Unionized journalists from four Washington newspapers owned by McClatchy Media hit the picket line on Tuesday, striking in protest of alleged unfair labor practices.

The one-day strike was organized by the Washington State News Guild, a union that represents 31 workers at The Tacoma News Tribune, Bellingham Herald, Olympian, and Tri-City Herald in Washington. Journalists from the Idaho Statesman in Boise, represented by the Idaho News Guild, also participated in the strike.

Both the Washington and Idaho news guilds have been in joint contract negotiations with McClatchy for a year. The three biggest sticking points have been securing higher wages, setting “ethical limits” around the use of AI in news, and allowing “freedom to write hard-hitting news stories that take time” without being “punished if we don’t churn out clickbait,” according to the news guilds’ website.

“McClatchy Media hopes you won’t notice if it replaces human stories with AI-generated content. The company thinks you’ll happily consume clickbait over real community stories,” the guilds said in a statement. “We are asking for your support in telling our publisher, McClatchy Media, that they are wrong. You want local journalism that matters, written by human reporters who are earning enough to live in the communities that they cover.”

McClatchy did not respond to KUOW’s request for comment on Tuesday.

The publishing company owns 30 daily newspapers across 14 states, as well as magazines like Us Weekly and In Touch. McClatchy was acquired by Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund, after it went bankrupt in 2020.

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Tuesday’s strike began at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning with a walkout.

Kristine Sherred, The Tacoma News Tribune’s food and dining reporter, said it comes as the Washington newspapers approach the one-year anniversary of their last contract expiring.

The strike also comes weeks after the news guilds filed unfair labor practice charges against McClatchy, accusing the company of bad-faith bargaining, including by not bringing real decision-makers to the table and failing to respond to a request for information.

Although McClatchy was resistant at first, Sherred said the union has been able to make progress on establishing “common sense” AI protections.

“That’s some progress. That’s one of the big things. It was brand new to the contract, and we spent quite a bit of time getting there,” Sherred said. “But by the same token, we know that it’s not a fight that will probably ever end.”

The union and McClatchy remain deadlocked on wages, and have been for months.

“They’re telling us at the table that they couldn’t possibly pay more,” Sherred said, “then turning around and spending money on AI.”

The union’s latest proposal calls for a $53,000 salary floor for existing workers, and $50,000 for new hires. The current contract sets the floor at $48,000 for current employees and $45,000 for new hires.

“We do have some members who were hired at that $45,000 number, which is quite low if you live in Washington state and you’re college educated and usually have some internship experience or student newspaper type experience at a minimum,” Sherred said. “You’re not coming in blind to those roles by any means.”

Sherred said the union has already come down quite a bit from its initial asks, and the union’s most recent proposal for new hires meets McClatchy’s offer. But the company has held firm at a $52,000 floor for existing workers.

In all, Sherred said about a third of union members currently make less than $50,000 a year. Over half make $55,000 or less. And most journalists have been working without a raise for two years or more, depending on when they were hired.

As the daylong strike came to a close Tuesday and journalists prepared to return to work Wednesday, Sherred said she hoped it sent a message to McClatchy ahead of their next scheduled bargaining session in a couple weeks.

“Everybody believes really strongly in local news. That’s why they’re here,” she said. “Everybody wants to continue creating local news for our communities. But people also need to be able to afford to live in the places we cover and see a future in it, where they feel like they can quite literally afford to stick around.”

Sami West is a reporter with KUOW. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/27/washington-newspaper-reporters-strike-ai-journalists-mcclatchy/