Staffers at 11 Southern California newspapers, including the Orange County Register, voted Friday to unionize, joining a wave of newsrooms turning to organized labor amid job cuts and uncertainty in the newspaper industry.
The papers make up the Southern California News Group, which is owned by Alden Global Capital — a New York hedge fund that has amassed one of the largest newspaper portfolios in the country while aggressively cutting costs at its properties.
After a 64-19 vote, the SCNG Guild now represents about 140 nonmanagement editorial employees at the Register, Los Angeles Daily News, (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, (Long Beach) Press-Telegram, (Torrance) Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Pasadena Star-News, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts.
The news group joins the Media Guild of the West, a local chapter of the NewsGuild-CWA, which represents journalists at media outlets including the Los Angeles Times.
Read the full story at LATimes.com.