Journalists at The Daily Herald in Everett work tirelessly every day to bring readers coverage of their community, from watchdogging local government to award-winning public safety and environmental coverage.

But we’re paid rock-bottom wages with entry-level full-time staffers starting at just $20.50 an hour, barely above Everett’s new minimum wage. Low wages have driven burnout and turnover. And conditions at the Herald have grown worse after a devastating round of layoffs earlier this year.

Now, as we continue bargaining for our first contract, Herald management is offering us a poison pill: A meager $1/hour wage increase available only to staffers who hit an unreasonable story quota of two to three bylines per day.

Journalists and readers know quotas are a failed business model, forcing reporters to rewrite press releases and pass over deeper stories our community deserves to have told. Tying wages to quotas makes a bad idea even worse by holding journalists’ pay hostage to an arbitrary number of stories per day, regardless of the quality of those stories.

We deserve better and so do our readers.

Please join our fight for fair wages and protections against quotas by using the form on this page to send an email to Herald management. Better working conditions will create better journalism for Snohomish County.

Thank you for your support!