Our Mission

We, the journalists of the Chicago Tribune and its community publications, are uniting to protect and invest in the future of the crucial civic institutions we hold dear.

We take pride in the work we do and the service we provide our readers. As Chicago’s flagship newspaper, we are uniquely positioned to illustrate the afflictions and successes of the city and communities we love, and to hold its powerful to account.

That work has long been under threat by volatile economic forces. Our newsrooms have lost promising young talent along with established voices,  depriving us of decades' worth of expertise and emptying our pipeline to advancement. The journalists who remain receive subpar wages and declining benefits and experience constant insecurity about their futures. We have no voice in the decisions our corporate owners are making about our news organizations.

The strongest defense against these threats is an organized workforce.

We are committed to establishing a productive relationship with the company and, together, creating the conditions under which we can continue to produce excellent journalism for our readers. Through collective bargaining, we can fight against the attrition that has forced us all to work more with less; and we can fight for job security, pay equity, cost-of-living raises, fair and reasonable health care benefits, and diversity in all ranks of the newsroom.

The Chicago Tribune and its community publications will thrive when we stand together.

The Chicago Tribune Guild — to fortify the Chicago Tribune and its journalists.

Our Goals

We hope to increase job security and foster a fair, diverse and supportive work environment.  As part of that, here are some of the things we'll negotiate for:

• Guaranteed pay increases commensurate with those enjoyed by our peers at other major news organizations
• A better parental leave policy
• Lower health premiums
• Fair pay for women and minorities in the newsroom
• Structured pay tiers for new hires, with guaranteed pay increases for several years
• A formal grievance procedure to ensure employee rights are protected
• Fair notice of layoffs, and negotiated severance packages that are guaranteed