(CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) - Workers employed at the University of Chicago Press are Going Union with the Chicago News Guild (The News Guild-Communications Workers of America) Local 34071, joining the nationwide Labor Movement for a stronger Publishing Industry.

The UCP Workers Guild represents Staff across the Press’s Divisions and marks the first Union in the Press’s 130-year history. 

The UCP Workers Guild has requested that leadership agree to voluntary recognition and work with Staff to negotiate a first contract. If not recognized voluntarily, the Workers are seeking an election monitored by the National Labor Relations Board by mail.

The University of Chicago Press is a leader in academic publishing, boasting a rigorous program of trade and specialist titles, a portfolio of highly regarded scholarly journals, and the Chicago Distribution Center, which includes the Digital Scholarly Book Repository BiblioVault.

In a mission statement, the UCP Workers Guild outlined the following organizing principles that are guiding its efforts: Pay equity; Sustainability; and transparency. 

Griffin Reed, a UCP Workers Guild Member, said: “I dreamed for years of getting a job in academic publishing and I’m thrilled to be working not only in my chosen industry but at one of the most prestigious presses in the country. However, that excitement is too often exploited by employers and particularly by our employers at the University of Chicago. My Co-Workers and I face low, stagnant wages, a lack of standardization across the press regarding our ability to work from home and potential precarity in the form of layoffs, outsourcing, or the introduction of AI (Artificial Intelligence) into our workflow. I want a Union to ensure that our jobs are protected and that we are paid fairly for our profit-generating labor.”

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