Journalists of Central Oregon newspapers rally for union amid soaring cost of living

Staff at the Bend Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman newspapers announced Friday that they plan to form a union.

The 11 members of the union — consisting of reporters, news assistants and photographers — are asking EO Media Group, the parent company of The Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman, to voluntarily recognize the union. If the company declines, a vote to unionize will be set at a later date.

The union, dubbed Central Oregon NewsGuild, would be represented by The NewsGuild, which is a part of the Communications Workers of America union.

Staff members said affordability is one of the main reasons behind the effort. Bryce Dole, The Bulletin’s public safety reporter, said most of the staff cannot afford to live in Bend. He said salaries for the potential union members average around $21 an hour.

“Housing prices in Bend are very high, and they’re increasing year-over-year,” Dole said. “The wages we receive here … it’s just not enough to make this a sustainable career.”

Related: Why Pacific Northwest small towns are fighting to save their local newspapers

Dole said several journalists have left The Bulletin in the past year, with low wages being a primary reason. He said the union is also hoping for greater job security. He said the majority of union members work side jobs to make ends meet.

“We don’t subscribe to the idea that all newsrooms are going to crumble,” he said. “We believe that our community wants a strong paper.”

‘Bend is a very expensive place to live’

The members of the prospective union delivered notices to the EO Media Group executives Friday morning.

EO Media Group Chief Operating Officer Heidi Wright said the company is currently reviewing whether it will voluntarily recognize the union, a decision she said will come shortly. She said no matter what the company decides, the management stands by its newsrooms and the journalists working in them.

“I appreciate our employees very deeply and I understand their concerns,” Wright said. “There is no doubt that Bend is a very expensive place to live.”

EO Media Group has owned The Bulletin and Spokesman newspapers since 2019, after purchasing them for $3.6 million with the backing of local Bend investors. The previous owner, Western Communications, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after saying it was $30 million in debt.

Related: Bend Bulletin Owners Plan To Sell Everything And Dissolve The Company

EO Media Group outbid Adams Publishing Group, a large newspaper corporation based in Minnesota, for the two papers. EO Media Group received praise from local leaders for keeping the 120-year-old Bulletin in local hands.

“EOMG is the only (bidder) that offers the local perspective I feel is so critical,” former Bend Mayor Sally Russell said in 2019. “Our city would not be well-served by having our local, daily newspaper controlled by absentee managers of huge conglomerates.”

Oregon’s 2nd journalism union if formed

Newsrooms across the country have been unionizing in greater numbers, a response to an industry often defined by low pay, long hours and a high risk of layoffs. If successful, the Central Oregon NewsGuild would be the second journalism union in Oregon after the Eugene Newspaper Guild, which represents journalists at The Register-Guard in Eugene.

EO Media Group is the largest single publisher of news in Oregon east of the Cascades. The company has earned praise in recent years for its commitment to community journalism. It owns newspapers in small cities like Pendleton, Astoria and John Day, and has been a family-owned operation for four generations.

It recently set up a news organization in Medford in January, following the abrupt closure of Medford’s Mail Tribune.