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

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 24-hour work stoppage is the first time employees at the nonprofit have walked off the job.

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.

One of the major issues workers are walking out over is how generative AI will be used at ProPublica — and disclosed to audiences — going forward. Many newsroom unions are negotiating AI language in contracts for the first time since tools have become widely accessible in the last few years. ProPublica management recently introduced an AI policy, which Mark Olalde, a member of the bargaining committee, described as “unilateral implementation.” The NewsGuild, which represents ProPublica staff, filed an unfair labor practice charge earlier this week over the implementation of the policy.

Alexis Stephens, ProPublica’s director of communications, said the company is “committed to reaching a fair and sustainable contract” with the union. Stephens added that it’s too soon to know exactly how AI will affect work, and the company is exploring how these technologies can create more space for investigative reporting.

Some newsrooms have gradually started to embrace the use of AI. The New York Times has used AI to help reporters parse documents, while an editor at Fortune has churned out hundreds of stories written by AI. ProPublica staff want protections against layoffs as a result of AI and public disclosures when AI is used to produce stories. In support of the 24-hour work stoppage, the union is asking readers to not visit ProPublica or engage with its content on other platforms.