Who are we and why are we unionizing?

We are composed of the on and off-air staff at St. Louis Public Radio — including, but not limited to, journalists, producers, on-air hosts, and marketing professionals — all of whose work helps fill our airwaves, website, newsletters, and social media accounts with essential local news content each day.

Our staff’s efforts have been in the making for the better part of a decade and were underlined by our colleagues of color's courageous 2020 efforts in shining light on the racism and systemic challenges they faced while working at St. Louis Public Radio.

What are the steps to form a union at STLPR?

First, we collect signatures for the “Intent to Unionize” form. Once those are received, they are filed with the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Next, they are presented to St. Louis Public Radio and the University of Missouri — St. Louis, and at that point. We invited the institution to voluntarily recognize our union, but they declined.

In June 2023, STLPR Guild’s initial 37-person membership voted — in roughly an 80/20 split — to ratify our 37-member union with the Communication Workers of America as our official bargaining representatives.

How many people have signed up for the effort?

The St. Louis Public Radio Guild has an overwhelming majority of our station’s on- and off-air workers signed onto our effort and we stand united in making STLPR a better place to work and grow. We strive to show those who have not yet signed onto our effort that we are ready to work for everyone — no matter the department – because every worker deserves a seat at the bargaining table.

Is everyone at St. Louis Public Radio represented by the STLPR Guild?

Our historic union includes non-supervisory employees in our newsroom, marketing, and on-air departments. We intend to organize and win union recognition for our support staff in our business, events, IT, and fundraising departments.

Who are the Communications Workers of America (CWA)?

The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields. We are part of CWA Local 6400 — a scrappy group of workers who are working to reimagine organized labor into a system that works for everyone.

What other news organizations have a union?

There has been a wave of unionizations across newsrooms in the United States over the last several years. Several public media organizations are organized, such as NPR, WBEZ (Chicago), WAMU (Washington, DC), Minnesota Public Radio, WBUR (Boston), WNYC (New York), Marketplace, and New Hampshire Public Radio.