Fort Worth Star-Telegram agrees to voluntarily recognize union for newsroom employees

Journalists at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram plan to form a union, and management agreed on Monday to recognize the organizing effort, averting the need for a vote.

Steve Coffman, president and editor of the Star-Telegram, said voluntary recognition is the right path.

“We share overarching goals to preserve local journalism and produce work that is essential to the lives of people in our community,” he said. “I look forward to our continued efforts on those fronts and more.”

More than 80% of non-management employees signed union authorization cards, the organizing committee said in a letter seeking the voluntary recognition.

“We look forward to the start of negotiations, and we hope to form a strong working relationship that will allow us to protect local journalism here in Fort Worth for years to come,” the group said in the letter dated Oct. 14.

Unionization efforts have become more common in the local news industry, which has been buffeted by the rise of internet companies and a decline in advertising revenue since the recession of 2007-2009.

In North Texas, newsroom employees of The Dallas Morning News voted last month to unionize.

The Star-Telegram is owned by McClatchy Co., which operates in 30 markets across the country. In September, McClatchy agreed to voluntarily recognize news unions at two of its properties in South Carolina. Employees at McClatchy-owned properties in Miami and Boise, Idaho, have voted to form unions.

The Star-Telegram, founded by longtime civic leader Amon G. Carter, has served readers in Fort Worth and Tarrant County for more than 100 years.

The Fort Worth NewsGuild will be a unit of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.