Unionized ProPublica staff are on strike over AI, layoffs, and wages

The Verge / 4/8/2026

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Key Points

  • ProPublica’s roughly 150 unionized staff (ProPublica Guild) are striking for 24 hours starting Wednesday and are asking the public to honor a digital picket line.
  • Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement follow the newsroom’s unionization in 2023, with several key issues still unresolved.
  • The union is pressing for protections governing the use of AI, along with “just cause” standards for discipline or termination.
  • Layoff protections and wage increases are also central demands in the ongoing bargaining process.
Pixelated pencil writing on paper

Unionized staff at ProPublica, one of the country's leading nonprofit newsrooms, are walking off the job for 24 hours beginning Wednesday and asking the public to honor a digital picket line.

The roughly 150 members of the ProPublica Guild are in the midst of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement after unionizing in 2023. The union says key issues are still in contention, including protections around the use of AI, "just cause" provisions around disciplining or firing an employee, layoff protections, and wages.

"We've been working to resolve this quietly for over two years," says Katie Campbell, a ProPublica Guild member. "This is …

Read the full story at The Verge.