We have a special anniversary coming up.
In just over a month, our contract will be 2 years expired.
Gannett has been slow to come to the table, and has, at times, come unprepared despite having many months to prepare. Our guild has attempted to move toward the company with its proposals, with little movement from Gannett.
While the company has yet to respond to our economics-related proposals to increase pay for reporters and photographers, and bring our pay scales up-to-date, the company’s response to salary proposals made by the Arizona Republic Guild, for example, has been discouraging.
We will no longer be silent.
Today, our members are dressed in styles from past decades to draw attention to the woefully outdated pay scales in our contract. Forget recent record inflation — these minimum pay requirements haven’t been updated in years.
The minimum salary in our current pay scale is $32,000, which is tens of thousands of dollars lower than the median income in Indiana. To account for inflation alone, that number should be at least $40,000.
Meanwhile, Gannett’s CEO Mike Reed brought home $7.74 million in 2021.
We think some things should stay in the 2000s — low-rise jeans, crimped hair, Nickelback’s music… and most importantly, our pay scales. We’re telling Gannett to get with the times.
Indianapolis NewsGuild 