Unionized journalists at five McClatchy Media newspapers in the Pacific Northwest — including The Olympian — voted overwhelmingly this week to approve a strike.
A start date for the strike has not yet been announced.
Results show 93% of participating members in the Washington State News Guild and Idaho News Guild voted in favor of a work stoppage, according to a news release from the two news guilds.
The stoppage will impact reporting and publishing at The Olympian, Tacoma News Tribune, Bellingham Herald and Tri-City Herald in Washington, as well as the Idaho Statesman in Boise.
More than 200,000 daily digital readers rely on those papers for local news, investigative journalism, sports and culture coverage, according to the news guilds.
The decision comes after McClatchy, owned by a New Jersey hedge fund, failed to provide a substantive wage offer during a May 5 bargaining session, the news guilds stated.
Both the Washington and Idaho guilds filed an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board against the company over its bad-faith bargaining, including refusal to bring decision-makers to the table or even identify them.
“McClatchy is starving its journalists by denying them a livable, fair wage,” said Michael Lycklama, chair of the Idaho News Guild. “While workers tighten their belts, McClatchy has spent the past two years acquiring tabloid magazines and spending millions on artificial intelligence. Instead of lavishing money on new ventures that threaten our trust and credibility with readers, we are demanding McClatchy invest in the actual workers that make their products possible.”
Inflation has increased more than 12% since their contracts expired last spring, yet McClatchy expects its workers to get by on just a 3% increase, according to the news guilds.
“Many of our guild members have worked without a raise for nearly two years,” said Kristine Sherred, chair of the Washington State News Guild. “We are calling on McClatchy to come back to the table with the real decision makers to negotiate a fair wage so our journalists can afford to stay in the communities we cover.”
Donations can be made to the units’ strike fund online at bit.ly/WAIDStrikeFund
The strike fund had raised $10,900 of its $12,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon.
The Olympian has been operating as a local newspaper for the Olympia area since 1852. McClatchy Media has owned the publication since it acquired The Olympian’s then-parent company, Knight Ridder, in 2006.
The Washington State News Guild was established in 2021 and currently represents 31 reporters and photographers at The Tacoma News Tribune, Tri-City Herald, The Olympian and Bellingham Herald.
The Idaho News Guild was established in 2020 and represents 19 journalists, photographers and columnists at the Idaho Statesman in Boise.
Since May 2025, the two news guilds have been engaged in joint collective bargaining with McClatchy Media for new labor contracts.
McClatchy Media operates newspapers in 30 markets with 65 million monthly readers.
The two Pacific Northwest news guilds previously clashed with McClatchy Media over the company’s use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom.
They are also fighting against McClatchy’s article quotas, which the guilds say sacrifice hard-hitting news stories in favor of clickbait-style articles.
Both organizations are part of the Pacific Northwest NewsGuild, TNG-CWA Local #37082.
For more information about two news guilds, visit https://www.idwanewsguilds.org/
