Law360 editorial staffers agree to first contract

Law360 editorial staffers have tentatively agreed to a first contract at the LexisNexis-owned legal news site.

The four-year contract provides a significant wage increase — an average immediate 22 percent boost in total salaries — retroactive to Jan. 1, 2018, and a salary “floor of decency” of $50,000.

Guild members will also receive a 2 percent ratification bonus.

Beginning in 2019, each employee will be eligible for an annual bonus from a pool equal to at least 3 percent of total payroll for Guild-covered employees.  In addition, beginning in 2020, editorial employees will receive both a guaranteed increase of at least 2 percent each year, as well as the opportunity for a merit raise from a pool equal to at least 2 percent of total payroll, for the life of the contract.

Law360 employees will also be guaranteed a set of separate sick days for the first time in company history.

“This contract delivers important changes that Law360’s journalists demanded, including significantly higher wages, better job security, separate sick days and improved retirement benefits,” said Law360 Unit chair Juan Carlos Rodriguez in a statement. “When we unionized more than two years ago, we gained a strong collective voice in the newsroom. We spoke up and pushed hard for a fair contract that would reflect the time, effort and expertise we put into our high-quality work, and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved with this agreement.”

Members also negotiated language that prevents the company from re-instituting non-compete agreements, which had prohibited employees from working for “competitors” for a year after leaving the company.

Law360 staffers also fought for, and secured, the rollback of onerous daily story quotas widely regarded as harmful to journalistic integrity and employee morale.

Guild members were also able to secure successorship language, which ensures that the collective bargaining agreement is assumed by any new owner of the company.

The vote to ratify the contract was 168-0.