NBC Digital union reaches contract deal with leadership

The NBC Digital union reached a tentative contract agreement with leadership after years of bargaining with the company.  

Unionized editorial staff represented by The NewsGuild of NY at NBC News, NBC News NOW and TODAY reached a tentative contract agreement with the network on Friday. The deal protects members during future corporate restructuring and delays last month’s announced layoffs, which were strongly condemned by union staffers who said the action was illegal as they were amidst negotiations for a first contract. 

The contract also provides targeted workers with additional pay, health care and rehire rights. NBC Digital NewsGuild, which represents about 300 workers, will vote to ratify the agreement in the coming days and, if it is approved, it will be the first contract for the bargaining unit since it was certified in 2019.

NEW YORK TIMES TECH EMPLOYEES REMAIN ON STRIKE, GUILD TARGETS HIGH-PAID CEO MEREDITH KOPIT 

“This contract is a huge step forward for journalists at NBC News,” Tate James, documentary video editor and unit chair, said in a press release announcing the news. “We will now have the job security essential to fighting for transparency and accountability without fear.”

Fox News Digital reached out to NBC News for comment. 

The NBC Digital NewsGuild represents almost 300 reporters, editors, designers, video journalists, animators, social media strategists and editorial staff, who have been negotiating its first contract since 2019. Any changes to members’ working conditions during negotiations, including layoffs, must be bargained back and forth under federal labor law, the union said. 

The contract is the culmination of a nearly 5-year fight, during which employees engaged in numerous public actions, including a 1-day strike in 2023.

LIBERAL PUNDITS DUB WASHINGTON POST’S LATEST OPINION SHAKE-UP A ‘TERRIBLE TRAGEDY,’ SLAM JEFF BEZOS 

During ongoing negotiations in November 2024, NBC’s digital employee union projected scathing messages onto 30 Rock, blasting company leadership for dragging its feet on a contract. The projections called out executives for alleged “unlawful behavior” by lighting up “breaking news” messages on the company’s flagship building in midtown Manhattan. 

Additionally, in 2021, the National Labor Relations Board found that NBC had unlawfully withheld more than $350,000 in raises from union journalists, according to a press release previously shared with Fox News Digital. 

The agreement also includes just cause and increased transparency, including eliminating forced arbitration in discrimination and harassment cases, immediate pay increases of as much as 17% with 9% minimum over the life of the 3-year deal, salary minimums with a floor of $65,000 by the last year of the agreement and extended workday and weekend pay policies that provide compensation for extra work. 

FAILED NEGOTIATIONS RESULTED IN UNION MEMBERS WALKING OUT ON THE JOB AT NEWS OUTLETS IN 2024

“NYGuild members contribute to the reach and value of NBC News every day,” Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York, said. “I’m glad that NBC is finally recognizing their essential work by agreeing to a contract that enshrines the wages and workplace protections they deserve.”

The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, is a labor union representing nearly 6,000 media professionals and other employees at New York-area news organizations, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Thomson Reuters and ProPublica.