San Francisco CBS Workers Hold 24-Hour Walkout for Higher Pay, More ‘Respect’

CBS News employees in San Francisco joined dozens of colleagues in New York in a 24-hour walkout on Tuesday, after contract negotiations stalled last week.

Workers for streaming service CBS News 24/7, represented by the Writers Guild of America East, are demanding wage increases, “respect and a sustainable work-life balance.” The walkout comes amid rising tensions at the Paramount-owned broadcast company following its recent bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, and the appointment of controversial political commentator Bari Weiss as CBS News’ editor-in-chief last fall.

“Paramount has billions to spend acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, but still hasn’t guaranteed fair wages and basic job protections for the workers who make their streaming news operation run,” said Beth Godvik, WGAE’s Vice President of Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News. “Our members are walking out today to show management they stand united in their demand for a fair contract — and the WGAE is with them every step of the way.”

The union represents about 60 workers, including 10 in San Francisco.

During initial contract negotiations, which began last month, the company proposed a 1.5% raise for each of the next three years. Producer Justin Lape, a member of the union’s bargaining committee, likened that offer to a slap in the face, saying WGAE’s previous contract, which expired March 9, included 3% annual raises.

Through negotiations, CBS has come up to match the wage hikes in the former contract, he said, but the union has asked for higher.

“We’re constantly doing stories that show the rising cost of living,” said Lape, who is a member of the union’s bargaining team. “Three percent a year just can’t match that. There has to be some other at least language within that contract to meet the needs of just traveling to work, coming back from work, the cost of food.

“It’s just meeting something that doesn’t pinch our pockets as much,” he continued.

A CBS spokesperson said the company was negotiating in good faith and hopes to “reach a fair resolution quickly.”

While Lape said the walkout was not “personal” and centered around pay issues, it comes as CBS undergoes major structural and leadership changes.

In August, CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was acquired by Skydance Media, owned by David Ellison and primarily funded by Larry Ellison, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump. In October, CBS announced that Weiss — a vocal critic of mainstream news who founded right-leaning online publication The Free Press, known for its “anti-woke” perspectives — had been named editor in chief.

Since her takeover, CBS News has undergone layoffs and has seen departures of multiple high-profile journalists, as concerns rise about editorial interference within the company.

In July, just a week before the FCC approved Skydance’s $8 billion deal to purchase Paramount, CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who’s often criticized Trump, announced that his show had been canceled. In December, amid Paramount Skydance’s push to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery, CBS sparked more controversy after it pulled a 60 Minutes segment hours before it was supposed to air. The segment on the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, a prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, was apparently cut after Weiss expressed concerns that the piece didn’t include an interview with a White House representative.

“Members are fighting to protect their livelihoods during a period of uncertainty in broadcast news,” WGAE said in a statement. “Layoffs, editorial interference and political pressure have all become existential threats following the Paramount Skydance merger, and those same concerns have escalated with a possible merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.”

Lape said he was confident that the union and company would be able to come to a deal.

“We’re trying to meet them in the middle. I think we’re slowly getting there,” he told KQED. “We love what we do. Especially with as much as is constantly happening and changing in the world with breaking news, there’s a lot of pressure on that. We just want to reach a fair contract for both sides.”