Journalists at the Daily Herald voted 15-0 on Thursday to form a labor union, capping an organizing drive that gained momentum after Tribune Publishing laid off a dozen staffers at the suburban Chicago newspaper in August. The vote was observed by union and management officials at the National Labor Relations Board offices inside the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Daily Herald staff are now joining the Chicago News Guild Local 34071 TNG-CWA.
The result, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, follows a secret-ballot election conducted through the U.S. mail after Alden Global Capital and Tribune Publishing declined to voluntarily recognize the new union, according to the NewsGuild. Tribune Publishing had also contested the eligibility of two Daily Herald staffers, claiming they were supervisors. The union said it expects official certification within a week of the vote tally and plans to poll members about contract conditions before scheduling bargaining sessions with Tribune Publishing management.
Years of Cuts Preceded the Walkout to Organize
Kevin Schmit, the Daily Herald's associate sports editor and a 29-year employee, said the newsroom lost 20% of its staff within a month or two of the Tribune acquisition, which closed in June. He described the Daily Herald as the outlier under the Tribune umbrella, noting that Tribune Publishing has unionized newspapers elsewhere in its chain, while the suburban paper remained the only non-union newsroom under the company. Schmit also said unionization had been discussed during the Paddock family's ownership but never materialized.
The August layoffs removed 12 staffers, including executive editor Lisa Miner along with copy desk staff and page designers, the same account notes. That cut came on top of eight rounds of buyouts and three rounds of layoffs the Daily Herald experienced over the last decade. Employees who survived those reductions saw at least a 15% pay cut and a workweek reduced to 36.5 hours, according to the report.
A Paper With Roots Back to 1872
The Daily Herald has covered suburban Chicago since 1872 and was owned and run by the Paddock family for four generations before changing hands. In 2018, Paddock family members sold portions of the company to its employees and set up an employee stock ownership plan, a structure that lasted until Tribune Publishing's purchase this year. Tribune Publishing offered a higher price than Shaw Media, which had been in talks to buy the paper and owns other suburban newspapers in the region, per the Sun-Times report.
Tribune Publishing completed its acquisition of the Daily Herald on June 22, according to the Chicago Tribune, which noted the paper's circulation of 52,410 made it Illinois' third-largest daily print publication at the time of the deal. Tribune Publishing had already bought the Daily Herald's printing plant in 2023 for an undisclosed price. Alden Global Capital, which controls Tribune Publishing, purchased the broader Tribune chain for $633 million in 2021.
Part of a Wider Pattern at Alden-Owned Papers
Alden Global Capital also owns the Chicago Tribune and several other suburban Illinois titles, including the Elgin Courier-News, Aurora Beacon-News and Lake County News-Sun, according to Shaw Local. The outlet described Alden as having a reputation for deep cost-cutting in newsrooms it acquires. Chicago News Guild Local 34071 TNG-CWA, which the Daily Herald staff is now part of, represents more than 600 media, nonprofit and publishing workers across the region, including journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times.
The organizing push took shape after the August dismissals, with 12 Daily Herald employees let go under the new corporate ownership, the NewsGuild said. Accounts differ on how many of the 20 union-eligible staffers signed cards supporting the organizing effort beforehand — the Sun-Times reported that all 20 signed cards, while the Chi Media Journal reported 19 of 20 did. Tribune Publishing did not immediately respond to a request for comment, per the Sun-Times.
