CNG Unit Spotlight: University of Chicago Press Workers Guild (UCPWG)

This summer, The Chicago News Guild welcomed our largest unit yet: The University of Chicago Press Workers Guild (UCPWG). Representing 134 members from across the University of Chicago Press, the unit was certified after a landslide election win, with 89% of workers voting in favor of forming a union. 

UCPWG members and CNG staff celebrate the launch of the UCPWG campaign in May 2026. 

The UCPWG members work in a variety of roles, including manuscript editing, design, acquisitions, books and journals marketing, digital publications, intellectual property, information technology, and accounting. According to their logo (created by one of the unit’s members), they are all “bound together” in their commitment to their work, to one another, and to improving their workplace by ensuring that all workers have a voice. The press was founded in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago and holds itself to high standards in its books, journals, and distribution services; with this union, its workers are writing a new chapter in the press’s history, one that demands excellence in the treatment of the folks who make the press run. They join the recently formed Hachette Workers Coalition (organized with the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild in a wave of unionization in the publishing industry.

In the weeks after their campaign launched on May 4 (which happened to land on the 140th anniversary of the Haymarket Affair) they took to social media to share accounts of members across various teams at the press and words of support from UCP authors. Members shared their frustrations about issues like low wages and inconsistent policies, while turning a hopeful eye toward a future in which they have power in their workplace. Along the way, UCPWG organizers found ways to keep the joy alive, building connections with other publishing and UChicago campus unions and trading union-themed friendship bracelets. 

Reflecting on the unionization journey thus far, UCPWG member Abigail Forney, the exhibits coordinator in the press’s Books Marketing department, said: “Joining the union effort, everything felt so secretive and stressful, wanting to do things right. Once we all started getting together in the informational meetings though, it became encouraging and joyous—I’d been prepared for a hard sell, but everyone in the meetings understood and got on board quickly. It’ll be really exciting to see our group come together and collaborate in a new way, more and different people stepping up to the plate for bargaining and sustaining our unit long-term. I think we’re more up to the task than we think.” 

The University of Chicago Press Workers Guild is moving on to the next stage in their life as a union, preparing to begin bargaining their first contract in November. Follow along at @UCPWorkersGuild on Instagram and Bluesky or on their website.