Here are three steps you can take to support the High Country News Union:
- Show your support on social media by saying: “I support HCN’s workers”! You can tag us on X, Mastodon @HCNunion and Instagram @HCNworkers
- Sign the public letter of support below!
- Write a letter to the editor expressing your support in the pages of the magazine by filling this form out, or email directly at editor@hcn.org
Letter of Support
Dear Friends,
After more than a year of organizing, planning and discussion, the staff of High Country News is unionizing! We wanted to inform our HCN community of our efforts immediately. On January 9, 2024, we sent a letter notifying Executive Director Greg Hanscom, and the Board of Directors, informing them that we are exercising our legal right to form a union in order to build a stronger, more sustainable HCN. Our priorities include negotiating for higher salaries, instituting just cause employment and establishing a robust parental, caregiver and medical leave policy. (You can see our full mission statement here). This union includes employees of all departments: customer service, editorial, marketing, art and philanthropy.
We have given Greg time to consult with the board and leadership in hopes they are willing to voluntarily recognize our union. Should they choose not to, we will be required to go through the National Labor Relations Board process of certifying our union, something that could drag out the process for months. For that reason, we’re hoping for swift support, both internally and externally, so that Greg, the Board of Directors and the organization’s leadership ultimately agree with us: for the stability, health and happiness of HCN staff and the organization, we need a union!
And for that reason, we need your help. If you agree that an HCN Union will benefit the interests of HCN’s community of workers, show your support by signing below and share on social media! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions, or if you just want to be in touch.
Thank you for your dedication to HCN and to the people who make it!
In solidarity,
the High Country News Union
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Supporters:
Aaron Benko
Abigail Dancey
Abigail Harrison
Adam Rissien (WildEarth Guardians)
Aidan Reed
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Alan Weisman (Homelands Productions)
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Claire Londy
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Cyndi Tuell (Western Watersheds Project)
Daniel Andrés Domínguez
Daniel Gonzalez
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Emma Nelson
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Ernesto Joven
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Jacquelyn Quinn
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Jason Dinh
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John H Noyes
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Jonathan Michels
Jonathan Miller (Homelands Productions)
Jonathan P. Thompson
Jonathan Pincus (The Nexus of Privacy)
Joseph O’Sullivan
Josephine Woolington
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Julia Morton
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Kara Milstein
Karly Foster
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Kathe Haskell
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Kaveer Rai
Kaye McGehee
Kelsey Atherton
Kendal Blust
Kenny Fallon Jr.
Keshet Miller
Ketty Blum
Kevin Witkow
Kieffer Katz
Kori Suzuki (KPBS)
Kristi Thielen
Kristopher Fortin
Krysti Shallenberger
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Kylee Britzman
Kylen Fleishman
Kylie Mohr
L.V. Anderson (Grist Union)
Laura Sohn
Laura Welp
Lauren Wood
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Leslie Langdon
Lexie Leighton
Lianne Milton
Linda Warden
Lindsay Stephens
Lisa Mountain (Youth Coa. for Great Salt Lake)
Liz Hall
Lizzie Seiple
Loryn Cesario
Lucy Elizabeth Lynch
Luis Guerra (CEO Terremoto Productions)
Luke Distelhorst
Luke Swenson (Atascosa Borderlands)
Lyndsey Gilpin
Madelaine DeVan
Madeline Schroeder
Madi Sudweeks
Maia Odell
Mairi Poisson (University of New Hampshire)
Mandy Brown
Marc A Sylvester
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Mariana Poole
Marisa Edmondson (DC CARES)
Marissa Garcia
Mark Jones
Mark Murrmann
Mark Olalde
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Marleigh Simons
Martha Brantley
Marty Schnure
Mary Auld
Mary Hudetz
Mary Meissinger
Mary Sketch
Mason Trinca
Matt Payne
Max Granger
Max Kuhl
Maya L. Kapoor
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Meghan Samyn
Mel Keller (Fair Housing Workers of Oregon)
Michael Cooper (Paradise Theatre)
Michelle Akers
Michelle Amiott
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Mollie Putnam
Monica Heilman
Monique Doryland
Morgan Lieberman (Freelance Photographer)
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Morgan Yi
Murphy Woodhouse
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Nathan Schneider (Media Studies, CU Boulder)
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Nicolas Gonzalez
Nicole Zimmerman
Nikolai Ryan
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Niña Riggio (Freelance Photographer)
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Noelle A. Cook
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Ollie Hancock
Paige Vega (Vox Media)
Paul Wilson
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Sarah Silva
Sarah Tory
Sarah Trent
Sarah Yeoman (Independent Photographer)
Sasha Hartzell
Savannah Maher (Marketplace)
Scott Bonawitz
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Sean Boyer
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Sophia Sickling (Political Workers Guild)
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Summer Newlands
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Susan Shain
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Tammy Kim
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Tara Powers
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Teal Lehto
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Teri Shecter
Terry Bouton
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Thy Vo
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Will Gies-Barton
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William F. Smith
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Yehuda Rothschild
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