Workers at the Maine Trust for Local News, the state’s largest network of newspapers, have launched an effort to expand union protections to about 50 additional employees.

Roughly 160 people at the Maine Trust, parent company of the Press Herald, Sun Journal, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel, already are represented by a union —the largest being the News Guild of Maine, which includes multiple departments at the Press Herald and the newsroom of the Morning Sentinel. The Kennebec Journal is unionized as Local 14115 under the Communication Workers of America.

The expansion effort would merge the Kennebec Journal’s union with the News Guild, and would bring reporters, photographers, copy editors, designers, advertising representatives and business staff at the Lewiston Sun Journal, the Times Record in Brunswick and at weekly newspapers and newsletters into the guild.

The workers filed a petition Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board and called on the company to recognize the expansion.

“This happened because workers at the Maine Trust for Local News wanted it to happen and needed it to happen and organized themselves,” said Megan Gray, an arts and culture reporter at the Portland Press Herald and president of the News Guild of Maine.

“That began months ago as workers started talking to each other as they felt frustrated by inconsistencies in union protections across what is now one company under the Maine Trust for Local News,” she said.

The Maine Trust was established in 2023 with the sale of five daily newspapers and more than a dozen weekly publications to the National Trust for Local News, which also owns news outlets in Colorado and Georgia and employs about 450 people total.

“Two years ago we launched a ‘one company’ initiative and we continue to work toward that goal,” Maine Trust leaders said in a written statement. “We care deeply about our employees and look forward to working together to grow local journalism in Maine.”

Maine Trust workers gathered outside the Press Herald offices in South Portland Tuesday in support of the union expansion. Several employees said they started thinking about ways to address pay disparities and ensure greater job security after layoffs last March that eliminated 50 jobs in print production, distribution and advertising.

“We all felt really insecure about our jobs, and I think we saw this as a way of being able to take back some power and give ourselves some more security,” said Kendra Caruso, a health reporter at the Sun Journal who was involved in the expansion effort.

Union contracts often provide stronger protections against layoffs and greater job security for workers, although it’s still possible for unionized workers to be laid off, Gray said. She said the union also gives workers a venue to discuss the issues impacting them at the company.

Employees said they are hopeful Maine Trust leaders will respond positively to the expansion effort. If the company does not voluntarily recognize the expanded union, Gray said workers could hold an election to force its recognition.

“I think that becoming one union that represents all workers at the Maine Trust for Local News is consistent with our values at the company and will only enable us to build a sustainable business model in local journalism in the future.”