Employees of Education Week are taking steps to unionize and be represented by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.
An organizing committee of employees at Education Week informed the nonprofit company’s senior leaders Tuesday, Aug. 29, of its intention and also requested voluntary recognition. The letter included 26 signatories from across the company.
Education Week’s senior leaders turned down that request late Tuesday.
The EdWeek employees working to organize said they will proceed with steps to hold a union election governed by rules of the National Labor Relations Board.
In a press release Wednesday, the employee group said that if approved, the union would represent “nearly 50 employees” in the company, including those in editorial, audience engagement, the EdWeek Research Center, marketing, and advertising operations. Eligible employees would be represented by the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which is the union for more than 2,500 news, information, nonprofit, and labor-organization workers in the Mid-Atlantic, according to its website.
In a statement Wednesday, Education Week’s President and CEO Michele Givens said, “Editorial Projects in Education respects employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act and will abide by the outcome of any official vote by our employees. However, we also strongly believe that a process ensuring that each employee is informed and has a full understanding of all points of view on unionization is paramount and implemented in accordance with the representation procedures of the NLRB. We recognize the growing movement for employees of media outlets to form unions and look forward to learning more as to why this select group of employees took this action.”
On its website, the EdWeek employee group said its goal in organizing is to “strengthen and preserve the best parts of our company—namely, our supportive and family-friendly culture—which lay the foundation for our ability to produce deep, nuanced, and revelatory journalism.” They said they are fighting for “equitable pay, progressive family leave, fair remote work policies, and the continued commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
For more than 40 years, Education Week has provided high-quality, independent news and information on the K-12 education field for a national audience of educators, researchers, and policymakers. Education Week, with 94 full-time employees, is located in Bethesda, Maryland.
