• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, July 4, 2024

South Florida Sun Sentinel journalists have voted to form a union, the NewsGuild has announced. 

Of journalists on board, 88% have signed cards asking the National Labor Relations Board to conduct an election, and they are asking owner Alden Global Capital to recognize the union. 

Once all that is done, the union says it will start bargaining for fair benefits.

Despite the diminished resources, the staff won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the killing of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.

This will not be the only union in the Alden Global Capital media empire. 

In June, union members at several Tribune Publishing newsrooms ratified a two-year contract with Alden Global Capital after five years of negotiations, according to the NewsGuild. 

The agreement provides for wage increases of 3% per year for two years and maintenance of existing 401K matches for all participating employees. 

This followed a 24-hour strike earlier this year. 

More than 200 employees walked off their jobs at seven former Tribune Co. newsrooms, the biggest labor action since Alden acquired the properties in 2021, according to the NewsGuild-CWA.

The walkouts affected The Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Morning Call, Virginian-Pilot, Suburban Chicago Tribune, Design and Production Studios and the Tribune Content Agency.