Information is power.  That’s why, on this Labor Day, we are publishing data on what journalists at the Idaho Statesman are paid. This information will live on our website, IdahoNewsGuild.org, for everyone to see. Countless studies have shown pay transparency reduces wages gaps in all industries. This was one of the main reasons we formed a union, and it remains one of our core beliefs.  Publishing this information is a concrete step we can take to help reduce pay inequality in our newsroom, in our company and throughout the journalism industry.  Employers try to keep this infor ..read more

The situation in Boise is dire. Rents are skyrocketing and housing supplies remain low. Still, McClatchy keeps salaries low, instead of paying to keep good reporters in Boise. We demand McClatchy pay its workers a fair wage — and you can join us by sending a letter to management here. Our own reporting shows this. Boise is the most unaffordable city in the U.S. Rent prices rose by 20% in 2021. Some of our colleagues make less than $42,000 a year — meaning they qualify for low-income housing in Ada County. That’s unacceptable. As a result, many of our staff struggle to find an affordable place ..read more

Year after year, The McClatchy Company subsidizes its business by refusing to adequately reimburse Idaho Statesman employees for the essentials needed to do their job. It’s time to change that. Support us by sending a message to management here. A cell phone is needed in 2022. Our journalists constantly talk to sources. Send emails. Check Twitter. Burn through data. Take photos and videos. Nearly all of that work is done on our personal phones. That’s only increased as we work from home after the sale of the Statesman’s office. The company shared its interest in providing employees with option ..read more

Two years after unanimously voting to form a union, Idaho NewsGuild members unanimously ratified their first contract with the Idaho Statesman and its corporate owner, McClatchy. The Idaho NewsGuild voted 19-0 in favor of a three-year contract. Highlights include: Raises of 9.9% to 27.7% for full-time employees Guaranteed yearly raises  $1,000 signing bonuses $48,000 minimum salary for all current full-time journalists  Strong protections against outsourcing Just-cause protections Parental leave Improved vacation benefits The ratification comes after a two-year battle to secure a f ..read more

We have big news to share in our fight to #ProtectIdahoNews.  McClatchy can not force mandatory pageview quotas on Idaho Statesman journalists, Region 27 of the NLRB recently determined.  The NLRB found merit to our Unfair Labor Practice charge. We alleged McClatchy, the owner of the Idaho Statesman, violated our protections under federal labor law as a newly formed union by unilaterally changing our annual performance reviews. McClatchy wanted to make pageviews and other digital metric quotas a mandatory part of those reviews. Our performance reviews are used to determine raises and ..read more

We are calling on The McClatchy Company, owner of the Idaho Statesman, to commit to fair and equitable pay for its employees. Today, we’re talking about transparency in job ads. Support us over the next few weeks by sending a letter to management here. Transparency remains one of the bedrock principles of the Idaho NewsGuild. This was a value we believed we shared with McClatchy, a news company that professes public transparency and holding those in power accountable. We’ve since learned otherwise. McClatchy refuses to list salary ranges in job postings for the Idaho Statesman. This shroud of ..read more

One week after the inappropriate firing of our editor, Christina Lords, we resumed negotiating our first contract with McClatchy. We are eternally thankful for all of your support. But we will still need it in the coming fight.  Last week, McClatchy finally agreed to hire four open reporter positions in our newsroom. While it’s no replacement for the unjust loss of an editor trusted by the community and our newsroom — especially during a pandemic — we know Boise needs more journalism, not less. We’re still angry that the decisions of out-of-state executives took a champion of local news f ..read more

McClatchy fired Christina Lords, the Idaho Statesman’s top editor, Monday after she publicly advocated for more resources for the newsroom — a newsroom decimated under McClatchy leadership. With the email form below, you can tell the Idaho Statesman’s corporate parent company that was wrong and that she must be reinstated. It will go to McClatchy’s CEO, its vice president of news and the Northwest regional editor. Submit a form. The Idaho NewsGuild submitted the following letter to McClatchy leadership Monday afternoon, asking for Lords’ immediate reinstatement: To Tony Hunter, McClatchy CEO ..read more

Despite ours and our readers’ protests, the owner of the Idaho Statesman continues to ram through mandatory pageview quotas for its journalists. Apparently it hasn’t received the message. So join us in collectively telling McClatchy this is wrong. You can send an email directly to McClatchy leadership by filling out the form below. Submit a form. McClatchy promised for years it would not judge employees on pageviews. It said they were just goals to strive for. It said it was no big deal if you missed them. But it has broken that promise. In our most recent round of performance reviews, managem ..read more

The journalists of the Idaho Statesman announced plans Monday to unionize as the Idaho News Guild. All of the Statesman’s eligible newsroom employees signed onto a mission statement signaling our intent to form a union. Organizers for the union presented that mission statement to Rusty Dodge, the Statesman’s publisher, and asked for voluntary recognition of the union from the McClatchy Co., the Statesman’s parent company. If McClatchy does not voluntarily recognize the union, organizers are prepared to send cards to the National Labor Relations Board. In that case, the NLRB will hold a union e ..read more