Updated: 8:35am, Dec. 29, 2021
Employees at the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Massachusetts, have ratified their first contract since unionizing three years ago.
The Pioneer Valley NewsGuild had taken several public actions to put pressure on Newspapers of New England, which owns the Gazette.
Reporter Bera Dunau, a union negotiator, said a main goal was to avoid the outsourcing of three current positions in graphic design and copy editing.
"We're able to preserve the work and jobs as best we can for those people there," Dunau said. "But post that, that work may be done by other people outside of the unit. So there was the compromise on that."
Dunau said the union and management had already agreed on not outsourcing most reporting, photography and circulation positions. He said management also agreed to some salary increases — and to provide legal representation if a reporter gets sued.
In a statement, publisher Shawn Palmer said he was happy with the terms.
