ProPublica journalists strike over AI policy, exposing labor fault lines inside investigative media

Unionized staff at the investigative nonprofit ProPublica walked off the job for one day on Wednesday, April 8, forming picket lines outside the organization’s New York City headquarters and in Chicago and Washington, D.C. The walkout followed more than two years of contract talks that the union says have stalled over artificial intelligence, job security and wages.

According to The NewsGuild, the ProPublica Guild set up its New York picket line from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, with a rally at 12:30 p.m. featuring Guild members and leaders from The NewsGuild-CWA and city labor. The union asked readers and supporters not to visit ProPublica’s website or click on the organization’s content on other platforms during the strike.

The ProPublica Guild represents journalists, communications staff, developers, reporting fellows, copy editors and other workers, and is a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York. The union won voluntary recognition in August 2023 and began bargaining in December 2023. In March, the unit authorized the strike, with 92% voting “yes” and 99% of the union participating in the vote.

An unfair labor practice charge over AI

The union said the work stoppage came two days after it filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over what it described as the company’s unilateral implementation of an AI policy. The Guild said the company failed to first bargain with the union as required by labor law.

The Guild also said that during more than two years of active bargaining, ProPublica management rejected any restrictions on replacing jobs with AI, refused to agree to standard job security protections and seniority provisions in layoffs, and denied workers wage increases that keep up with the rising cost of living.

“Our members are standing together to demand that management agree to very basic, very standard union protections,” said Jeff Ernsthausen, a senior data reporter and secretary of the ProPublica Guild, in the union’s statement. “We care deeply about our work, so we call on management to understand the gravity of this walkout and to come to the table ready to take our concerns seriously.”

TNG-CWA President Jon Schleuss wrote to the company the day before the strike, urging management to agree to contract language on AI usage. Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York, said in the union’s statement that “our members at ProPublica are key to the company’s reputation for excellence” and that “today, they have walked off the job to remind management of their value and demonstrate their commitment to accomplishing a fair contract.”

A test case for AI in newsrooms

The dispute has been described by Nieman Journalism Lab as the first U.S. newsroom strike over AI protections. The union first authorized the action in March before carrying it out in April. Coverage of the walkout has also appeared in Poynter and The Washington Post, which reported that the strike has highlighted tensions over the use of artificial intelligence in journalism.

ProPublica is one of the most prominent accountability newsrooms in the United States and frequently partners with other outlets to co-publish investigations. The NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America, represents nearly 6,000 media professionals and other employees at New York area news organizations, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Reuters, ProPublica, The Nation, TIME and PEOPLE.

The union framed the dispute as a fight over what it called standard contract protections, including limits on the use of AI to replace workers, seniority-based rules in the event of layoffs and cost-of-living wage increases. As of the walkout, the two sides had been in active bargaining for more than two years.