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Council hearing draws broad support for Daily News union, resolution condemning Alden Global Capital
Summary
Council member Carmen De La Rosa's Resolution 10-15, condemning Alden Global Capital's cuts at the Daily News and urging a fair contract with the newspaper's union, drew extensive public testimony from journalists, unions and labor leaders at the joint committee hearing.
Resolution 10-15, introduced by Council member Carmen De La Rosa, which condemns Alden Global Capital’s cuts and managerial hostility toward unionized New York Daily News staff and calls on the hedge fund to reach a contract deal with the newspaper’s union, drew substantial public testimony and endorsements at the joint hearing.
Susan DeCarava, president of the NewsGuild of New York, described Alden as a predatory owner that has “slashed staff, cut salaries, and froze funding for the newsroom” since acquiring the Daily News in 2021. Multiple union leaders and Daily News journalists said that newsroom staffing has been greatly reduced: witnesses told the committee the Daily News editorial staff had shrunk to about 65 journalists assigned to cover a city of roughly 8.5 million people.
Journalists who testified said the staffing cuts have narrowed the newsroom’s capacity to cover local government, courts and public-safety matters and have made it harder to pursue investigative and trend reporting. Michael Sheridan, a video and photo editor at the Daily News and unit chair for the Daily News Union, said journalists want “a fair contract in the nation’s most expensive city” that includes living wages, paid time off and affordable health care.
Labor leaders joined the journalists in urging action. Logan Needle, deputy political director at Communications Workers of America District 1, called Alden’s model “the moniker destroyer of newspapers” and urged the council to pass the resolution. Brendan Griffith, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, told the committee that “now is a critical moment for newspapers to invest in their workers and staff” and urged passage to send a message against predatory corporate practices.
The floor of the hearing saw repeated public calls to schedule related legislation, including Intro 11-80, which supporters say would restore elements of Local Law 97. Committee chairs thanked witnesses for their testimony; no formal council action on the resolution occurred at the hearing.
