Everett NewsGuild to return after company agrees to negotiate following strike

EVERETT, Wash. — Members of the Everett NewsGuildplan to return to work Wednesday after the company's leadership agreed on a date to begin layoff negotiations.

“We are so grateful to everyone who showed us support this week with letters, by joining us on the picket line or by donating to our strike fund,” said Sydney Jackson, a reporter and member of the union bargaining committee. “Together, we’ve shown this community cares deeply about local journalism. We’ll continue fighting to protect our paper.”

Last week, the owner of The Everett Herald, Carpenter Media Group,announced layoffs, including 10 of 18 union workers. The layoffs included the executive editor, managing editor, page designer, web producer, six reporters, and two photographers, the NewsGuild said.

The NewGuild, represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, released a statement that workers would not be going to work Monday and instead would participate in a one-day strike.

Tuesday morning, they released a new statement saying they were extending the strike “due to the employer’s failure to set bargaining dates and meet other demands.”

“We are walking out to remind them that there is no product to leech off of without the journalists who go out and cover Snohomish County every day,” said Ryan Berry, a photographer on the bargaining committee who was laid off.

The NewsGuild said they believe the company used a "quota system" to determine who was going to be laid off. They argue the company cut employees based on their story count and page views. NewsGuild members said that these layoffs would be a detrimental loss for the newsroom and would affect the paper’s ability to provide quality work.

The Herald published an article about the layoffs and the strike. Carpenter Media Group Chairman Todd Carpenter said that the layoffs were not an easy decision but were needed to improve the Herald’s future.

“We have deep sympathy for those affected by these changes and will work hard with each of them to see they are well-compensated through a transition period that helps them move forward in a positive way,” Carpenter said in the article.

Publisher Rudi Alcott said that operations at the paper would not change, and readers wouldn’t be able to notice a difference. According to the NewsGuild, Alcott removed the article from the Herald’s website. Multiple editors and other staff members threatened to resign if the paper did not re-publish the original article, the NewsGuild said.

The Herald’s news staff unionized in fall 2022 and have been working with company owners to negotiate a union contract since March 2023. Mississippi-based Carpenter Media Group and two Canadian investors gained ownership of the Herald in March 2024 after Black Press was sold.

The Herald is one of 43 media outlets in Washington and Alaska under Sound Publishing. It is one of the oldest news sources in Snohomish County and has won multiple awards for its reporting.