Reuters union ratifies new contract

The Communications Workers of America union journalists at Reuters unanimously ratified Wednesday a new three-year agreement that includes a $5,000 bonus.

The new deal includes 3 percent wage increases for each of the next two years and pools for merit increases. The union says there will be cumulative 10.5 percent increases over the next three years.

The 300 U.S. journalists covered as part of the agreement had been operating without a contract for the past two years.

The agreement includes 16 weeks paid parental leave, up from 12 weeks in the previous deal. It also includes six months sabbatical leave every five years and eight weeks to work anywhere, including four abroad — both new pacts.

The agreement also bars the company from using non-disclosure agreements with employees, and diversity targets for recruiting.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.