Arizona
Arizona Republic and its newsroom union agree on 2-year contract
Watch The Republic’s coverage of Arizona in 2023
From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from Rihanna to Taylor Swift, The Republic covered it all in Arizona in 2023.
The Arizona Republic and its newsroom staffers agreed Friday on a two-year contract that provides a framework for benefits, wages and working conditions for employees.
A tentative agreement, negotiated between The Republic and local members of Media Guild of the West, was reached in December.
The contract was approved unanimously in a vote by Guild members this week. It comes after more than four years of negotiations after reporters, photographers and other newsroom staffers at The Arizona Republic, azcentral.com and La Voz voted to unionize in October 2019.
Both sides expressed satisfaction with the deal.
“Four years ago in Phoenix, we began negotiating a first contract fully aware of the complexities,” said Greg Burton, Republic executive editor. “Today, we emerge united around mutual priorities, a mission to serve readers and an obligation to hold the powerful to account.”
The contract maintains core management rights to lead the newsroom, direct employees’ work, and manage the number of employees and their assignments. It affirms that union employees will share the same benefits at the company as non-union employees.
The contract also sets out a minimum starting salary, increases pay for all union staffers, provides some layoff protections and continues paying matching funds on employee contributions in the 401(k) retirement plan.
Some 78 votes were cast in favor, none in opposition, with five eligible Guild members not voting.
Burton said the local journalism effort never stopped throughout the bargaining process.
“Never once did we aspire for anything less than our best,” he said. “That’s reflective of the talent and dedication of every person in this newsroom.”
Finalizing the contract in Phoenix “affirms our commitment to local journalism and serving our neighbors in this community with the information they want, need and deserve,” said Kristin Roberts, Gannett Media chief content officer, in a statement. Gannett is the parent company of The Republic.
“We plan to continue finalizing contracts for our valued USA TODAY Network colleagues while actively posting and filling journalism jobs across the country,” Roberts said.
Roberts reaffirmed company officials remain “unwavering in our promise to deliver essential content and trusted journalism — it’s a goal we all share as we stabilize our business.”
Richard Ruelas, an investigative reporter and chair of the Republic guild, called it a “beneficial” agreement that features a minimum starting salary of $50,000 and automatic increases after five and 10 years of employment. The company also agreed to continue paying matching funds on employee contributions in the 401(k) retirement plan and to more than double mileage-reimbursement rates.
“Additionally, every employee in the newsroom who doesn’t get a bump in the new salary structure will receive a $1 an hour raise in each of the two years of the contract,” he said. “That means the minimum pay increase a Republic newsroom (guild) employee will receive is $4,160 over the next two years.”
The contract also specifies a layoff process that calls on The Republic to seek volunteers before anyone is involuntarily dismissed, Ruelas said.
“It’s much better that employees leave of their own volition, with celebrations and fond farewells, than be involuntarily shown the door,” he said. “Both sides agreed with that.”
Lengthy organizing, bargaining process
The Republic’s Guild counts 93 members, 83 of whom signed cards agreeing to pay dues and entitling them to vote on the contract.
Non-management newsroom employees voted to join the Guild in October 2019. Bargaining for a contract began in December 2019, with the COVID-19 pandemic later moving the negotiations to Zoom meetings.
“It was a challenge to sustain momentum and energy with employees being hired and others leaving,” Ruelas said. “Most of the people who led the original effort to unionize have left for other job opportunities.”
Burton, in an earlier message to employees, praised The Republic’s diversity and talent, calling it a newsroom united by a commitment to ensure that the publication “thrives for another 133 years (as) a First Amendment bulwark on which we promote the common good, protect the public trust and serve all Arizonans.”
Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
Arizona
NAU launches first-of-its-kind engineering degree to fast-track Arizona’s future workforce – The NAU Review
As Arizona’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries continue to grow at a rapid pace, Northern Arizona University’s Steve Sanghi College of Engineering is launching a new degree program designed to help meet the state’s workforce needs.
Beginning this fall, NAU will offer a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology, a flexible, workforce-focused degree pathway that prepares students for careers in microelectronics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing in as little as three years. The 90-credit bachelor’s degree creates a more accessible pathway into engineering careers through a hands-on, applied curriculum and a streamlined transfer model with Arizona community colleges.
The program follows a 45-45 completion structure, allowing students to complete 45 credits at a community college and 45 credits through NAU. Courses will be delivered through synchronous remote instruction at NAU’s North Valley campus in Phoenix and at Pima Community College in Tucson, increasing access for statewide students.
Addressing Arizona’s growing semiconductor workforce
Designed with workforce readiness in mind, the program emphasizes practical engineering application, systems implementation, testing, quality control, systems analysis, manufacturing, fabrication, process control and project management. Students will gain technical and problem-solving skills aligned with the needs of Arizona’s rapidly evolving manufacturing economy.
“This new bachelor’s degree empowers students to identify real-world engineering challenges and develop practical solutions,” said James Palmer, associate dean for academic affairs at the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering. “We are creating a more accessible pathway into engineering careers while preparing graduates to support Arizona’s growing microelectronics and semiconductor industry.”
Arizona has emerged as one of the nation’s fastest-growing semiconductor hubs, with more than $200 billion in semiconductor-related investments announced in the Greater Phoenix region since 2020, including expansions from Intel, TSMC and Amkor Technology. TSMC alone has committed up to $165 billion toward Arizona operations, including multiple fabrication plants and advanced packaging facilities expected to create thousands of technical and manufacturing jobs.
Industry demand continues to grow for professionals with applied engineering and advanced manufacturing skills in areas such as process engineering, manufacturing systems, equipment operations and yield enhancement. NAU’s new degree program was developed to help students quickly enter these high-demand career fields while supporting Arizona’s long-term economic growth and domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
The program also aligns with NAU’s strategic commitment to expanding access to affordable, student-centered educational opportunities that prepare graduates for meaningful careers and long-term success.
Students interested in learning more about the Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology program should contact SCE@nau.edu.
PHOENIX (AP) — The two Republican congressmen running for Arizona governor pitched themselves at a debate Wednesday as the only candidate with broad enough voter appeal to unseat Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs amid the state’s affordability struggles.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is the GOP primary’s frontrunner and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, portrayed himself as being able to cross party lines and having the right experience to be the state’s chief executive.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind, if you look at the polling data that you’re going to find, I am the most competitive with Katie Hobbs of anybody on this stage in any Republican in the state,” Biggs said.
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, who has survived three tough Democratic challenges in recent years, believes his focus on government finances and his drive to bring new business to the state make him the singular Republican candidate.
“These are wonderful people, but they’ve never actually been in the great battle,” Schweikert said of Biggs and two other Republican opponents.
Businessman Scott Neely, who ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2022, said after the debate that if Biggs wins the primary, Republicans will lose the election.
The winner of the July 21 primary will face Hobbs, who’s running unopposed in the primary.
Biggs has served five terms in the U.S. House, representing a heavily GOP district in the eastern Phoenix suburbs and serving at one time as chairman of the ultra-right U.S. House Freedom Caucus.
Before that, Biggs served in the Arizona Legislature from 2003 through 2016, including four years as president of the state Senate. He battled with then-Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on a Medicaid expansion in 2013 and pushed school choice measures and bills targeting abortion providers.
Biggs is one of Trump’s top defenders in Congress and supported Trump’s false claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Schweikert, a budget hawk known for railing against government debt, has represented an affluent district that includes parts of northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale for eight terms. He served in the Arizona House in the 1990s and as Maricopa County’s treasurer in the 2000s.
Schweikert has focused his congressional career on sounding the alarm about the federal budget deficit and the ballooning U.S. debt, often in late-night speeches to a nearly empty House chamber and bleary-eyed C-SPAN viewers. Schweikert has praised Trump’s 2017 tax cuts but has called for more spending cuts to reduce federal borrowing.
His reputation was tarnished by ethics scandals. In 2022, he received a $125,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission for misappropriating campaign funds. Two years prior, he agreed to pay a $50,000 fine and accept 11 campaign finance violations after an investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Ethics. In his last three general campaigns for Congress, Schweikert staved off challenges from Democrats. Biggs voiced support for Arizona’s recent passage of a three-year moratorium on tax incentives for new data centers – a move Hobbs also has touted. “They shouldn’t be given a break,” Biggs said, noting the large amounts of power and water that data centers use.
Schweikert bemoaned Arizona’s unfavorable affordability rankings as “pretty miserable,” but said consumer prices don’t come down magically. He vowed to aggressively recruit businesses to Arizona and push for wage growth.
Both congressmen were asked about the expired healthcare subsidies for those getting coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
“We’re going to have to deal with the reality of subsidization of everything in the economy is not going to work,” Schweikert said.
Biggs said he introduced legislation in Congress to bring down healthcare costs and also voiced support for Trump’s proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit.
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