Reuters U.S. journalists protest against 0.5 pct wage offer

The around 10 journalists from the New York and Washington offices made the video on their NewsGuild (union) page on LinkedIn under the slogan “Not Fair, Not Right”.

They said the offer, well below U.S. annual inflation of around 2.7 percent, included an additional 1.5 percent of payroll to be distributed at management’s discretion. This would be based on the company performance rating system which they called “flawed and arbitrary”.

One of the journalists called it “Reuters own version of the Hunger Games.”

Others said journalists should not be competing with each other for enough money to pay grocery bills or “fighting for scraps” while the company makes a profit.

“All we ask is that Reuters shares some of its financial success with the journalists who make it possible,“ the video said, adding that the wage proposal was “Not right, it’s not fair and we won’t stand for it.”

A Reuters spokesperson told The Baron: “Reuters is fully committed to working with the NewsGuild to reach a mutually agreeable contract for our union employees in the U.S. Our goal is to find a swift and agreeable resolution in these negotiations."

The Reuters U.S NewsGuild has more than 300 members representing all full-time reporters, copy editors, photographers and many of the graphics and videographers and technical support staff.

One of the journalists in the video, veteran desker Dave Gregorio, said on LinkedIn that ever since the Thomson Corporation took over Reuters in 2008, management had taken a much tougher stance in wage negotiations “putting the squeeze on the dedicated and hard-working journalists who have built the company's reputation.”

Late last year, Reuters cut around 10 veteran deskers and senior editors in New York and Washington, in a new round of layoffs and buyouts.

Although total journalist numbers at Reuters have not decreased over the last year, these cuts followed a long-term trend towards replacing experienced deskers and correspondents with more junior and cheaper staff.

The cuts in America led to fears of more pressure on the London editing desk but two veteran London deskers, Frances Kerry and Mark Heinrich, have also left recently. Colleagues said they knew of no plans to replace them.

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