Reuters to Allow Employees Mostly Work From Home in Tentative Agreement with Union

Thomson Reuters Corp. and NewsGuild, which represents the publisher’s unionized journalists, reached a tentative agreement that lets employees work from home three days each week in 2023, according to Bloomberg. It also established a 10 percent salary increase over three years and $5,000 signing bonuses. NewsGuild speaks for 300 U.S. journalists and photographers from Reuters.

The agreement between Reuters and the union expired nearly two years ago. In August, Reuters employees held their first strike in decades over stalled wage negotiations. Reuters reportedly offered 1 percent wage increases over three years, despite a 9 percent inflation rate for urban consumers. Last month, unionized employees authorized another strike.

The agreement lets Reuters change its work-from-home policies after the 2023 year. It also limits management’s use of nondisclosure agreements in harassment and discrimination cases, according to Bloomberg. Union members will vote on the contract today (Dec. 28).

The company is happy to have reached this tentative agreement and is looking forward to refocusing on journalism when it is ratified, Reuters said in an emailed statement. NewsGuild did not immediately respond to the Observer’s request for comment.

Other media publications are still negotiating contracts. New York Times employees, also represented by the NewsGuild, are negotiating with their employer over the same issues as Reuters. In September, 1,300 workers protested the Times’ return-to-office policy by staying home. This month, 1,100 employees went on strike for the first time in decades.