Our mission

We are the journalists of el Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald, and we are joining together to form a union to make our newsroom stronger.

For decades, el Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald have established a national reputation as an expert source of local, national and international news, and have set a standard for other Florida and South Florida news organizations. 

To do this, our journalists have been committed to professional improvement and to push ourselves to cover more, compete aggressively, think creatively, and serve the information needs of our growing community. 

Our journalism is strong when our journalists are strong. Nuestro periodismo se alimenta de la fortaleza de nuestra sala de redacción. But for more than a decade, under the direction of our corporate owners, el Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald have dramatically downsized, cutting costs by shrinking staff through buyouts, layoffs and consolidation. 

As corporate financial pressures have forced us to do more with less, we have remained committed to working with professionalism and integrity, mindful of the cutbacks that have come from a business model that is dying. For us, this is not just a job but a vocation. We believe a robust and independent press is integral to a healthy democracy.

We are uniting because we believe a union will protect our rights and enable us to have a voice in the decisions that affect our ability to do the kind of journalism our community deserves, covering issues that matter to it the most. We are confident that our newsroom leaders want the same thing that we do: a strong, sustainable publication. This is our first step to preserving the Herald’s journalism for generations to come, to making sure our institution will continue to hold the powerful to account by preserving its most important resource: its staff. 

Ahora es el momento para mejorar. Now it’s time to do better.

We reporters, photographers, copy editors, page designers, producers and growth editors will work to develop a sustainable workplace that retains talent, pays staff a decent and fair wage and rewards accomplishment with professional growth. Journalists should not have to choose between a career and a family. We will seek paid leave for staff who want to remain in our community and start families. We seek hiring practices that promote diversity in our newsroom to reflect South Florida’s multicultural tapestry. And we believe it’s time for us to have a seat at the table to guide our company to better serve the residents of South Florida.

One Herald Guild is joining thousands of journalists who have formed unions to demand a voice in setting the course for their future, including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Florida Times-Union and the Sarasota Herald Tribune. 

In the process of organizing, we have formed new bonds and created friendships. We have shared insights and aspirations and realize we are stronger now than ever before, and better able to effectively confront the difficult challenges facing our industry.

We now seek collaboration with our managers, not division, and invite our corporate parent, the McClatchy Company, to voluntarily recognize this union, represented by NewsGuild-CWA. We welcome our owners to begin a constructive, amicable and respectful negotiation for a contract. We care about the health of our newsroom and understand the financial constraints confronting local journalism today. Our goal is to develop a new collaboration that preserves our dedicated staff and forges a path toward growth to better serve our communities and be a strong, independent watchdog for democracy. 

It’s time to work together. Let’s get started. Ahora es el momento de trabajar juntos.

Sarah Blaskey

Julie K. Brown

Matthew Bunch

Devoun Cetoute

Daniel Chang

Howard Cohen

Ben Conarck

Greg Cote

Antonio Delgado

Susan Miller Degnan

Oscar Díaz

Taylor Dolven

Angel Doval

Jorge Ebro

Gwen Filosa

Joey Flechas

Enrique Flor

Carlos Frías

Luis Garcia

Pedro González

Samantha Gross

Carl Hiaasen

Lydia Hidalgo

Jose Iglesias

Carl Juste

Michelle Kaufman

Mary Ellen Klas

Elizabeth Koh

Roberto Laurencio

Monique O. Madan

Suzy Mast

Maddy Marr

Ed McDonald

Jordan McPherson

Sarah Moreno

David J. Neal

Nicholas Nehamas

Matias J. Ocner

Connie Ogle

Sonia Osorio

David Ovalle

Bianca Padró Ocasio

John Parkhurst

Florencia Paz

Mario Pentón

Leonard Pitts

Jorge Posada

Charles Rabin

Raúl Rodriguez 

Rene Rodriguez

Linda Robertson

Douglas Rojas-Sosa

Daniel Shoer Roth

Fabiola Santiago

Kevin Scott

C. Isaiah Smalls II

David Smiley

Jimena Tavel

Daniel A. Varela

Andres Viglucci

Rob Wile

David B. Wilson

Jay Weaver

Colleen Wright

Jim Wyss

Carolina Zamora