LightShed partner Rich Greenfield analyzes the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros deal on The Claman Countdown.
CBS News spotted workers walking off the job Tuesday amid an ongoing labor dispute.
Members of the Writers Guild of America East at CBS News 24/7 held a 24-hour meeting Tuesday, saying management failed to reach a new bargaining agreement with 60 members. The current contract expired on March 9, and union members believe CBS is offering a “very bad” deal.
The unionized CBS News 24/7 employees believe they need to “protect their livelihoods at a time of uncertainty in broadcasting,” citing “layoffs, scheduling disruptions and political pressure” that have become “present threats” following last year’s Paramount-Skydance merger, according to the organization.
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Members of the Writers Guild of America East at CBS News 24/7 held a 24-hour walkout on Tuesday. (Bing Guan/Getty Images)
The bargaining unit is calling for “fair pay, respect and a sustainable work-life balance.”
The CBS News 24/7 Union negotiating committee and contract team told Fox News Digital that “management is refusing to agree to a new contract with essential job protections and fair wages,” so the walkout was necessary.
“Despite many days of honest negotiations and a strike promise signed by 95% of our members to emphasize the seriousness of our demands, management continues to offer us worse terms than in our last contracts. We have chosen this industry to cover the issues, but we believe this work stoppage is necessary to get a fair contract. We eagerly await an acceptable contract offer from Paramount—Brorner who recently received a multi-billion dollar contract,” CBS Negotiations Committee News 24/7 said.
After the closing of the Paramount-Skydance merger, David Ellison managed the combined company and installed Bari Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, finding his place to release the Free Press in the program.
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A protester wears a Writers Guild of America East sweatshirt during a CBS News strike outside the CBS News offices in New York, US, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Bing Guan/Getty Images/Getty)
Weiss’s CBS has become a target of the left, insisting that the organization worked to please the Trump administration, although it continued to publish critical reports.
Last month, Netflix dropped its bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery after the studio announced Paramount’s offer to buy the entire company was “high.” Paramount, the parent company of CBS, will now buy WBD for $31 per share, valuing the company at $111 billion.
“Paramount has billions to spend on the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, but it still hasn’t guaranteed fair wages and basic job protections for the workers who make their broadcast news work possible,” said WGAE Vice President Beth Godvik.
“Our members are walking out today to show management that they are united in their demand for a fair contract,” Godvik continued. “And WGAE has every step of the way.”
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CBS news editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press / Getty Images)
CBS news executives disagree with the union.
“We continue to negotiate in good faith and hope to reach an appropriate resolution soon,” a CBS News spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
More than 2,900 union members and supporters of the CBS News 24/7 Union have sent letters to management urging them to agree to a fair contract for WGAE members at CBS News 24/7, according to the union. Tuesday’s outing featured staff from CBS News locations in New York and San Francisco.
Paramount cut about 1,000 jobs across the company last fall, many of them affecting CBS News, with plans to cut more.
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Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
