The broadcast union SAG-AFTRA said Wednesday that it had secured a majority of votes to represent staff members at Chicago Public Media.
SAG-AFTRA said it would represent 49 editorial members of Chicago Public Media, the pubcaster that operates WBEZ and Vocalo. In September, 36 full-time editorial staff members and three additional employees signed a petition seeking union representation and presented it to CPM interim CEO Alison Scholly.
“We have great leaders and a committed board and we believe organizing as staff members is an important step to achieving the goals we all share here: producing excellent journalism that serves the public and making this important local institution even stronger than it is today,” said Rob Wildeboer, criminal and legal affairs reporter for WBEZ, in a prepared statement.
The National Labor Relations Board conducted the election, which took place Dec. 18. SAG-AFTRA said the final vote was 40-7 in favor of unionizing.
The union also represents public media employees at NPR, KPBS in San Diego, KQED in San Francisco, WNYC in New York, and KPLU in Tacoma, Wash.