FAQ

A union is a group of workers who have come together to negotiate the terms of their employment through a process called collective bargaining. Wages, overtime, health insurance, retirement contributions, seniority, promotions, and job security are among the mandatory subjects of bargaining, but any issue that affects employees may be addressed. The employer is legally obligated to bargain with the union in good faith. A survey will help determine members' contract priorities, and once a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is reached, members will vote on whether to ratify it.

The NewsGuild is the largest union of media, publishing, and nonprofit employees in North America. It’s about 27,000 members strong—including our peers at Duke University Press and Oxford University Press USA—and growing. It’s one of six sectors under the Communications Workers of America, and we would be a unit in the Chicago NewsGuild local.

Sound complicated? It’s not—first and foremost, we’re organizing with one another. This is our union, and it’s most powerful when we act together. The NewsGuild will provide us with the resources, expertise, and legal support needed to do so effectively.

First, not everything we’re asking for costs money (take, for example, protections for remote work, institutional transparency, and clearer promotions guidelines). Legal certification is the only mechanism that guarantees us a seat at the table. Without a union, the university can unilaterally—for any or no reason at all, without cause or explanation—change policies that affect us or restructure our departments.

Second, they’ll “find” the money—but only if we make them. None of us should have to work second and third jobs to afford housing and groceries, while the university’s top administrators make multimillion-dollar salaries. The press is also a revenue-generating unit of the university, and that gives us leverage.

Third, the NLRB has historically been a weak shield. Our true strength lies in the collective. There is little incentive or obligation for governments—or our bosses for that matter—to keep their promises. We must hold them accountable ourselves, and in fact, the NewsGuild experienced its largest growth spurt during Trump’s first administration.

Finally, it’s important to remember that the national political environment and the university’s fiscal health could get even worse. Let’s act now so that we’re protected later.

Consider:

• On whose terms do you want to retire—yours or the university’s?
• Have you been fairly rewarded for the expertise you’ve developed throughout your tenure?
• What about your early-career coworkers who are struggling to make ends meet today, let alone build savings for their future plans, families, retirement, etc.?
• What changes would you have wanted to see when you were in their position? 

It’s not too late for you to personally see the benefits of unionization (more on that below), but it’s also important to remember that change will never come if it is continually deferred to the next generation of employees. Many press workers need a union now, and they cannot win one without your support.

So what’s a realistic timeline? How quickly we ratify our first contract will depend on how quickly negotiations with the university proceed after certification (either through a successful election four to eight weeks after going public or through voluntary recognition). It’s common for the bargaining stage to last between six and eighteen months, but it goes faster—and achieves better results—the louder and more engaged our membership is. 

That said, we will start seeing benefits much sooner—before we have a contract—because certification will grant us immediate status quo protections. Under status quo, all our current benefits are safeguarded: The university would have to negotiate with us before making any changes to the terms and conditions of our employment. That means that they wouldn't be able to, for example, slash retirement contributions (as they did in 2020), force people into early retirement (as they did in 2024), or lay people off (as they recently did) without our first agreeing to the terms and buyouts.

Bottom line: Without a union, we are all at-will employees vulnerable to the whims of the university, which has been promoting an austerity narrative (and treating staff accordingly) for many years now. With a union, even without a contract, we gain job security and a say in the issues that affect us.

What other issues specific to late-career employees could unionization ameliorate? Clauses that reward seniority and improve retirement benefits are standard in union contracts. And indeed, considering how much many of us cherish our work and want to do it for years to come, such clauses are likely to be among members’ top priorities (the bargaining process is democratic and will be governed by a unit-wide survey).

Seniority is calculated by total time of employment, and contracts typically stipulate that any layoffs must occur in order of inverse seniority: The last one in the job is the first one out. The press’s recent modus operandi, by contrast, appears to be to lay off senior-level positions (without demonstrating just cause because, well, they simply don’t have to) and replace them with more junior employees. Recall an example from September 2025.

Seniority is also often rewarded through longevity bonuses. At our union representative’s former workplace, staff members received a 2–3 percent raise at the end of every fiscal year (similar to our “merit” increase), plus a $1,000 lump sum on each anniversary of their employment (well beyond the recognition we currently receive). Some contracts set the sums in proportion to length of service.

Verso Books Guild has expanded its employer retirement account contributions in each of its two contracts to date, on top of increasing medical expense benefits and guaranteeing paid leave. See also the FAQ on “What sorts of gains might we see from a CBA?” for more wins closer to home.

We can’t speak to the specifics of your situation, but representatives from Faculty Forward (the union of non-tenure-track faculty on campus) found that their relationships with supervisors improved. Unionizing allowed them to negotiate with university management directly, easing some of the tension inherent to relationships based on a power differential and avoiding games of telephone with middle managers who often didn’t have the power to improve working conditions themselves. The supervisors, for their part, appreciated the transparency afforded by the contract; some also saw a boost in their own wages from the raised salary floor. Moreover, a contract won’t prevent you from discussing individual requests with your supervisor. The union will simply establish a baseline and, should a conflict emerge, provide structure for arbitration.

Yes and yes!

We will begin paying dues (1.8% of our gross pay) once our contract is ratified. But remember: We vote on whether to ratify the contract, and we won’t accept one that isn’t “worth it.” 

From the wage and other improvements achieved by Faculty Forward here on campus and by our peers at Oxford and Duke (see also the next FAQ), we expect our contract to more than make up for the dues.

Studies also consistently show that union workers earn higher wages (16% higher on average in 2025) than their nonunion counterparts and that a strong union presence in the labor market increases pay and benefits for everyone. In solidarity with the shops at OUP and DUP, we hope to continue the fight against exploitative practices in the wider publishing industry.

The university might try to persuade us to vote against the union by dangling carrots: pushing through long-delayed promotions, offering one-time bonuses, making vague promises, etc. By forming a union, we can ensure that those “carrots” are actually codified in writing for years to come (CBAs typically last 2–5 years and grant status quo protections upon expiration). Thus, we can hold our leaders accountable and create lasting change—both for ourselves and for future UCP workers, who will be able to build upon the foundation we set.

Below are some examples of what can be achieved.

UChicago Faculty Forward (2024)

• Salaries: guarantees across-the-board retroactive raises over five years of 8.5/4.5/3.5/3/3.5 percent, which compound to 17.35 percent over the first three years and 25.1 percent over the five years
• Dependents: creates a brand-new childcare allowance of $1,000 per quarter, the Dependent Children Tuition Benefit (which covers tuition at any college or university up to 75 percent of the University of Chicago tuition), and the Diverse Learners’ Portability Benefit (which covers an amount equal to Lab School tuition remission)
• Job security: guarantees severance of six months' salary and benefits for any current workers laid off in future restructuring
• Professional development: guarantees a minimum of $2,500 of funding per member annually
• Immigration status: guarantees H1B Visa sponsorship with fees paid by the university
• Rights: enshrines much stronger language guaranteeing academic freedom and freedom of speech, as well as a new article on accessibility, including protections against discrimination for workers with accessibility needs and a commitment to form a joint committee to discuss the implementation of new accessibility technology on an ongoing basis

Duke University Press (2024)

• Guarantees raises of 5.2 percent in the first year for the median salary and up to 8.7 percent for those making the least, plus ongoing raises for everyone that exceed the historical increases offered by Duke
• Guarantees that remote workers won’t be pulled back into the office
• Increases vacation time
• Enshrines a commitment to minimize overtime and develop manageable work plans in the event of long vacancies
• Guarantees that bargaining unit positions won’t be outsourced to contractors or external companies
• Gives members the freedom to go to medical and care appointments without taking sick time
• Establishes clear promotion guidelines
• Gives members an ongoing voice in issues that concern them by establishing the Labor-Management Committee
• Obligates the university to give notice of and consider alternatives to any proposed layoffs
• Establishes grievance and arbitration procedures so that the union can fight on members’ behalf if they are harassed, discriminated against, or disciplined without adequate cause or if their rights under the contract are violated

Oxford University Press (2024)

• Keeps healthcare costs flat over the life of the contract
• Provides reverse seniority for layoffs, adding increased protection for longer-tenured employees
• Creates super seniority for union officers, providing greater protections from layoffs
• Protects against outsourcing
• Increases minimum salary for the lowest-paid staff from $40,000 to $49,642 (a 22 percent raise) and guarantees minimum annual raises of 4.5/2.5/2.5 percent
• Clarifies remote/hybrid work policies 

HarperCollins (2023, 2026)

• Guarantees paid overtime
• Creates ratification bonuses for every person in the bargaining unit ($1,500 in 2023; between $1,000 and $3,000, depending on seniority, in 2026)
• Creates recognition bonuses of $500–$2,500 for coverage of an absence that lasts more than four weeks
• Guarantees annual raises for everyone who earns a satisfactory (or better) rating in their performance review
• Creates escalating annual increases to the minimum salary at each level, as well as increases for tenured employees to account for wage compression
• Adds three paid holidays and one paid volunteer day (for a nonprofit of the members’ choosing)
• Extends remote work arrangements (in 2023) and guarantees three months' notice ahead of changes to existing hybrid/remote policy (in 2026)
• Guarantees that entry-level employees be considered for promotion after two years
• Increases severance for layoffs
• Enshrines equal rights protections for gender identity and expression, citizenship status, and body size, among other characteristics.
• Establishes a Labor-Management Committee to enable regular advocacy on behalf of members
• Guarantees that time spent working on union committees and DEI activities is paid

We have a legal right to form a union, and employers are prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against workers for organizing. That means that the university cannot legally threaten or coerce us into distancing ourselves from or voting against the union. But just because it’s illegal doesn’t mean that they won’t try; it does mean, however, that we have recourse if they do. More importantly, we’ll be ready to take collective actions to protect one another.

If a manager asks you about your union sympathies or attempts to spread anti-union misinformation, you may respectfully decline to engage in the conversation: “I’d rather not discuss this.” If they push, you may add, “It’s illegal to question employees about union activity.”

Once our union is certified, status quo protections take effect, meaning that the university cannot alter the terms or conditions of our employment while the contract is negotiated—no layoffs, no change in duties, same benefits, etc.

There’s a handy mnemonic device: TIPS are illegal.

• Threats of job loss or punitive action for unionizing

• Interrogation of workers about union sympathies or activities

• Promises of promotions or benefits in exchange for voting against a union

• Surveillance or spying on pro-union workers

If you experience any of the above, document the incident and let us know at ucpworkers@gmail.com. We can file the violation with the NLRB.