ProPublica’s union staged a 24-hour strike over AI, job protections

AI has been a major sticking point in negotiations, mirroring conflicts across the country between newsrooms and their unions

The ongoing clash between newsrooms and their unions over the implementation of artificial intelligence escalated Wednesday as workers at ProPublica staged a 24-hour strike.

The union — which includes roughly 150 journalists and business-side staff — has been negotiating its first contract with the company since December 2023. The strike marks the culmination of an increasingly public campaign the union has been waging out of frustration over what they say is ProPublica’s unwillingness to agree to “fair” proposals.

“The decision to strike at all was not something that the unit rushed into,” said environment reporter Mark Olalde. “This was something that only happened because of the absolutely wild length of time that we’ve been negotiating, and, frankly, the intransigence from our senior management to agree to a fair contract.”