reviews are separate from the disciplinary process (which should be outlined under Just Cause), and are instead a place for managers and workers to collaborate on goals and growth.

The company’s desire to keep the door open to discipline in performance reviews comes back to their stance on Just Cause, and their disinclination to agree to a dedicated process of progressive discipline that’s clear and transparent. Workers deserve clear delineation on which interactions are disciplinary in nature and which are not; a stance where any form of communication can be potentially disciplinary, whether the employee knows it or not (or even after the fact), puts all workers at risk.

We’ll review this counter and consider our next steps, especially in concert with our fight for Just Cause.

🚑 Healthcare
After we asked management to account for their decision-making share basic information around the extreme healthcare changes at TMP, and negotiate with us as is their legal duty at our last bargaining session, we followed up asking for data on TMP’s spending on healthcare last year and their projected spending for this year based on our unit’s healthcare elections under the new plans, such as they are. The findings were shocking to us. Based on the data the company provided, management is actually saving $92,115.84 based on current projections. When we confirmed these numbers at the table today, neither management’s counsel nor our CFO disputed them.

Eddie’s reasoning is that “I wouldn’t say we’re saving” because the company still has open positions and depending on what healthcare elections those potential future employees make, healthcare spend may increase. We don’t know what the timeline will be on those hires, or what those employees’ healthcare elections will be. What we do know is that right now, not only are employees being forced to absorb the price increase of the healthcare plan that management elected to keep us on despite having cheaper options available, but the company is actually saving money due to members opting for diminished plans as our coworkers are having to reschedule major surgeries and seeing their premiums double.

We’ll return to the table at a yet-to-be-determined date in September, when we’ll likely see a counter on Just Cause from management and will also likely have an updated quote for an alternative healthcare option from UFW, though it’s unlikely to be as much of a cost savings as the quote we secured last year. We’ll see you at the table next month, and in the meantime will continue working together on demanding healthcare coverage that prioritizes members’ health, not the company’s bank account.

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 12/08/2026

The Marshall Project has publicly touted its commitment to diversity for years, something that influenced many of our members in our choice to join the organization. On 8/6, we pushed management to defend their commitment to DEI — and to bargain with us over drastic changes to our healthcare plans.

We returned to bargaining last Thursday to present two counters and press on management’s refusal to bargain over the recent healthcare changes. Management presented two additional counters.
🌎 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Unit members from our DEI working group presented our latest counterproposal. The time, energy and expertise of our members has made this counter all the stronger: Together with Newsguild’s legal counsel, they’ve worked to craft a counter that honors our staff’s deep investment in diversity, equity and inclusion, while protecting the organization from potential punitive litigation. Our members spoke passionately about the importance of maintaining a commitment to DEI, and even brought the Newsguild’s lawyer to the bargaining table so we could productively discuss management’s stated concerns about language being legally defensible from a Trump EEOC and move this proposal forward.

Unfortunately, management’s counsel chose not to engage on these issues; Eddie refused to discuss specific DEI proposal language with the Newsguild’s lawyer during bargaining because, in his words, “I’m not in the habit of replying to proposals in real time.” Although we couldn’t have a constructive discussion about what would make the proposal stronger, management’s counsel repeated concerns that any DEI language, particularly around applicants and hiring, is too risky for the organization, even though our counter is carefully crafted around pursuing equity in the applicant pool for hiring rather than a preference for any protected classes in choosing the final candidate.

In addition to unnecessarily drawing out the bargaining process rather than engaging in constructive discussion at the table, this move is concerning in that it signals management’s intention to comply in advance with imagined future attacks from the DOJ while the very real culture of TMP suffers in the present. It’s true that there’s a possibility any kind of commitment to DEI could draw the attention of the Trump administration; it’s also true that TMP takes calculated legal risks frequently, including in many of the stories we publish. Why is DEI not worth this consideration?

TMP has publicly touted its commitment to diversity for years, something that influenced many of us in our choice to join the organization. Management’s counsel claimed that “we don’t have to put things into a contract to do them or act on the values,” but the fact of the matter is that a contract is the concrete expression of an organization’s values. If it’s not enshrined in our contract, our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion — along with any other value TMP says it holds — isn’t protected.

🚑 Healthcare
In light of the drastic changes to our healthcare plans that management announced with no full-staff meeting or opportunity for transparent discussion, the Guild is using our time at the table to pursue answers and accountability on behalf of the unit. Healthcare is a mandatory subject of bargaining, and on Thursday we aimed to establish a commitment from the company to bargain with us over the new increased healthcare costs. You will be paying increased annual premiums ranging from $1,200 to more than $7,000 depending on your family situation. Or, you could downgrade to the lowest tier “free” plan, which will double your deductible and increase your out-of-pocket maximum and financial risk if you need extensive medical care.

Healthcare is a mandatory subject of bargaining, particularly when costs increase. Management refuses to bargain. Instead, they choose to unilaterally impose the higher costs on us.

📝 Performance Reviews
We presented a Performance Reviews counter that would better characterize the process as an opportunity to evaluate how work has gone in the past year and to set goals for the coming year. It would also cement that managers must share their feedback with workers 48 hours in advance of their annual review meeting – a longstanding practice at TMP. We await management’s response.
🚫 Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment
Management presented a counter with minor changes to language. We’ll review all the changes closely and prepare to counter.
🪪 Work Authorization
Management presented their counter and we went back and forth at the table to clarify some details about who is eligible for renewal. We’ll review the rest of management’s edits closely.

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 11/08/2026

Just Cause is the single most important issue to the majority of our unit — it's what protects us from retaliation and arbitrary termination, and empowers us to advocate for a better workplace. Here's why fair Just Cause matters so much to us, and what we're doing to fight for it 👇

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 31/07/2026

We put down our counterproposal for fair Just Cause this week with the majority of our unit at the table to support it — but not our CEO, who declined to attend bargaining. Read our full bargaining update for more, including the shocking healthcare increases we're being asked to shoulder:

We returned to bargaining on Monday to present the fair Just Cause counterproposal the workers of TMP deserve – many of those same workers came to the table in support. This proposal is foundational to our contract and absolutely critical to our members. It’s disappointing that while many of us (almost 70% of our unit!) made the effort to attend, our CEO did not. We are deeply invested in the future of TMP, and the Just Cause language we codify in our final contract has serious implications for that future. We invited Katrice to this session both in our previous shop paper and in follow up communications in the hopes that she, as the leader of the company’s long-term strategy and vision, would be a part of the conversation around Just Cause and listen directly to our concerns and demands. Management’s counsel, Eddie, declined on her behalf.

Throughout the bargaining session, Eddie cited hypothetical scenarios, rather than directly addressing the working conditions at TMP. It would have been both productive and effective to instead speak with Katrice to address these scenarios with real context and specifics. Eddie repeatedly clarified that he, as the lead spokesperson of management’s bargaining committee, discusses and evaluates all proposals directly with senior leadership including our CEO.

Management argues that our unique unwritten editorial guidelines make us an exception to industry-standard fair Just Cause. In reality, this argument protects their ability to invent and arbitrarily enforce those guidelines to then discipline and discharge workers as they see fit. What management fails to acknowledge is that the tenets of Just Cause embody the mission of our organization, the legacy of Thurgood Marshall, and the stories we tell. Fair Just Cause is the standard of fairness that we deserve in return.

Following our Just Cause counter, we asked questions about the tumultuous state of healthcare and pressed management on the status of our Quotas and Metrics pr…

✊ Just Cause / “Discipline and Discharge”
Our initial Just Cause proposal – which relied on the industry-standard language “there shall be no discipline or dismissal without just and sufficient cause,” used by newsrooms including The New York Times, Reuters, and the Chicago Tribune – was countered by management with an alarming response in March. Their counter included loopholes allowing them to combine or even skip disciplinary steps and placed an incredibly high burden of proof on employees in the arbitration process, effectively making workers guilty until proven innocent. This is a regressive process, one that we rejected with our new counterproposal on Monday. Our counter enumerates the acceptable steps of progressive discipline and clarifies communication expectations. At its core, the counter relies on the seven tests of Just Cause. These tests already give supervisors the clear ability to discipline and terminate workers, as long as they follow due process. Management’s attempt to codify loopholes and undefined guidelines on top of these long-established legal tests is an unacceptable attempt to retain enormous subjective power to discipline and discharge workers. We remain committed to fair Just Cause and call on management to do the same.

🚑 Healthcare
As you’re all aware, the cost of our United Health Care insurance plans provided by TriNet have increased for the second year in a row and the burden is being shouldered by employees. While we understand that the landscape of healthcare in America is complex, it’s insulting to sit across from management’s counsel and hear him insist that our care is not being downgraded. Many of our workers are now weighing major medical decisions – like how to continue to care for their families, if they can still afford to proceed with scheduled surgeries – against what would amount to a substantial pay cut. Any employee above the Basic EPO plan will have to cover 100% of the premium increase out of their own pocket, leading in some cases to out-of-pocket healthcare costs skyrocketing to more than $15,000 annually for members on the Standard Family plan. Management’s decision to shift extra costs onto employees punishes those with the most need, like people with families or chronic conditions, by allowing their premiums to increase by the greatest factor. And as workers making less money than managers, these costs are often even harder for us to absorb.

Management insists that these changes are not a violation of status quo, because they have continued to contribute the same maximum dollar amount toward employee healthcare plans as they did before we began bargaining. It is the position of the workers of TMP that this constitutes a violation of status quo because our plan design, scope of coverage, and employee cost have all changed. The employer-covered healthcare the vast majority of us were promised in hiring has lost almost all of its value. Employees who paid nothing out of pocket in Fall 2024 for the UHC Standard plan are now offered the lesser UHC Basic plan for Fall 2026 unless they cover the difference out of pocket. This is a significant downgrade in standard of care for those who elect to remain on the employer-covered plan and a sharp cut in compensation…

📈 Quotas & Metrics
Management wholesale rejected our three previous proposals on Quotas and Metrics. When pressed again at the table on Monday about why, Eddie cited an earlier written rejection. He said if they did choose to respond, they would do so in the context of our Just Cause counterproposal. This is concerning as we believe any quotas, metrics or “expectations” for output may affect numerous aspects of our working conditions: workload, assignments, hours, etc., not just discipline. Eddie said that bargaining does not mean that they are required to offer us a counterproposal, only that they have to speak to their reasoning for rejecting proposals.

Work Authorization
We put down a counter on Work Authorization, which was formerly the Visas and Immigration proposal. We renamed the counter to better reflect the scope of the proposal, which isn’t limited to visas. In our newly proposed language, we responded to several of management’s concerns and refined the proposal to clarify required communication. We’ll wait to see how management responds.

That’s all for updates today. Thanks to every worker who showed up in support of fair Just Cause, and to those who were sending support in our own channels. We’ll be back at the bargaining table next week on Thursday, August 6, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 06/07/2026

An update from the bargaining table: on 7/1 we put down two new proposals and two counters, and received one counter from management. Stay tuned for our next bargaining session on 7/27; we're inviting our CEO Katrice Hardy to the table to hear why our contract must include Just Cause protections.

Welcome back from the long weekend! Last Wednesday, we met management at the bargaining table to put down two new proposals on Intellectual Property and the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment, as well as two counters. We received one counter from management.

At our next bargaining session, we’ll return to the issue our workers have told us again and again matters most: Securing industry-standard Just Cause, with fair and transparent due process. We’d like to take this occasion to invite our CEO Katrice Hardy to join us at that bargaining session on July 27 at 11 a.m. Eastern to hear about why our contract must include fair Just Cause protections. We always welcome TMP leadership at the bargaining table, and would love to see more of that team beyond Eli, our CFO; Belal, the HR representative; and a rotating editor representative attend regularly, similar to how we broadly invite our own members. In this instance, we’d especially appreciate Katrice’s presence as we bargain over Just Cause, an issue at the heart of the employment practices of the organization and the policies that govern it as a business.

🚫 Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment
We put down a new Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment proposal, which largely aims to codify our existing handbook policy. Additional language details the Guild’s role in the complaint process. We’ll wait for management’s response to this proposal.
🪧 No Strike / No Lockout
We presented a counter No Strike / No Lockout proposal, which meets management on several key compromises but maintains our right to picket as well as our right to strike over an unfair labor practice (ULP), which is a strike specifically in response to an employer violation of the National Labor Relations Act. These are critical protections for our workers, which safeguard our fundamental First Amendment rights and our ability to meaningfully address ULPs for the duration of our contract. We’ll wait for management’s response to our counter.

📁 Personnel Files
We put down a Personnel Files counter, which maintains that management must tell workers when discipline is added to their files and establishes a larger window to rebut discipline. Management accepted our proposal and we have reached a tentative agreement.
🪪 Visas and Immigration
Previously, we put down a proposal on Visas and Immigration which called for management to proactively discuss visa and sponsorship options with non-citizen employees who need a work authorization. In the counter that management returned to us today, they struck several parts of this proposal with the reasoning that they aren’t willing to commit to speaking with employees about their immigration options without dedicated legal counsel, which they may or may not hire at their discretion. We’ll review this counter closely, and plan a response.

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 19/06/2026

We and 4,700 other people recently braved a tornado watch to head to Chicago for LaborNotes, the largest gathering of rank-and-file union organizers in the U.S. Here’s some of what we learned. Thank you @nyguild.bsky.social and thank you @labornotes.bsky.social!

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 12/06/2026

The Marshall Project Guild is at #LaborNotes2026 representing @nyguild.bsky.social! Our members are presenting on Keeping the Momentum in a First Contract Fight and Organizing Remote and Scattered Workers — if you see us, say hi! @labornotes.bsky.social

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 08/04/2026

TMP Guild members taking a collective lunch hour out of the office in support of @propublicaguild.org's strike today!

Three people sitting around a wooden table with beverages, smiling at the camera

Two white women wearing TMP Guild t-shirts smiling at the camera

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 05/12/2025

Read and share our position statement, and sign the NewsGuild-CWA’s petition on AI join us in our fight for #NewsNotSlop!

To the management of America’s nonprofit newsrooms:

We are writing to you as the nation’s first-ever caucus of nonprofit newsroom unions, which is composed of the media workers representing journalism outlets across the country.

Once again, our industry finds itself at an inflection point, facing the uncertainty of artificial intelligence. Like any new technology, AI can provide a potent new tool to assist us in our work if it is used responsibly, thoughtfully and ethically.

However, we have already seen numerous failures in the implementation of AI at for-profit news outlets, where the economic incentive to use AI recklessly has at times degraded the otherwise high-caliber product our colleagues produce. From Axel Springer to Gannett, major for-profit publishers have unveiled flawed AI tools that are hallucinating false news articles or synopses, slowing down journalists’ workflows and otherwise threatening their editorial product.

Nonprofit newsrooms can and must do better to uphold the mandates of our mission-driven organizations and ensure readers’ trust in our editorial product. Importantly, we are not calling for a ban on AI. Our message is simple — management must work with us to determine how to best implement this emerging technology and protect journalistic integrity.

To that end, we unequivocally demand that you commit to the following guardrails around AI in current or future collective bargaining agreements and in the implementation of such contracts:

AI is rapidly evolving and most of its uses remain to be seen. Our unions will retain the right to bargain over its future implementation.
Management will not lay off media workers as a result of implementing AI.
Our members will not be disciplined if we decide AI is not the best tool for a job, and our members’ usage of AI tools will not be surveilled.
Our outlets will not publish work that is entirely AI-generated, including, but not limited to, text, photos, videos, audio, translations or artwork. When we publish AI-assisted work, it will be clearly labeled as such, will be checked by a human editor and will follow a public ethics policy.
Management will not strike deals to use our work — or the work of freelancers or contributors — to train AI without both our consent and our compensation.

Many nonprofit newsrooms have already agreed to common-sense AI provisions, and we applaud them. Publications including Grist, the Associated Press, CalMatters/The Markup and the Chicago Reader enshrined contract language that included such guardrails as protecting unit members against being laid off as a result of AI and only implementing new AI tools when the unit consents.

But some nonprofit newsrooms appear set on racing to the bottom.

Management at ProPublica, which stands at the forefront of investigative journalism, has repeatedly refused in negotiations with its workers to agree to even the most basic limits on publishing AI-generated content or laying off media workers as a result. At The Marshall Project, the preeminent source for enterprise reporting on the criminal justice system, management has gone many months without responding to their workers’ contract proposal concerning AI. At VTDigger, which provides vital local news to Vermonters, management has offered insulting AI provisions that would allow them to lay off reporters as a result of AI and that include zero guardrails for unionized journalists on how AI impacts their editorial product. And at The Texas Tribune, a distinguished voice covering the Lone Star State, after previously agreeing to AI guardrails, including layoff protections, management recently rejected these provisions in favor of unchecked discretion to roll out AI.

Our newsrooms’ readers and small-dollar donors have already expressed their displeasure with the poor decisions leaders of the media industry are making with respect to AI. Our colleagues at for-profit newsrooms are providing cautionary tales. And now, we, the journalists and staff who produce the country’s nonprofit news, demand that you work with us to protect the integrity of our work and ensure AI is used responsibly. The future of journalism depends on it.

Respectfully,

The unionized journalists and media workers of CalMatters/The Markup, the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, Chicago Sun-Times, Consumer Reports, EdSource, In These Times, Jacobin, High Country News, The Marshall Project, MinnPost, New York Focus, ProPublica, The Salt Lake Tribune, Spotlight PA, The Texas Tribune, VTDigger and contributors from the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project

A set of logos of participating nonprofit newsrooms, including: The Freelance Solidarity Project, National Writers Union, Texas Tribune Guild, CVJC Guild, Salt Lake News Guild, New York Focus Union, Marshall Project Guild, CR Guild, Jacobin Union, In These Times Union, Calmatters & The Markup Guild, VTDigger Guild, Edsource Guild, Sun-Times Guild, High Country News Union, Spotlight PA Union, MinnPost Union, and ProPublica Guild

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 05/12/2025

Today, unionized nonprofit newsrooms across the country are standing shoulder-to-shoulder to demand that news industry leaders agree to common-sense guardrails around the implementation of artificial intelligence to protect the integrity, quality and accuracy of our journalism.

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 03/12/2025

No ads here, just a premium subscription to the hard work of The Marshall Project Guild 🎁 See what our union has accomplished this year with our 2025 wrapped!

Text reads "47 members in our bargaining unit"

Text reads "180 stories published by bargaining unit members"

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · 14/08/2025

Today, we sent a letter to @themarshallproject.org‬ leadership expressing concern about their denial of bargaining obligations. Management has repeatedly denied members Weingarten rights, engaged in an illegal layoff, and more — we need your help to demand that management bargain in good faith.

Dear Katrice and Geraldine,

We are deeply concerned about the manner in which The Marshall Project has been treating our members and approaching the bargaining process. Recently, The Marshall Project leadership has betrayed our organization’s values and compromised our position in the industry and the journalism we pursue. It’s time for that to change.

The guild has worked tirelessly and in good faith on proposals that would keep high-quality health care affordable for Marshallers. We have also been steadfast in asserting that all recognized members deserve due process and fair treatment required under the law.

The organization, in turn, has increasingly taken anti-worker stances that have eroded trust and created a culture that makes it difficult to do the work that makes us proud. Since the organization has taken such a hardline stance, refusing to work with the guild on the items listed below, we will be filing unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board and stepping up our public efforts to make it clear that we demand fair treatment.

The following recent actions by the organization have taken an immense toll on the workers of The Marshall Project:

1. The organization has repeatedly denied steward representation to a member facing a Performance Improvement Plan and possible termination, as well as denying another member representation in their termination meeting last week. This denial is illegal, egregious, and completely out of line with standards across our industry and the labor movement going back decades. We are shocked that the organization would take such a hypocritical and prohibitive stance on this, given our mission. The union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice about this illegal violation of members’ Weingarten rights and demands that members be allowed steward representation in any meeting they feel is appropriate.

2. The organization has caused a retaliatory ripple effect with its actions against one employee that has touched an entire newsroom in Cleveland with negative effects that go against the stated purpose of collaboration with local media and our ability to make good on promises we made to readers. When the organization recognized members it had a duty to follow the law and not proceed with layoffs without bargaining. We have filed an Unfair Labor Practice for the illegal layoff of employees and management retaliation.

3. The organization made a unilateral change to our outside employment policy without bargaining, changing expectations to require managerial approval. We have always maintained a workplace where outside work is permitted and the organization’s sudden termination of Chris Vazquez without a steward, without an opportunity to stop the freelancing project, and without severance is unjust and defies our values.

4. The organization is employing a strategic erosion of status quo through small changes to past practice while we bargain our first contract, including erasure of our cost-of-living adjustment, a significant change to our health insurance, and modifying the evaluation process. The organization has inconsistently complied with requests for information, which does not reflect good faith in bargaining.

The Marshall Project, in retaining union-busting law firm Kauff McGuire & Margolis, is willingly participating in the erosion of worker protections across our industry, a project that takes advantage of the current anti-worker political environment. When The Marshall Project voluntarily recognized our union last year, it touted a “longstanding commitment to a fair, equitable and inclusive workplace, with generous benefits.” We are demanding a return to these values.

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