Members of FT US Guild voted unanimously to ratify a first contract with the Financial Times on Wednesday. The deal represents the culmination of nearly four years of hard work by Guild members to unionize the FT’s U.S. newsroom and negotiate an agreement with the company.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done together,” said Chicago correspondent Claire Bushey. “This is a beginning.”
Among the benefits of this new contract, the company has agreed to:
- Institute a minimum starting salary of $75,000. Employees with at least one direct report will be paid at least $107,500
- Pay raises for all employees making under $115,000
- Increase the FT’s retirement match to 6% by 2026
- Maintain its portion of healthcare costs for the duration of the three-year contract
- Allow new parents eight weeks of unpaid parental leave, on top of existing paid leave period
- Cap contract work at one year to give short-term workers more stability
- In another first, the agreement also creates a bargaining framework with the U.K.’s National Union of Journalists. Under this unprecedented arrangement, U.S. and U.K. members will bargain jointly for future wage increases.
“This is great win for Financial Times workers and we welcome them to the larger Guild family,’ said Vin Cherwoo, president of the News Media Guild (NMG). “It’s another example of the power of unity to achieve real improvements in the workplace.”
The FT US Guild is the newest unit in NMG, which also represents employees at The Associated Press, the U.S. staff of The Guardian, Oxford University Press, Democracy Works, and the Madrid-based EFE News Service, and With Intelligence.
Unit leaders also saluted management for working with the union to achieve a first agreement. “We look forward to working together for the duration of our contract, and beyond, to make the FT a great place to work,” the unit said.