Employees at the University of Chicago Press have formed a union called UCP Workers Guild to push for fair wages, protections from artificial intelligence and better work conditions, according to an announcement Monday.

Out of more than 270 employees at the press, 139 workers are eligible to join the union, which is part of the Chicago News Guild. If all join, it would be the News Guild’s largest unit, according to the Guild.

“The university’s financial crisis has tightened spending in several of the press’s departments, slowed hiring and created a sense of uncertainty about the future for many UCP workers,” Adrienne Meyers, senior promotions manager at the press and UCP Workers Guild member, said in an emailed statement. “As of right now, the press has not experienced any layoffs due to the budget, and we hope our union will help protect and secure the stability of our workers.”

UChicago didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Amid economic headwinds and threats to funding, UChicago cut its budget deficit from $288 million in fiscal year 2024 to $160 million in fiscal year 2025, according to a university news release in December.

UCP Workers Guild has asked the university to decide whether to voluntarily recognize the union by Friday. If it declines, workers plan to hold an election with the National Labor Relations Board.

Workers eligible to join the union include the press’ three divisions: books, journals and the Chicago Distribution Center. Administrative staff in IT, finance and intellectual property can also join, according to Meyers.

Union-eligible positions include jobs in customer service, marketing, manuscript editing, book design, production and acquisitions. Excluded roles include those that have direct reports and members of the Chicago Distribution Center staff who are already organized with The International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

UCP Workers Guild’s mission statement calls for “protections amid the rise of generative AI, which threatens to degrade our job security, professional integrity and author relationships.”

The statement also asks to “demystify the press’s operational relationship to the university and the bureaucratic policies that prevent managers from hiring, retaining and rewarding staff.”

Griffin Reed, marketing associate at the press and UCP Workers Guild member, said in a news release, “My coworkers and I face low, stagnant wages; a lack of standardization across the press regarding our ability to work from home; and potential precarity in the form of layoffs, outsourcing or the introduction of AI into our workflow. I want a union to ensure that our jobs are protected and that we are paid fairly for our profit-generating labor.”

The union’s website said, “None of us should have to work second and third jobs to afford housing and groceries, while the university’s top administrators make multimillion-dollar salaries. The press is also a revenue-generating unit of the university, and that gives us leverage.”

The press was founded in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago and remains part of it. It’s one of the country’s oldest and largest university presses and has published titles such as “The Chicago Manual of Style” and “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean.

The press has published more than 11,000 books since its founding and currently has more than 5,000 books in print. It also publishes nearly 100 scholarly journals.

Many Chicago arts and cultural institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Newberry Library and Shedd Aquarium, have also joined a wave of labor organizing across the U.S. in recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.