Writers and producers on the CBS News 24/7 team reached a tentative agreement with CBS/Paramount management Thursday.
The three-year long agreement is a victory for the 60-person team working at CBS affiliates in San Francisco and New York. Union representatives and members from both coasts will vote to ratify the contract in the next few days.
The deal followed a 24-hour walkout in both cities March 17. The work stoppage was widely supported across the country; journalists sent more than 3,000 letters of solidarity to management.
Writers and producers delivered a strike pledge seven days prior to the actual walkout and were hopeful to reach “fair deal with our union by the end of today (March 10).” When no deal came about, the small cohort working on Battery Street, in coordination with WGA representatives across the country, voted to strike. By the Saturday before, 95 percent of the union members on the team voted to strike.
Overworked, understaffed and largely dismissed by management, workers deployed the day-long work stoppage as a matter of last resort and, tentatively, it worked.
San Francisco members were most concerned with securing an annual wage increase and reimbursement around tolling. For many workers who live in the East Bay and commute into the city, the odd hours — writers and producers often start at 3am or 4 am to prepare for the morning shows — make public transit a non-starter. Thus, they requested the company provide toll reimbursement.
“All I can really say is I’m glad we reached an agreement and we’re being compensated a little more than we have been,” said one worker who spoke to 48hills on the condition of anonymity.
They noted that when management finally compromised on the guaranteed wage increase, it was the exact same as before members began contract negotiations. A strike seemingly could’ve been avoided had management agreed to the same wage increase a month prior.
The preceding negotiations, the walkout and this yet-to-be-ratified agreement come as CBS undergoes a dramatic transformation. David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison who has been described as both a “shadow president” and a Trump “confidant,” took over the legacy news outlet last summer with big plans to refocus and refinance the network.
In the fall of 2025, Ellison the younger claimed he would deliver $2 billion in savings while reorganizing Paramount into three companies while focusing on “efficiencies associated with labor, real estate, and procurement.”
Shortly after the new year, CBS News announced it would bring 19 new contributors as part of the so-called labor efficiencies. The new contributors included Derek Thompson of the Abundance movement, former National Security Advisor to Trump HR McMaster and a few other military men, three former Free Press columnists, and two doctors. One of the doctors, Peter Attia, stepped down shortly after as it was revealed he had a longstanding, close relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein.
On March 20, just three days after the 24-hour walkout, CBS News announced it would layoff 6 percent of its staff and shutter its nearly century-long radio division. This is now the second round of layoffs under the Weiss tenure and is ostensibly related to her attempt at redirecting the network towards a “streaming mentality.”
KPIX did not respond to requests for comment.
Overall, the tentative agreement is a huge win for a small, well-organized team, facing hostile management with cost-cutting aims
