Newsroom employees at the Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune and other MediaNews Group papers that are part of BANG-EB have ratified a contract that sets a minimum $18.75/hour ($39,000 a year) wage for reporters, copy editors, photographers and Internet content providers.

The contract will apply to about 180 employees.

The Guild’s Web site said the vote was 57 in favor, 2 opposed, in ballots cast during ratification meetings held in Walnut Creek and in Oakland. The tally did not include absentee ballots, which were too few to have affected the outcome.

It is the first contract for Contra Costa Times employees, who previously were not unionized. Employees of the Oakland Tribune and other dailies that were part of MediaNews Group’s Alameda Newspapers Group had a contract that was canceled last year when their bargaining unit was merged with the Times. The combined bargaining unit voted for union representation last year and the contract approved Tuesday is the first for the merged unit.