To our readers—

We’re happy to share some good news: after a series of bargaining meetings concluding in September, the Current Affairs staff union has ratified and signed a new contract with the magazine, covering the next two years.

We’re represented by the Chicago News Guild, Local 34071, an affiliate of the The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), and this contract gives Current Affairs workers a number of important protections and benefits. We’re proud of what we were able to secure through collective bargaining, and hope this contract will become a useful standard for workers at other media organizations who are considering unionization.

Among the major provisions of the new contract are:

• A strong anti-AI policy, prohibiting the use of generative AI to write articles or create art for the magazine.

• Ownership of our intellectual property, meaning that workers retain the copyright to the writing and art they create.

• Three weeks of paid time off (PTO).

• Unlimited sick days, so workers can seek medical care without worrying about counting their leave.

• 10 weeks of fully paid parental leave.

• “Just cause” employment protections, giving workers greater job security.

• A cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to wages, helping ensure that pay keeps pace with rising inflation.

• A worker representative on the Current Affairs board of directors.
  

The full contract can be found at the Chicago News Guild’s website. 

These provisions matter not only because they secure our working conditions, but because they set a standard for the wider landscape of periodical publishing. In an industry where journalists and writers are often expected to accept precarious employment, stagnant wages, and increasingly invasive uses of technology as inevitable, we think it’s worth insisting that things can and should be different.

We’re also taking this opportunity to introduce something special for our friends and comrades across the labor movement: if you email help@currentaffairs.org with proof of your membership in any union, we’ll give you a 25 percent discount on a Current Affairs subscription!

A union contract is a collective achievement. We’re grateful to the members of the Chicago News Guild and CWA who helped us through the bargaining process, particularly organizer Esteban Gil, and to our readers, whose support makes it possible for Current Affairs to exist in the first place.

— The Current Affairs Guild

Sonya Eugene, Development Manager

John Ross, Digital Editor

Sarah Singh, Subscriber Relations

Alex Skopic, Associate Editor

Emily Topping, Associate Editor

October 2, 2026

Editor-in-Chief’s note:

I am delighted that by working with the Chicago News Guild, Current Affairs has put in place a contract that will guarantee our publication always respects workers’ rights and provides fair compensation. The new contract is a template I hope other publications adopt, and which will ensure that generations of CA staff are always given what every worker deserves: paid time off, parental leave, family leave, health insurance, minimum salaries, protections from arbitrary dismissal, sick time, free speech protections, representation on the board, and guaranteed bonuses to ensure that when Current Affairs does well, its workers do too.

We are also very proud to have put in place one of the strictest anti-AI policies in the industry, which ensures that the beautiful illustrations and incisive writing in our magazine will always be human-made. This policy still allows workers to take advantage of new technologies when it helps them, but it makes sure that no worker ever has to worry about being replaced, and readers can always know they are looking at the work of fellow human beings. I firmly believe that every worker deserves a strong contract, and thanks to the Chicago News Guild and our staff we have ensured that Current Affairs is a leader in putting its values into practice.

— Nathan J. Robinson, Editor in Chief