EdSource Guild

@edsourceguild.bsky.social

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We are @newsguild.org / @cwaunion.bsky.social‬ Local 39521: The journalists of EdSource, the biggest and best source of education coverage in California. We still do not have a contract. | https://linktr.ee/edsourceguild

EDSOURCE GUILD IS ON STRIKE TODAY, MAY 14, 2026. Tell EdSource management you will not cross the digital picket line! Send them a message at the link in our bio.
EDSOURCE GUILD IS ON STRIKE TODAY, MAY 14, 2026. For 16 months, we have worked for a contract. Now, management has unilaterally changed health benefits without negotiation.
100% of EdSource Guild members have authorized a work stoppage. For 16 months, we have worked for a contract. Now, management has unilaterally changed health benefits without negotiation. FAIR CONTRACT NOW.
MANAGEMENT GOT THE MESSAGE EdSource Guild made grievance and arbitration a centerpiece of our contract campaign — and it worked. Management had proposed that the EdSource CEO serve as the final decision maker in grievance matters, rather than a third-party arbitrator. After our rally, they returned to the bargaining table with a new proposal that includes binding arbitration. We reached a tentative agreement. Thank you to everyone who showed up to our rally or shared posts from our campaign. We're still fighting for a contract, but we want you to know: our collective power is working.
AI Introduces New Risks: "EdSource reporters and the data team I'm a part of go to great pains to ensure we can stand behind what we publish. We need a newsroom AI policy that ensures we can use new technology strategically while protecting our work from serious hazards." Justin Allen, who works on newsroom design and technology and data journalism at EdSource
EdSource reporter and EdSource Guild member Betty Márquez Rosales.
There aren't enough characters available to put the full press release here, but we'll put a link in a reply.
Everyone deserves time off to deal with and recover from traumatic events. "Amid immigration raids, I had to come to terms with the reality that any of my family members could disappear at any given moment. If that happens, I do not know if I will be supported to take the time I know I will need." -Reporter, EdSource
"We should be able to afford all of our basic necessities. For my life-sustaining medication, instead of getting a needed 90-day supply, I have to choose a prescription that will get me to the next payday because I still have to be able to afford groceries and keep the lights on as a single parent." -Reporter, EdSource
"Journalists need legal protections in order to serve the public. We have asked EdSource to include California Shield Law training in our contract and to require third-party vendors to tell us how they would respond to subpoenas that could reveal confidential information about our work and place reporters in legal peril. Management appears to think these matters are unimportant. As an investigative reporter who faces legal threats from the powerful,I can assure you the risks are real." -Thomas Peele, investigative reporter
"Reporters should be able to afford living in the communities they cover. At EdSource, there doesn't seem to be any established process for pay progression, and inequity brews quickly across a team where it seems raises are decided in an arbitrary fashion." -Betty Márquez Rosales, Reporter
"A worker's income should keep up with rising costs. Yet, rental prices have grown faster than my pay." -Lasherica Thornton, Reporter
"Everyone deserves equitable pay. Yet, with my current salary, I can't pay for basic necessities *and* save for retirement *and* pay rent. The math just doesn't work out." -Emma Gallegos, Reporter
Workers should be able to care for sick family members. "When my dad needed surgery after months of chemotherapy, EdSource did not provide clear guidance, policy or paid leave as an employee caring for a family member. I made the tough but necessary decision to take time off work anyway. To date, I have not received compensation for two weeks of work from either EdSource or the state." -Anonymous, Reporter
"A new parent deserves paid time off to care for their children. But ad EdSource, we only get what California offers, which is partial pay limited to three months. After my second baby was born at just five pounds eight ounces, I wanted to continue breastfeeding for at least six months to help her grow stronger, but without more leave, I had to stop early." -Sunny Xie, Data Visualization Specialist
A worker's income should keep up with rising costs. "In my six years at EdSource I've gotten four raises, and not a single one of them was at or above inflation. I've basically taken a 15% pay cut to keep working at EdSource." -Daniel J. Willis, Data journalist
A photo of EdSource reporter Emma Gallegos with the following quote: "Everyone deserves equitable pay. Yet, with my current salary, I can't pay for basic necessities AND save for retirement AND pay rent. The math just doesn't work out."
A screenshot of a Zoom meeting including, from top left, Lasherica Thornton, Emma Gallegos, Amy DiPierro, Michael Burke, Kevin Brokt, Karen D'Souza, Zaidee Stavley, Daniel Willis, Mallika Seshadri, Thomas Peele, Justin Allen, and Diana Lambert.
The work of EdSource journalists has never been more crucial, given the continuous threats to democracy and the unprecedented challenges facing the public education system. Since its founding, EdSource has grown from an authoritative source of school financial data and analysis to California’s leading education news source. By unionizing, EdSource Guild members hope to maintain our organization's relentless drive for critical and ethical journalism, while building an inclusive and equitable newsroom. At a critical time for press freedoms and with the rights of journalists under constant threat, we also want to stand with our fellow organized workers in this age-old craft to protect the cherished common duty to inform the public without fear or favor. Our job is to hold the powerful accountable and be advocates for students, parents, educators and taxpayers. Now, this union must balance the scales of power and decision-making within our organization. Our award-winning stories, investigations, data analysis, podcasts, roundtables and documentaries illuminate the toughest education issues and inform students, families and education decision-makers about California schools. EdSource journalists are often called upon by television and radio shows to discuss our stories and provide meaningful context to education issues. To preserve and protect quality journalism, to have a say in decisions that affect coverage and to be fairly compensated for this work, EdSource reporters must unionize. We want to create a culture that embraces a healthy work-life balance, and we want to be a destination where talented journalists can spend their careers. That requires adequate compensation that keeps up with the skyrocketing cost of living in California. Unionizing will help us create the best version of EdSource, protect our work and mission, and preserve this organization’s legacy for the future.